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The differences between water quality technicians and lead field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a water quality technician and a lead field technician. Additionally, a lead field technician has an average salary of $40,838, which is higher than the $39,725 average annual salary of a water quality technician.
The top three skills for a water quality technician include laboratory equipment, data collection and EPA. The most important skills for a lead field technician are customer service, data collection, and GPS.
| Water Quality Technician | Lead Field Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $39,725 | $40,838 |
| Hourly rate | $19.10 | $19.63 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 70,992 | 88,080 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Water quality technicians are tasked with monitoring and testing water supplies and ensuring that a particular body of water is safe. They perform various duties, which include sampling, inspecting, and testing water. They work with surface and groundwater sources. They evaluate and report the condition and features of various water samples and sources. The main goal of this job is to ensure public safety, environmental sustainability, and data integrity.
The Lead Field Technician serves as the assistant of the Field Supervisor. Their responsibility includes taking immediate action and making decisions for instances that individuals or organizations need their help. They are the one who implements and monitors a company's guidelines and policy and maintains the standard procedure of all the systems. Also, being an assistant, they can act as an overseer to determine the employees and equipment types that need to work smoothly and orderly.
Water quality technicians and lead field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Water Quality Technician | Lead Field Technician | |
| Average salary | $39,725 | $40,838 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $61,000 | Between $24,000 And $67,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | Oakland, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | Nevada |
| Best paying company | - | Schneider Electric Industrial Services |
| Best paying industry | - | Utilities |
There are a few differences between a water quality technician and a lead field technician in terms of educational background:
| Water Quality Technician | Lead Field Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 69% | Bachelor's Degree, 45% |
| Most common major | Biology | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between water quality technicians' and lead field technicians' demographics:
| Water Quality Technician | Lead Field Technician | |
| Average age | 38 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 67.2% Female, 32.8% | Male, 87.2% Female, 12.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.6% Asian, 10.2% White, 57.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% | Black or African American, 9.7% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 10.4% White, 56.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.0% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |