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The differences between junior networking engineers and network engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a junior networking engineer and a network engineer. Additionally, a junior networking engineer has an average salary of $84,480, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.
The top three skills for a junior networking engineer include switches, troubleshoot and lan. The most important skills for a network engineer are switches, troubleshoot, and network infrastructure.
| Junior Networking Engineer | Network Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,480 | $83,557 |
| Hourly rate | $40.62 | $40.17 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 44,165 | 72,346 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
Junior networking engineers are entry-level information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for managing the daily activities of local and wide area network systems of an IT organization. They must collaborate with senior network engineers to develop and implement network security procedures to safeguard the organization's networking systems. They are required to perform diagnostics and schedule preventive maintenance on the network system while responding to emergency work requests. Junior networking engineers must also manage network management programs and prepare network status reports for the management.
A network engineer is responsible for managing a network system, monitoring its performance, and upgrading its features to optimize performance and boost efficiency. Network engineers also create new systems, designing them based on clients' specifications and business needs. They also check network defects, perform troubleshooting, improve data security systems, and install security updates. A network engineer must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a broad understanding of system codes, programming languages, and network configurations.
Junior networking engineers and network engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Junior Networking Engineer | Network Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,480 | $83,557 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $114,000 | Between $62,000 And $111,000 |
| Highest paying City | Mountain View, CA | Menlo Park, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Parsons | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a junior networking engineer and a network engineer in terms of educational background:
| Junior Networking Engineer | Network Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Electrical Engineering |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between junior networking engineers' and network engineers' demographics:
| Junior Networking Engineer | Network Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.3% Female, 12.7% | Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |