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The differences between network designers and architectural designers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a network designer, becoming an architectural designer takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a network designer has an average salary of $84,818, which is higher than the $59,122 average annual salary of an architectural designer.
The top three skills for a network designer include network design, PC and OSPF. The most important skills for an architectural designer are sketch, sketchup, and BIM.
| Network Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,818 | $59,122 |
| Hourly rate | $40.78 | $28.42 |
| Growth rate | 5% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 66,415 | 54,358 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 12 |
Network designers are the people in an organization who assess a company's network requirements and design a network that meets the needs. The responsibilities of this position are designing and submitting plans for the network to management, making updates and upgrading the software and hardware where needed, incorporating security features into the design, configuring multiple types of connections, e.g., printers, servers and supporting specialized services like specific point virtualization through cloud computing.
An Architectural Designer is specialized in planning and designing structures/urban landscapes. They ensure that company policies and standards are maintained when providing services to clients.
Network designers and architectural designers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average salary | $84,818 | $59,122 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $115,000 | Between $45,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Vermont |
| Best paying company | AT&T | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Professional |
There are a few differences between a network designer and an architectural designer in terms of educational background:
| Network Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 62% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Architecture |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between network designers' and architectural designers' demographics:
| Network Designer | Architectural Designer | |
| Average age | 43 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% | Male, 70.1% Female, 29.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 3.1% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 11.7% Asian, 7.0% White, 72.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 6% |