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The differences between network designers and information technology 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 network designer and an information technology administrator. Additionally, a network designer has an average salary of $84,818, which is higher than the $73,195 average annual salary of an information technology administrator.
The top three skills for a network designer include network design, PC and OSPF. The most important skills for an information technology administrator are customer service, troubleshoot, and linux.
| Network Designer | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $84,818 | $73,195 |
| Hourly rate | $40.78 | $35.19 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 66,415 | 159,499 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
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 Information Technology (IT) administrator is an individual responsible for managing the day-to-day operation of an organization's IT systems and ensuring that the systems are running effectively. IT administrators must conduct consistent analyses of the computer system and install updates when needed. They are required to assess the organization's security programs and run the system for viruses and spyware. IT administrators also extend support to the organization's end-users and train them on desktop applications.
Network designers and information technology administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Designer | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average salary | $84,818 | $73,195 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $115,000 | Between $50,000 And $105,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | California |
| Best paying company | AT&T | Databricks |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a network designer and an information technology administrator in terms of educational background:
| Network Designer | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 56% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between network designers' and information technology administrators' demographics:
| Network Designer | Information Technology Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% | Male, 81.6% Female, 18.4% |
| 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, 9.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.8% White, 63.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |