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The differences between database engineers and lead database administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a database engineer and a lead database administrator. Additionally, a lead database administrator has an average salary of $114,426, which is higher than the $104,648 average annual salary of a database engineer.
The top three skills for a database engineer include python, troubleshoot and java. The most important skills for a lead database administrator are DBA, PL/SQL, and linux.
| Database Engineer | Lead Database Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $104,648 | $114,426 |
| Hourly rate | $50.31 | $55.01 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 152,951 | 58,263 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A database engineer is responsible for maintaining the security of an organization's network databases, preventing unauthorized access and activities, and upgrading data infrastructure. Database engineers manage the volume of stored data, ensuring that the information would not affect the traffic flow and navigation. They also design database according to business requirements and needs, conducting multiple quality checks before releasing the final outputs for high functionality. A database engineer must have excellent technical skills, as well as extensive knowledge of programming languages and database administration, to create efficient system networks.
A lead database administrator or DBA serves as a primary technologist in an organization or company. Lead database administrators are technical experts in terms of database and middleware technology design, tuning, configuration, troubleshooting, and building. They use specialized software for data storage and organization. Their role may also include database migration, troubleshooting, performance monitoring, and data recovery. Among the necessary skills for this job include problem-solving, organizational, interpersonal, and communication.
Database engineers and lead database administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Database Engineer | Lead Database Administrator | |
| Average salary | $104,648 | $114,426 |
| Salary range | Between $72,000 And $150,000 | Between $88,000 And $148,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Foster City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | Amazon |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a database engineer and a lead database administrator in terms of educational background:
| Database Engineer | Lead Database Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 70% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between database engineers' and lead database administrators' demographics:
| Database Engineer | Lead Database Administrator | |
| Average age | 46 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.7% Female, 21.3% | Male, 80.3% Female, 19.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 22.8% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 8.3% Asian, 27.3% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |