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The differences between lead infrastructure engineers and senior system administrators 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 system administrator. Additionally, a lead infrastructure engineer has an average salary of $120,774, which is higher than the $98,146 average annual salary of a senior system administrator.
The top three skills for a lead infrastructure engineer include java, cloud and architecture. The most important skills for a senior system administrator are linux, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $120,774 | $98,146 |
| Hourly rate | $58.06 | $47.19 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 89,949 | 100,873 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| 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 system administrator specializes in overseeing the computer system operations in an organization. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around monitoring the performance of all software and hardware, installing servers, configuring systems, and making sure every technical aspect is running smoothly. Should there be any issues, they must take charge of troubleshooting and providing solutions. As someone with more experience, a senior system administrator leads and evaluates the performances of fellow skilled professionals in the department, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Lead infrastructure engineers and senior system administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average salary | $120,774 | $98,146 |
| Salary range | Between $91,000 And $160,000 | Between $75,000 And $126,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Cambridge Associates |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead infrastructure engineer and a senior system administrator in terms of educational background:
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between lead infrastructure engineers' and senior system administrators' demographics:
| Lead Infrastructure Engineer | Senior System Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.1% Female, 5.9% | Male, 89.0% Female, 11.0% |
| 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, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.8% White, 61.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |