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The differences between application systems administrators and systems engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an application systems administrator and a systems engineer. Additionally, an application systems administrator has an average salary of $85,636, which is higher than the $82,834 average annual salary of a systems engineer.
The top three skills for an application systems administrator include troubleshoot, linux and problem resolution. The most important skills for a systems engineer are python, linux, and C++.
| Application Systems Administrator | Systems Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $85,636 | $82,834 |
| Hourly rate | $41.17 | $39.82 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 141,894 | 145,936 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An application systems administrator manages and maintains any system, network, or application in a company. It is the primary job of a systems administrator to inspect all systems, software, and applications, determine problem areas and apply troubleshooting measures, upgrades and repairs. It is also the task of a systems administrator to regularly update programs, pinpoint bugs and problematic codes, and relay them to a programmer to have them resolved. The systems administrator is part of a company's back-end staff and focuses on the operation and maintenance of all software-based processes.
Systems engineers are responsible for creating and overseeing systems related to the overall operations of the organization. They are in charge of assessing the organization's needs in terms of systems and creating plans to address these needs. These systems are usually related to the production or manufacturing of company products. Systems engineers create end-to-end processes that ensure efficiency and effectiveness. They make sure that the processes they put in place adhere to safety and security policies and guidelines. They also do routine checks and continuously find ways to further improve production and other systems.
Application systems administrators and systems engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Systems Administrator | Systems Engineer | |
| Average salary | $85,636 | $82,834 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $112,000 | Between $62,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Clara, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | American Tower | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Automotive |
There are a few differences between an application systems administrator and a systems engineer in terms of educational background:
| Application Systems Administrator | Systems Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 70% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between application systems administrators' and systems engineers' demographics:
| Application Systems Administrator | Systems Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.3% Female, 23.7% | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 12.5% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.7% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |