Smog technician vs technician

The differences between smog technicians and technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a smog technician and a technician. Additionally, a smog technician has an average salary of $39,758, which is higher than the $38,045 average annual salary of a technician.

The top three skills for a smog technician include diagnosis, customer vehicles and customer service. The most important skills for a technician are patients, customer service, and patient care.

Smog technician vs technician overview

	Smog Technician	Technician
Yearly salary	$39,758	$38,045
Hourly rate	$19.11	$18.29
Growth rate	9%	1%
Number of jobs	63,758	596,842
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Average age	38	40
Years of experience	2	2

Smog technician vs technician salary

Smog technicians and technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Smog Technician	Technician
Average salary	$39,758	$38,045
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $56,000	Between $24,000 And $58,000
Highest paying City	-	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	-	Hawaii
Best paying company	-	Microsoft
Best paying industry	-	Telecommunication

Differences between smog technician and technician education

There are a few differences between a smog technician and a technician in terms of educational background:

	Smog Technician	Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	Bachelor's Degree, 32%
Most common major	Automotive Technology	Business
Most common college	-	-

Smog technician vs technician demographics

Here are the differences between smog technicians' and technicians' demographics:

	Smog Technician	Technician
Average age	38	40
Gender ratio	Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%	Male, 75.2% Female, 24.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 12.3% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 4.9% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	2%

Differences between smog technician and technician duties and responsibilities

Smog technician example responsibilities.

Manage daily repair activities for high-volume Honda repair facility.
Perform routine maintenance and advance diagnosis on customer cars.
Work with AutoCAD, set up designs and sending information to vinyl printer sending to plotter.
Certify Pass/Fail vehicles, and perform diagnosis and repair for failing vehicles to meet the minimum requirement for air pollution.
Repair Chrysler LLC vehicles with manufacture support diagnostic information and factory service procedures in a fast pace shop environment.
Repair Chrysler LLC vehicles with manufacture support diagnostic information and factory service procedures in a fast pace shop environment.

Technician example responsibilities.

Achieve multiple ASE certifications within first year of employment.
Implement and manage UHF radio base stations, repeaters, and command network, effectively linking all regional headquarters.
Manage telecommunications installation and repair for hospital Nortel network.
Maintain numerous automate scripts to assist in managing Linux systems.
Manage, troubleshot and repair multiple wireless technologies including fiber optic transmission switches.
Install peripherals including printers, fax machines, scanners, and smartphones.

Smog technician vs technician skills

Common smog technician skills

Diagnosis, 45%
Customer Vehicles, 15%
Customer Service, 15%
R, 7%
Oil Changes, 4%
ASE, 3%

Common technician skills

Patients, 16%
Customer Service, 14%
Patient Care, 8%
Hand Tools, 6%
Diagnosis, 5%
Preventative Maintenance, 4%

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Smog Technician
Smog Technician vs Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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