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The differences between infrastructure engineers and solutions engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become an infrastructure engineer, becoming a solutions engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an infrastructure engineer has an average salary of $106,438, which is higher than the $95,482 average annual salary of a solutions engineer.
The top three skills for an infrastructure engineer include python, cloud and linux. The most important skills for a solutions engineer are cloud, pre sales, and java.
| Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $106,438 | $95,482 |
| Hourly rate | $51.17 | $45.90 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 91,845 | 123,287 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 6 |
As an infrastructure engineer, they're responsible for designing, deploying, and maintaining the IT infrastructure using the newest technology and ensure all the systems within an organization function seamlessly. They ensure all the IT systems are updated to support the business to function effectively. It is also their job to maintain internet connections, cabling, virtualization platforms, and storage area networks. Moreover, they oversee the IT infrastructure engineer system administration middleware application servers, like Oracle Weblogic server, IBM WebSphere server, and automated workflow tools.
A solutions engineer is an individual who assists customers in identifying their computer software needs and generates customized business software solutions for them. Solutions engineers collaborate with other department engineers to create practical demonstrations of proposed solutions and showcase them to the other members of the team. They are required to test the installed software and fix programming bugs that create errors with the system. Solutions engineers also maintain customer relations by providing post-installation follow-ups.
Infrastructure engineers and solutions engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average salary | $106,438 | $95,482 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $148,000 | Between $68,000 And $134,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Credit Karma | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Start-up |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure engineer and a solutions engineer in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure engineers' and solutions engineers' demographics:
| Infrastructure Engineer | Solutions Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.2% Female, 7.8% | Male, 85.1% Female, 14.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 13.0% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.4% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 10.8% White, 74.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 7% |