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The differences between infrastructure analysts and desktop support specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both an infrastructure analyst and a desktop support specialist. Additionally, an infrastructure analyst has an average salary of $70,283, which is higher than the $44,962 average annual salary of a desktop support specialist.
The top three skills for an infrastructure analyst include customer service, troubleshoot and azure. The most important skills for a desktop support specialist are customer service, desktop support, and troubleshoot.
| Infrastructure Analyst | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $70,283 | $44,962 |
| Hourly rate | $33.79 | $21.62 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 78,728 | 102,191 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An infrastructure analyst utilizes their computer systems expertise to identify issues and determine immediate corrective measures over a company's private network. Their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis to identify vulnerabilities or areas needing improvements, monitoring the company's network, coordinating with different departments to gather data, responding to complaints and issues, troubleshooting, and implementing solutions in the system. Furthermore, as an infrastructure analyst, it is essential to produce progress reports and presentations, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
A Desktop Support Specialist is focused on troubleshooting different software packages, hardware devices, and other peripherals. They monitor the performance of the company's desktop infrastructure.
Infrastructure analysts and desktop support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Analyst | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $70,283 | $44,962 |
| Salary range | Between $49,000 And $99,000 | Between $33,000 And $59,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bellevue, WA | Boston, MA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | Meta | Cornerstone Research |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure analyst and a desktop support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Analyst | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 52% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between infrastructure analysts' and desktop support specialists' demographics:
| Infrastructure Analyst | Desktop Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 82.9% Female, 17.1% | Male, 87.6% Female, 12.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 11.6% White, 55.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 12.3% White, 54.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |