A computer support technician is responsible for maintaining computer systems within a company. He/She sets up, maintains, and repairs computer systems for employees across the company. His/Her duties also include installing computers, routers, and other hardware, updating existing systems, and troubleshooting problems with hardware. He/She may be tasked with training company employees on how to use software programs and hardware. Besides that, he/she maintains all terminals and peripherals, including printers, modems, personal computers, and data communications machines. Also, he/she ensures compliance with the company's policy on the network use of end-users.
The minimum educational requirement for this position is a high school diploma. Oftentimes, a college degree is required. Applicants must possess problem-solving, analytical, computer, customer service, organization, and troubleshooting skills. You must be familiar with basic hardware and software functions and networking. Some employers may provide on-the-job training. Your annual salary is between $31,000 and $61,000, with an average salary of $43,522.
What is a Computer Support Technician?
What Does a Computer Support Technician Do
There are certain skills that many computer support technicians have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed customer-service skills, listening skills and problem-solving skills.
How To Become a Computer Support Technician
If you're interested in becoming a computer support technician, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.6% of computer support technicians have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.3% of computer support technicians have master's degrees. Even though most computer support technicians have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Computer Support Technician Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a computer support technician can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as technical support specialist, progress to a title such as systems administrator and then eventually end up with the title information technology manager.
Average Salary for a Computer Support Technician
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Computer Support Technician Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active computer support technician jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where computer support technicians earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Computer Support Technician Jobs By State
| Rank | State | Number of Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | 6,848 | $49,348 |
| 2 | Texas | 2,854 | $39,934 |
| 3 | Illinois | 2,591 | $33,879 |
| 4 | Florida | 2,322 | $39,564 |
| 5 | Virginia | 1,841 | $34,621 |
| 6 | New York | 1,788 | $43,461 |
| 7 | Washington | 1,570 | $47,070 |
| 8 | Pennsylvania | 1,475 | $45,105 |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 1,311 | $41,720 |
| 10 | Ohio | 1,280 | $34,666 |
| 11 | Maryland | 1,254 | $35,169 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 1,251 | $33,823 |
| 13 | Georgia | 1,240 | $44,997 |
| 14 | Missouri | 1,210 | $38,561 |
| 15 | Arizona | 1,138 | $37,453 |
| 16 | Michigan | 1,056 | $39,868 |
| 17 | New Jersey | 1,017 | $41,905 |
| 18 | Colorado | 1,012 | $44,398 |
| 19 | Minnesota | 941 | $43,475 |
| 20 | Alabama | 921 | $39,186 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 894 | $37,996 |
| 22 | Indiana | 873 | $33,497 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 848 | $34,232 |
| 24 | Kentucky | 725 | $33,341 |
| 25 | Tennessee | 687 | $33,371 |
| 26 | Oregon | 602 | $40,057 |
| 27 | Utah | 593 | $33,772 |
| 28 | Arkansas | 577 | $38,126 |
| 29 | Oklahoma | 566 | $44,670 |
| 30 | Louisiana | 552 | $45,908 |
| 31 | Nebraska | 514 | $34,078 |
| 32 | Connecticut | 462 | $39,918 |
| 33 | Nevada | 442 | $42,684 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | 411 | $38,127 |
| 35 | Iowa | 395 | $33,385 |
| 36 | Kansas | 390 | $38,492 |
| 37 | New Mexico | 387 | $34,698 |
| 38 | Mississippi | 281 | $33,564 |
| 39 | Hawaii | 268 | $41,960 |
| 40 | North Dakota | 256 | $41,887 |
| 41 | Vermont | 241 | $40,456 |
| 42 | West Virginia | 213 | $34,080 |
| 43 | Idaho | 213 | $33,981 |
| 44 | South Dakota | 205 | $33,312 |
| 45 | Alaska | 203 | $34,575 |
| 46 | Delaware | 192 | $43,524 |
| 47 | Maine | 191 | $34,770 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 179 | $39,100 |
| 49 | Montana | 154 | $36,646 |
| 50 | Wyoming | 94 | $35,963 |
Top Colleges for Computer Support Technicians
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. University of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA • Private
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
6. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
7. North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC • Private
8. Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken, NJ • Private
9. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
10. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Troy, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Computer Support Technician
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.5% of computer support technicians listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as customer-service skills and listening skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Computer Support Technician Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Computer Support Technician templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Computer Support Technician resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Computer Support Technician Demographics
Computer Support Technician Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among computer support technicians, 16.8% of them are women, while 83.2% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among computer support technicians is White, which makes up 59.1% of all computer support technicians.
- The most common foreign language among computer support technicians is Spanish at 56.1%.
Work Experience Programs For Computer Support Technicians
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-4.5 hours
Company: Blackbird Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-10 hours
Company: Walmart India
Cost: Free
Duration: 3.5-4 hours
Company: Standard Bank
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5.5 hours
Company: Electronic Arts
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-6 hours
Company: Cisco
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.5-5 hours
Company: Skyscanner
Cost: Free
Duration: 1-1.5 hours
Online Courses For Computer Support Technician That You May Like
This course is the first of a series that aims to prepare you for a role as an entry-level IT Support Specialist. In this course, you’ll be introduced to the world of Information Technology, or IT. You’ll learn about the different facets of Information Technology, like computer hardware, the Internet, computer software, troubleshooting, and customer service. This course covers a wide variety of topics in IT that are designed to give you an overview of what’s to come in this certificate program...
This course allows you to show what you’ve learned in the previous IT Technical Support professional certification courses and apply that knowledge to realistic situations. The IT Technical Support Capstone leads you through a series of technical support case studies that require hands-on work to resolve. You will practice analyzing user help requests and troubleshooting various issues. You’ll demonstrate your knowledge of hardware, software, networking, security, and cloud computing. You’ll...
This course provides foundational understanding of how computers process information through hardware and software. You will investigate the world of Information Technology (IT) and survey hardware components, mobile devices, operating systems, programs and apps, network fundamentals, the Internet, and touch on security and ethics...
Best States For a Computer Support Technician
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a computer support technician. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania. Computer support technicians make the most in California with an average salary of $49,348. Whereas in Washington and Louisiana, they would average $47,070 and $45,908, respectively. While computer support technicians would only make an average of $45,105 in Pennsylvania, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Washington
$47,070
Avg. Salary
2. California
$49,348
Avg. Salary
3. Louisiana
$45,908
Avg. Salary
How Do Computer Support Technician Rate Their Jobs?
Top Computer Support Technician Employers
Most Common Employers For Computer Support Technician
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IBM | $74,719 | $35.92 | 14 |
| 2 | Dell | $57,222 | $27.51 | 23 |
| 3 | Lockheed Martin | $51,418 | $24.72 | 17 |
| 4 | University of Washington | $47,146 | $22.67 | 9 |
| 5 | Unisys | $46,343 | $22.28 | 9 |
| 6 | Hewlett Packard Enterprise | $45,666 | $21.95 | 10 |
| 7 | USAF Police Alumni Association | $45,454 | $21.85 | 11 |
| 8 | US Air Conditioning Distributors | $45,347 | $21.80 | 23 |
| 9 | Robert Half | $43,829 | $21.07 | 10 |
| 10 | Stream Companies | $42,995 | $20.67 | 22 |
Computer Support Technician Videos
