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The differences between information technology/support technicians and information technology administrators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an information technology/support technician and an information technology administrator. Additionally, an information technology administrator has an average salary of $73,195, which is higher than the $45,591 average annual salary of an information technology/support technician.
The top three skills for an information technology/support technician include customer service, troubleshoot and computer system. The most important skills for an information technology administrator are customer service, troubleshoot, and linux.
| Information Technology/Support Technician | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $45,591 | $73,195 |
| Hourly rate | $21.92 | $35.19 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 161,748 | 159,499 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An information technology (IT) support technician is an individual who is responsible for providing support and troubleshoots software and hardware problems faced by customers. As for larger organizations that have their own IT department, technicians must work together internally with their IT staff members. IT support technicians are involved in inspecting and resolving minor local area network and wireless network issues, which include TCP/IP, DHCP, and VPN. They are also required to obtain an associate's degree in computer science or related field.
An Information Technology (IT) administrator is an individual responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of an organization's IT systems and ensuring that the systems are running effectively. IT administrators must conduct consistent analyses of the computer system and install updates when needed. They are required to assess the organization's security programs and run the system for viruses and spyware. IT administrators also extend support to the organization's end-users and train them on desktop applications.
Information technology/support technicians and information technology administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Information Technology/Support Technician | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average salary | $45,591 | $73,195 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $66,000 | Between $50,000 And $105,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Pennsylvania | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | Databricks |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between an information technology/support technician and an information technology administrator in terms of educational background:
| Information Technology/Support Technician | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 51% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between information technology/support technicians' and information technology administrators' demographics:
| Information Technology/Support Technician | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average age | 42 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 85.4% Female, 14.6% | Male, 81.6% Female, 18.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 13.2% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 9% |