Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between warehouse technicians and distribution technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a warehouse technician has an average salary of $34,985, which is higher than the $33,564 average annual salary of a distribution technician.
The top three skills for a warehouse technician include customer service, pallets and customer orders. The most important skills for a distribution technician are patients, computer system, and data entry.
| Warehouse Technician | Distribution Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $34,985 | $33,564 |
| Hourly rate | $16.82 | $16.14 |
| Growth rate | 1% | 1% |
| Number of jobs | 231,431 | 154,925 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A warehouse technician is responsible for monitoring the incoming and outgoing goods and services in the warehouse or distribution centers. Warehouse technicians verify shipment details, assist with packaging items, move merchandise to storage areas, inspect the quality of items for release, and escalate defective products for immediate replacement. They also operate various warehouse equipment and machinery, conduct maintenance repairs, and loading and unloading items from the delivery trucks. A warehouse technician must have excellent time-management and organizational skills, especially on processing orders and creating reports for inventory receipts.
A distribution technician has a variety of duties and responsibilities, including collecting and delivering materials, receiving documents, packages, and messages, and transporting them safely to their destination. Other tasks that you will likely perform include managing the inventory and completing data entry, preparing documentation and reports, and coordinating logistics for the shipment of products. Additional duties include providing quality service to customers and distributors, resolving inventory discrepancies, and collecting and updating customer information. You may also be tasked to conduct field and laboratory testing of construction materials.
Warehouse technicians and distribution technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Warehouse Technician | Distribution Technician | |
| Average salary | $34,985 | $33,564 |
| Salary range | Between $28,000 And $42,000 | Between $26,000 And $41,000 |
| Highest paying City | Kent, WA | Vallejo, CA |
| Highest paying state | Hawaii | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | Freeport-McMoRan | Brigham and Women's Hospital |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Utilities |
There are a few differences between a warehouse technician and a distribution technician in terms of educational background:
| Warehouse Technician | Distribution Technician | |
| Most common degree | High School Diploma, 39% | Bachelor's Degree, 31% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | - | - |
Here are the differences between warehouse technicians' and distribution technicians' demographics:
| Warehouse Technician | Distribution Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7% | Male, 70.8% Female, 29.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.8% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.5% Asian, 6.5% White, 56.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 7.0% White, 58.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |