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The differences between structured cabling technicians and tower hands can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a tower hand has an average salary of $38,967, which is higher than the $37,985 average annual salary of a structured cabling technician.
The top three skills for a structured cabling technician include structured cabling, fiber optic and hand tools. The most important skills for a tower hand are CPR, RF, and OSHA.
| Structured Cabling Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Yearly salary | $37,985 | $38,967 |
| Hourly rate | $18.26 | $18.73 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 89,739 | 7,550 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | High School Diploma, 54% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A structured cabling technician builds infrastructure for local area networks, wide area networks, and cable television networks. They visit clients' homes or offices to install cabling that supports infrastructure. They often work overtime, and they may be required to work in hazardous conditions.
A tower hand is an individual who climbs towers or poles to install, repair, and perform routine maintenance on electrical equipment. Tower hands are required to climb up very tall structures to perform maintenance on equipment such as power lines, cell tower components, or radio antenna equipment. They must perform audits on their climbing equipment so that they can determine the quality of their equipment as well as avoid defects. Tower hands must be competent climbers so that they can safely climb towers while carrying heavy equipment.
Structured cabling technicians and tower hands have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Structured Cabling Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Average salary | $37,985 | $38,967 |
| Salary range | Between $24,000 And $58,000 | Between $25,000 And $59,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | - |
| Highest paying state | - | - |
| Best paying company | - | - |
| Best paying industry | - | - |
There are a few differences between a structured cabling technician and a tower hand in terms of educational background:
| Structured Cabling Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 31% | High School Diploma, 54% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon | New York University |
Here are the differences between structured cabling technicians' and tower hands' demographics:
| Structured Cabling Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.4% Female, 5.6% | Male, 96.1% Female, 3.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.3% Asian, 6.3% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |