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The differences between tool technicians and service technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a tool technician, becoming a service technician takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a tool technician has an average salary of $42,908, which is higher than the $40,379 average annual salary of a service technician.
The top three skills for a tool technician include grinders, hand tools and CNC. The most important skills for a service technician are plumbing, customer service, and preventative maintenance.
| Tool Technician | Service Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $42,908 | $40,379 |
| Hourly rate | $20.63 | $19.41 |
| Growth rate | 1% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 78,258 | 254,533 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Associate Degree, 29% |
| Average age | 54 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 12 |
Tool technicians are skilled professionals who are responsible for repairing a variety of pneumatic and hand tools as well as disassemble defective electrical equipment in a manufacturing firm using these hand tools. These technicians are required to coordinate with other areas of the company to schedule and perform preventive maintenance duties. They must provide support for CNC operators by setting up the caliper and micrometer of all the CNC machines. Tool technicians must also assist coworkers in ordering materials and purchasing machine parts.
Service technicians are assigned in the field to address the concerns of their clients. Service technicians are responsible for the installation, maintenance, or repair of different units or items related to their company's products or services. They should be familiar with their company's products so that they can properly install, maintain, or repair them. They conduct diagnostics and analysis to assess the condition of the unit they are servicing and properly address problems. They also do routine maintenance check-ups. Service technicians are expected to be trustworthy, have good analytical skills, and have good decision-making skills.
Tool technicians and service technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Tool Technician | Service Technician | |
| Average salary | $42,908 | $40,379 |
| Salary range | Between $29,000 And $61,000 | Between $28,000 And $57,000 |
| Highest paying City | Fort Wayne, IN | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Indiana | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Rivian | IBM |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Technology |
There are a few differences between a tool technician and a service technician in terms of educational background:
| Tool Technician | Service Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 33% | Associate Degree, 29% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between tool technicians' and service technicians' demographics:
| Tool Technician | Service Technician | |
| Average age | 54 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.0% Female, 8.0% | Male, 89.2% Female, 10.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 2.4% Unknown, 2.8% Hispanic or Latino, 6.5% Asian, 2.7% White, 84.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 15.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 3% | 1% |