Data administrator vs database specialist

The differences between data administrators and database specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a data administrator and a database specialist. Additionally, a data administrator has an average salary of $80,072, which is higher than the $77,642 average annual salary of a database specialist.

The top three skills for a data administrator include data management, java and profiling. The most important skills for a database specialist are database management, database design, and database administration.

Data administrator vs database specialist overview

	Data Administrator	Database Specialist
Yearly salary	$80,072	$77,642
Hourly rate	$38.50	$37.33
Growth rate	9%	9%
Number of jobs	124,537	41,500
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	4	4

What does a data administrator do?

As a data administrator, they support the marketing, sales, finance, and operations departments by providing accurate, complete, and current data to the customer, product, inventory, and vendor. It is the data administrator's responsibility to implement and execute data mining projects and makes reports to provide understanding into sales, marketing, and purchasing opportunities and business trends. The role would also include updating information to the company's database and official company website. Moreover, they also do reports about data analysis, forecasting, and other research activities that lead to decision making.

What does a database specialist do?

A database specialist is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the databases to maintain the confidentiality of data. Database specialists determine business requirements and manage multiple operating systems to build the database's efficient structures and feasibility. They also install security protection software tools and programs to prevent unauthorized access and potential leak of restricted information. A database specialist coordinates with the system engineers to improve existing databases and upgrade the network infrastructure for optimization.

Data administrator vs database specialist salary

Data administrators and database specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Administrator	Database Specialist
Average salary	$80,072	$77,642
Salary range	Between $53,000 And $119,000	Between $53,000 And $111,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Louisiana	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Southern California Edison	Meta
Best paying industry	Finance	Finance

Differences between data administrator and database specialist education

There are a few differences between a data administrator and a database specialist in terms of educational background:

	Data Administrator	Database Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Data administrator vs database specialist demographics

Here are the differences between data administrators' and database specialists' demographics:

	Data Administrator	Database Specialist
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 41.9% Female, 58.1%	Male, 47.6% Female, 52.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 17.7% White, 59.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 17.8% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between data administrator and database specialist duties and responsibilities

Data administrator example responsibilities.

Manage the LDAP requests for user provision.
Manage replication & distribution servers, versioning dev & production servers.
Design and lead team efforts to reduce batch windows through application on new features.
Manage access to file shares, DFS shares, IIS servers and terminal services.
Integrate LDAP and setup security at multiple levels to achieve data security and object level security.
Install and set up the VMWare environment, managing the closing/building and allocation of all virtual servers.

Database specialist example responsibilities.

Assist founder with maintaining and improving internet website manage ERP systems, payroll and self-service human resource system.
Used T-SQL skills including creation of user define functions, complex store procedures, query optimization to write automate reporting.
Design ETL process involving data quality, testing and information delivery and access to the data warehouse.
Develop graphical applications using Java and wxWindows C++ API.
Experience includes: * Pre- and post-decision processing of Medicare appeals cases.
Create procedures, functions, and triggers; handle database performance and tuning.

Data administrator vs database specialist skills

Common data administrator skills

Data Management, 12%
Java, 11%
Profiling, 10%
DB2, 7%
Unix, 7%
Sybase, 6%

Common database specialist skills

Database Management, 14%
Database Design, 5%
Database Administration, 5%
Windows, 5%
Data Entry, 4%
Troubleshoot, 4%

Data Administrator vs. similar jobs

Data Administrator related careers

Data Administrator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Computer and Mathematical Industry
Data Administrator
Data Administrator vs Database Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs