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The differences between technical writers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a technical writer, becoming a product owner takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product owner has an average salary of $97,070, which is higher than the $65,329 average annual salary of a technical writer.
The top three skills for a technical writer include technical documentation, subject matter experts and powerpoint. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Technical Writer | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $65,329 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $31.41 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 75,090 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 10 |
Technical Writers specialize in producing easy-to-understand instructional or informational written materials, such as media and journal articles, assessments and guidelines, and legal forms of documentation. For Technical Writers to develop well-versed content, one must conduct thorough research on the topic or idea to ensure factual legitimacy and communicate with those whose expertise aligns with the subject. Aside from producing, Technical Writers can also improve or convert complex written materials such as operating manuals or documents into one that can be easily understood by the general public.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Technical writers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Technical Writer | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $65,329 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $48,000 And $87,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a technical writer and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Technical Writer | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | English | Business |
| Most common college | University of Houston | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between technical writers' and product owners' demographics:
| Technical Writer | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 49.7% Female, 50.3% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 8.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |