Mechanical Drafter Schools, Salaries, and Job Data

Job Numbers and Growth

There are an estimated 78,000 mechanical drafters nationally. Recent data shows the joblessness for workers is low compared to other jobs. An estimated 4% of employees were not able to find a job in 2008.

Area Job Conditions

The highest density of mechanical drafters are found in Columbus (Indiana), Racine (Wisconsin), and Sheboygan (Wisconsin). The lowest density occurs around West Palm Beach (Florida), Bakersfield (California), and Miami (Florida).

Compensation for workers is highst in Provo (Utah), Winston-Salem (North Carolina), and San Jose (California), and is the lowest in Flint (Michigan), Lubbock (Texas), and Santa Barbara (California).

Training and Education

Employers tend to prefer to hire employees that have a postsecondary vocational award. in 25% of cases, mechanical drafters have four year degrees or better. Among workers 62% pursued some additional career education without completing a bachelor's degree. In 13% of cases, employees have only a high school education. Recommended schools are shown in the column to the right; request information from them to help you decide which if any could help you with this career.

Part-Time Work and Self-Employment

Mechanical drafters working part-time are about 6% of the total. About 6% of workers work on their own.

Mechanical Drafters: An Introductory Video

Mechanical Drafters Around the Country

In the list below, each metro area is rated for the relative popularity of mechanical drafters compared to other locations (that is, jobs per population). Single or double up or down arrows indicate the relative popularity in that location. Within each state listing, metro areas are sorted by the actual number of jobs for mechanical drafters.

Alabama

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Birmingham	$52,000	170
Mobile	$61,000	160
Huntsville	$53,000	160
Montgomery	$40,000	130
Tuscaloosa	$32,000	30

Alaska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Anchorage		60

Arizona

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Phoenix	$45,000	2,310
Tucson	$47,000	180

Arkansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Fayetteville	$44,000	140
Little Rock	$41,000	100
Fort Smith	$45,000	70

California

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Santa Ana	$49,000	740
Riverside	$52,000	440
San Diego	$45,000	400
San Jose	$68,000	350
Sacramento	$52,000	350
Oakland	$56,000	250
San Francisco	$59,000	180
Oxnard	$51,000	110
Fresno	$40,000	90
Santa Barbara	$35,000	70
Modesto	$50,000	40
Stockton	$53,000	40
Bakersfield	$50,000	40
Santa Rosa	$63,000	40

Colorado

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Denver	$56,000	310
Colorado Springs	$47,000	170
Boulder	$51,000	80
Fort Collins	$49,000	50

Connecticut

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Hartford	$53,000	450
Bridgeport	$52,000	210
New Haven	$55,000	170
Danbury	$50,000	100

Delaware

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wilmington	$60,000	190

District of Columbia

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Washington	$50,000	450

Florida

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Tampa	$45,000	300
Orlando	$44,000	260
Jacksonville	$44,000	180
Fort Lauderdale	$46,000	140
Miami	$43,000	90
West Palm Beach	$53,000	90
Sarasota	$45,000	80
Pensacola	$41,000	70
Ocala	$41,000	60
Palm Bay	$37,000	50
Lakeland	$43,000	50
Gainesville	$43,000	40
Deltona	$39,000	40

Georgia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Atlanta	$49,000	730
Gainesville	$62,000	40
Columbus	$46,000	40
Augusta	$59,000	40

Illinois

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Chicago	$54,000	1,290
Rockford	$45,000	150

Indiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Indianapolis	$47,000	510
Fort Wayne	$42,000	250
South Bend	$45,000	220
Columbus	$51,000	180
Evansville	$45,000	170
Elkhart	$42,000	170
Gary	$56,000	150
Bloomington	$43,000	70
Lafayette	$54,000	40
Michigan City	$40,000	30

Iowa

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Cedar Rapids	$54,000	160
Des Moines	$41,000	100
Waterloo	$50,000	90
Davenport	$51,000	90
Sioux City	$46,000	40
Dubuque	$37,000	40
Ames	$41,000	30

Kansas

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Wichita	$47,000	320
Topeka	$38,000	100

Kentucky

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Louisville	$42,000	370
Lexington	$41,000	260

Louisiana

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Baton Rouge	$47,000	210
Lafayette	$37,000	140
Lake Charles	$67,000	120
Shreveport	$41,000	40

Maine

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Portland	$45,000	90

Maryland

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Baltimore	$47,000	730
Bethesda	$51,000	160
Salisbury	$41,000	60
Hagerstown	$53,000	40

Massachusetts

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Boston	$73,000	830
Worcester	$60,000	210
Springfield	$54,000	180
Framingham	$57,000	80
Leominster	$54,000	60
Lowell	$69,000	50
Haverhill	$48,000	40
Brockton	$50,000	30
New Bedford	$47,000	30
Lawrence	$64,000	30

Michigan

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Warren	$57,000	1,890
Grand Rapids	$52,000	490
Detroit	$55,000	460
Lansing	$58,000	270
Holland	$43,000	160
Niles	$46,000	120
Kalamazoo	$47,000	110
Saginaw	$45,000	80
Flint	$32,000	70
Jackson	$46,000	60
Muskegon	$42,000	30

Minnesota

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Minneapolis	$52,000	1,590
Rochester	$47,000	90
Duluth	$50,000	90
St Cloud	$38,000	70

Mississippi

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Jackson	$40,000	120
Gulfport	$42,000	30

Missouri

Location	Median Pay	Workers
St Louis	$52,000	590
Kansas City	$47,000	450
Springfield	$38,000	50
Jefferson City		40

Montana

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Billings	$36,000	40

Nebraska

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Omaha	$39,000	230
Lincoln	$39,000	160

Nevada

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Las Vegas	$54,000	280
Reno	$46,000	80

New Hampshire

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Manchester	$44,000	30

New Jersey

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Camden	$55,000	480
Edison	$53,000	390
Newark	$55,000	330
Trenton	$56,000	70

New Mexico

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Albuquerque	$50,000	200
Las Cruces	$38,000	50

New York

Location	Median Pay	Workers
New York	$49,000	1,890
Buffalo	$48,000	450
Nassau	$60,000	430
Syracuse	$46,000	290
Rochester	$49,000	250
Albany	$52,000	190
Utica	$37,000	70
Elmira	$44,000	60
Poughkeepsie	$48,000	50
Binghamton	$39,000	40
Kingston	$45,000	40
Glens Falls	$46,000	30

North Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charlotte	$51,000	330
Raleigh	$52,000	230
Winston Salem	$65,000	160
Greensboro	$55,000	150
Durham	$53,000	130
Hickory	$49,000	50
Wilmington	$48,000	30

North Dakota

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Fargo	$35,000	130

Ohio

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Cleveland	$45,000	830
Cincinnati	$47,000	780
Columbus	$44,000	640
Akron	$45,000	370
Dayton	$41,000	360
Canton	$42,000	200
Toledo	$45,000	160
Youngstown	$39,000	160
Sandusky	$44,000	30
Mansfield	$35,000	30

Oklahoma

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Tulsa	$50,000	590
Oklahoma City	$41,000	260

Oregon

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Portland	$50,000	660
Eugene	$41,000	140
Salem	$41,000	50

Pennsylvania

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Philadelphia	$53,000	1,200
Pittsburgh	$44,000	860
Allentown	$48,000	330
York	$43,000	230
Lancaster	$45,000	200
Harrisburg	$46,000	170
Scranton	$44,000	150
Reading	$47,000	100
Erie	$41,000	100
Williamsport	$40,000	40
Lebanon	$45,000	40
Johnstown	$36,000	30

South Carolina

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Greenville	$63,000	410
Columbia	$47,000	190
Charleston	$50,000	90
Spartanburg	$50,000	70
Anderson	$51,000	60
Florence	$47,000	40
Myrtle Beach	$46,000	40

South Dakota

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Sioux Falls	$34,000	60

Tennessee

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Nashville	$49,000	450
Chattanooga	$50,000	260
Knoxville	$48,000	130
Memphis	$55,000	120

Texas

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Houston	$54,000	2,900
Dallas	$49,000	1,400
Fort Worth	$47,000	1,030
Austin	$53,000	540
San Antonio	$44,000	280
Beaumont	$53,000	140
Longview	$46,000	90
Waco	$48,000	60
Corpus Christi	$39,000	60
El Paso	$37,000	50
Odessa	$47,000	50
Lubbock	$31,000	40
Tyler	$64,000	40

Utah

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Salt Lake City	$46,000	370
Ogden	$45,000	100
Provo	$62,000	70
Logan	$36,000	30

Vermont

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Burlington	$58,000	110

Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Richmond	$51,000	300
Lynchburg	$41,000	70
Roanoke	$42,000	60

Washington

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Seattle	$64,000	1,630
Tacoma	$51,000	120
Spokane	$38,000	110
Bellingham	$43,000	50

West Virginia

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Charleston	$44,000	80
Huntington	$45,000	70
Parkersburg	$33,000	60
Wheeling	$34,000	50

Wisconsin

Location	Median Pay	Workers
Milwaukee	$48,000	1,210
Madison	$52,000	350
Green Bay	$50,000	270
Racine	$51,000	170
Appleton	$47,000	170
Eau Claire	$43,000	140
Wausau	$46,000	120
Sheboygan	$43,000	120
La Crosse	$43,000	110
Janesville	$50,000	110
Fond	$54,000	80

Wyoming

Location	Median Pay	Workers	Popularity
Cheyenne	$43,000	30

Our mechanical drafter career and school information is provided by CTI Career Search.