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The differences between infrastructure engineers and systems support engineers 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 engineer and a systems support engineer. Additionally, an infrastructure engineer has an average salary of $106,438, which is higher than the $82,561 average annual salary of a systems support engineer.
The top three skills for an infrastructure engineer include python, cloud and linux. The most important skills for a systems support engineer are linux, troubleshoot, and technical support.
| Infrastructure Engineer | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $106,438 | $82,561 |
| Hourly rate | $51.17 | $39.69 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 91,845 | 182,434 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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.
Systems support engineers are information technology professionals who are responsible for building and maintaining the IT infrastructure of an organization. They are required to provide network administration and technical support to identify complex problem issues and come up with solutions to solve them. They must assist the system support engineers in accomplishing any projects they are working with. They must troubleshoot servers, personal computers, and peripheral equipment while liaising with their customers. They must also create and maintain user accounts and implement group policy management through an active directory.
Infrastructure engineers and systems support engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Engineer | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Average salary | $106,438 | $82,561 |
| Salary range | Between $76,000 And $148,000 | Between $62,000 And $109,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Novato, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Credit Karma | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Retail | Finance |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure engineer and a systems support engineer in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Engineer | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure engineers' and systems support engineers' demographics:
| Infrastructure Engineer | Systems Support Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.2% Female, 7.8% | Male, 89.5% Female, 10.5% |
| 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, 8.5% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 11.5% White, 62.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |