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The differences between application administrators and application managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an application administrator, becoming an application manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an application manager has an average salary of $122,748, which is higher than the $100,258 average annual salary of an application administrator.
The top three skills for an application administrator include troubleshoot, linux and technical support. The most important skills for an application manager are customer service, project management, and application development.
| Application Administrator | Application Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $100,258 | $122,748 |
| Hourly rate | $48.20 | $59.01 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 16% |
| Number of jobs | 78,004 | 125,760 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 8 |
Applications administrators are information technology (IT) professionals who manage specific applications or software in a company. They are in charge of installing, updating, and maintaining their assigned application. They also troubleshoot concerns and respond to inquiries from application users. They are expected to be experts on matters related to the application. Applications administrators collect information from users and program prompts. They primarily collect data on program usage and common user concerns. This data will help application administrators identify trends in software usage and recommend solutions for software improvement.
An application manager is in charge of overseeing software applications and systems within a company, ensuring efficiency and quality. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis to identify company needs, assessing existing applications to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and implementing solutions to optimize the quality of services. They may also conduct regular maintenance checks to ensure the efficiency of applications, performing corrective measures when necessary. Furthermore, as an application manager, it is essential to coordinate with the information technology staff, encouraging them to reach goals and new heights.
Application administrators and application managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Administrator | Application Manager | |
| Average salary | $100,258 | $122,748 |
| Salary range | Between $73,000 And $137,000 | Between $93,000 And $160,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Cloudflare | Roku |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between an application administrator and an application manager in terms of educational background:
| Application Administrator | Application Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Carnegie Mellon University |
Here are the differences between application administrators' and application managers' demographics:
| Application Administrator | Application Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 68.0% Female, 32.0% | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 12.8% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 13.5% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 11% |