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The differences between lead infrastructure engineers and senior infrastructure 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 lead infrastructure engineer and a senior infrastructure engineer. Additionally, a lead infrastructure engineer has an average salary of $120,774, which is higher than the $117,765 average annual salary of a senior infrastructure engineer.
The top three skills for a lead infrastructure engineer include java, cloud and architecture. The most important skills for a senior infrastructure engineer are cloud, AWS, and linux.
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $120,774 | $117,765 |
| Hourly rate | $58.06 | $56.62 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 89,949 | 78,855 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
An infrastructure engineer acts as the one responsible for ensuring that all project objectives can be obtained and implemented correctly. They are the one who monitors, reviews and evaluates the current system policy to determines or identify what needs to be removed or replaced. Often, an Infra Engineer checks the computer application like the Windows, Mac Operating System, and Linux that will allow them to analyze and examines what needs for changing or fixing.
A senior infrastructure engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and infrastructures based on client preferences and industry standards. They have the duty to identify and understand the project's needs, streamline project requirements, produce drafts, create prototypes and models, and establish tests to identify potential issues and ensure the projects' quality. Additionally, a senior infrastructure engineer has the authority to make decisions, train and supervise junior engineers, establish goals and timelines, provide technical support, and implement policies and guidelines.
Lead infrastructure engineers and senior infrastructure engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Average salary | $120,774 | $117,765 |
| Salary range | Between $91,000 And $160,000 | Between $87,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | Washington |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a lead infrastructure engineer and a senior infrastructure engineer in terms of educational background:
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between lead infrastructure engineers' and senior infrastructure engineers' demographics:
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior Infrastructure Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.1% Female, 5.9% | Male, 75.3% Female, 24.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 13.9% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 10.7% White, 62.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |