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The differences between infrastructure support specialists and application 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 support specialist and an application support specialist. Additionally, an infrastructure support specialist has an average salary of $94,997, which is higher than the $81,820 average annual salary of an application support specialist.
The top three skills for an infrastructure support specialist include infrastructure support, troubleshoot and cloud. The most important skills for an application support specialist are application support, customer service, and troubleshoot.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Application Support Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $94,997 | $81,820 |
| Hourly rate | $45.67 | $39.34 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 135,837 | 118,322 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An infrastructure support specialist generally plays a support role in the IT world, with "support" here not referring to an auxiliary role. They also help with the management and usability of organizational data and information. Their primary responsibility is to make sure the business goals of the company or enterprise are met by ensuring all data centers are functional, including elements such as network systems, software, hardware, and data storage facilities. They may also have to carry out complex technical evaluations and suggest proposed physical architectures along with elaborate designs.
An application support specialist's role is to utilize their technical expertise in responding to inquiries and addressing issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and effectively. They may communicate with clients through calls or correspondence, even arrange appointments when necessary. Moreover, one may work as a member of a company or independently. As an application support specialist in a company setting, it is essential to coordinate with different department personnel, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Infrastructure support specialists and application support specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Application Support Specialist | |
| Average salary | $94,997 | $81,820 |
| Salary range | Between $68,000 And $130,000 | Between $52,000 And $127,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Cupertino, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Barclays | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between an infrastructure support specialist and an application support specialist in terms of educational background:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Application Support Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between infrastructure support specialists' and application support specialists' demographics:
| Infrastructure Support Specialist | Application Support Specialist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.4% Female, 10.6% | Male, 61.6% Female, 38.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.6% Asian, 13.4% White, 53.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 15.9% Asian, 11.5% White, 55.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |