Also called: Technical Artist (documentation)
Draws precise diagrams for manuals, patents, assembly guides, and aircraft maintenance books.
They take CAD models of an engine and create exploded-view diagrams showing how parts fit. Aerospace and defense companies hire many. Accuracy matters more than style.
Estimate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Associate's degree (2-year), about 2 years after high school. Associate or bachelor's in technical illustration, drafting, or graphic design.
Ways in: 2-year college, 4-year college. Training cost: Under $15k.
Majors to look at: Technical Illustration, Drafting & Design Technology, Graphic Design.
Growing slowly. Steady demand in manufacturing and defense.
High risk for 10 years. CAD software and AI increasingly auto-generate exploded views and diagrams, leaving fewer pure illustration jobs.
Classes: Drafting or engineering CAD CTE, Geometry, Graphic design.
Official data: O*NET occupation 27-1013.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.