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The differences between network designers and network 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 a network administrator. Additionally, a network designer has an average salary of $84,818, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.
The top three skills for a network designer include network design, PC and OSPF. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Network Designer | Network Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $84,818 | $71,357 |
| Hourly rate | $40.78 | $34.31 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 66,415 | 106,886 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| 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.
A network administrator is responsible for managing an organization's computer systems, ensuring its smooth operations and highest efficiency. Network administrators' duties include inspecting network malfunctions, troubleshooting unresponsive programs, improving system processes, analyzing client's specifications, upgrading existing applications, coordinating with the technology department, and creating a report of network issues resolutions. A network administrator should display a strong command of programming languages. Extensive knowledge in the technology industry and analytical and problem-solving skills to manage network problems immediately is also necessary.
Network designers and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Designer | Network Administrator | |
| Average salary | $84,818 | $71,357 |
| Salary range | Between $62,000 And $115,000 | Between $56,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Connecticut | Washington |
| Best paying company | AT&T | |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a network designer and a network administrator in terms of educational background:
| Network Designer | Network Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 57% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between network designers' and network administrators' demographics:
| Network Designer | Network Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 87.0% Female, 13.0% | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% |
| 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, 8.8% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 9.6% White, 63.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |