Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between technical design engineers and architectural designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a technical design engineer, becoming an architectural designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a technical design engineer has an average salary of $75,599, which is higher than the $59,122 average annual salary of an architectural designer.
The top three skills for a technical design engineer include design drawings, windows and infrastructure. The most important skills for an architectural designer are sketch, sketchup, and BIM.
| Technical Design Engineer | Architectural Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $75,599 | $59,122 |
| Hourly rate | $36.35 | $28.42 |
| Growth rate | 2% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 173,548 | 54,358 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
A technical design engineer specializes in designing a company's products and systems, ensuring quality and efficiency. Among their responsibilities include performing extensive research and analysis, understanding and identifying the needs of every project, developing prototypes and test structures, and coordinating with experts. There are also instances when they must conduct maintenance checks on current systems, executing repairs when necessary. Furthermore, as a technical design engineer, it is essential to maintain an active communication line with staff, coordinating them while enforcing the company's policies and regulations.
An Architectural Designer is specialized in planning and designing structures/urban landscapes. They ensure that company policies and standards are maintained when providing services to clients.
Technical design engineers and architectural designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Design Engineer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average salary | $75,599 | $59,122 |
| Salary range | Between $49,000 And $116,000 | Between $45,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | California | Vermont |
| Best paying company | Western Digital | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a technical design engineer and an architectural designer in terms of educational background:
| Technical Design Engineer | Architectural Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Drafting And Design | Architecture |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between technical design engineers' and architectural designers' demographics:
| Technical Design Engineer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average age | 41 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.7% Female, 16.3% | Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.3% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 6% |