Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between firewall engineers and systems administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a firewall engineer and a systems administrator. Additionally, a firewall engineer has an average salary of $99,357, which is higher than the $77,156 average annual salary of a systems administrator.
The top three skills for a firewall engineer include network security, cisco asa and azure. The most important skills for a systems administrator are linux, troubleshoot, and windows server.
| Firewall Engineer | Systems Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $99,357 | $77,156 |
| Hourly rate | $47.77 | $37.09 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 39,291 | 134,500 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A firewall engineer is concerned about the safety and security of company websites from online attacks. A firewall is a safety measure to help protect the company's information infrastructure or business connected to the internet. The firewall engineer creates, develops, and maintains the company's online security and regularly checks websites for breaches, flaws in the code, and other technical things required to protect a company from outside internet attacks and hacking.
Systems administrators are employees who oversee information technology infrastructures in the office. They are skilled information technology professionals who are knowledgeable about the company's network systems and other technology-related infrastructures. They are responsible for installing, configuring, or updating network systems, software, and hardware. They also monitor the different systems and troubleshoot any issues that users may encounter. Systems administrators manage the access of users, ensure the security of the network, and address any challenges that users may have. They conduct repairs and routine maintenance to ensure that the systems in place are in the best shape.
Firewall engineers and systems administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Firewall Engineer | Systems Administrator | |
| Average salary | $99,357 | $77,156 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $128,000 | Between $59,000 And $100,000 |
| Highest paying City | Santa Clara, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Palo Alto Networks | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a firewall engineer and a systems administrator in terms of educational background:
| Firewall Engineer | Systems Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 60% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between firewall engineers' and systems administrators' demographics:
| Firewall Engineer | Systems Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.4% Female, 6.6% | Male, 83.9% Female, 16.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 11.5% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |