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The differences between utility technicians and industrial maintenance technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a utility technician and an industrial maintenance technician. Additionally, an industrial maintenance technician has an average salary of $50,649, which is higher than the $37,073 average annual salary of a utility technician.
The top three skills for a utility technician include customer service, ladders and safety procedures. The most important skills for an industrial maintenance technician are industrial maintenance, hand tools, and PLC.
| Utility Technician | Industrial Maintenance Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $37,073 | $50,649 |
| Hourly rate | $17.82 | $24.35 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 121,895 | 169,569 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4 |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | Associate Degree, 42% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A utility technician performs various duties and responsibilities for an organization. These include inspecting utility infrastructure and reporting any deficiencies, auditing utility services and ensuring current standards are complied with, and updating and maintaining the utility information database. As a utility technician, you are responsible for coordinating projects and communicating results of finished projects, performing preventive maintenance, and diagnosing and troubleshooting equipment and system malfunctions. You are also responsible for conducting training and mentoring new utility technicians.
An industrial maintenance technician is responsible for installing, maintaining, and repairing commercial and industrial machinery in a building or a manufacturing plant. You will perform typical duties that include ensuring all machines function properly through preventative maintenance service, conducting tests to ensure production machinery functions properly, and performing safety checks and routine maintenance. Other duties include collaborating with the production team, preparing maintenance reports, and instructing and guiding new employees. An industrial maintenance technician also assesses the machinery's functionality and fabricates parts for machine upgrades and repair.
Utility technicians and industrial maintenance technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Utility Technician | Industrial Maintenance Technician | |
| Average salary | $37,073 | $50,649 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $49,000 | Between $38,000 And $66,000 |
| Highest paying City | Milwaukee, WI | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Anheuser-Busch | Boehringer Ingelheim |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a utility technician and an industrial maintenance technician in terms of educational background:
| Utility Technician | Industrial Maintenance Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 32% | Associate Degree, 42% |
| Most common major | Business | Industrial Technology |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between utility technicians' and industrial maintenance technicians' demographics:
| Utility Technician | Industrial Maintenance Technician | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.8% Female, 14.2% | Male, 96.5% Female, 3.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.4% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% | Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 4.7% White, 63.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 2% | 2% |