Network engineer vs senior network administrator

The differences between network engineers and senior 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 engineer and a senior network administrator. Additionally, a senior network administrator has an average salary of $89,169, which is higher than the $83,557 average annual salary of a network engineer.

The top three skills for a network engineer include switches, troubleshoot and network infrastructure. The most important skills for a senior network administrator are switches, routers, and troubleshoot.

Network engineer vs senior network administrator overview

	Network Engineer	Senior Network Administrator
Yearly salary	$83,557	$89,169
Hourly rate	$40.17	$42.87
Growth rate	5%	5%
Number of jobs	72,346	110,027
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	43	43
Years of experience	2	2

What does a network engineer do?

A network engineer is responsible for managing a network system, monitoring its performance, and upgrading its features to optimize performance and boost efficiency. Network engineers also create new systems, designing them based on clients' specifications and business needs. They also check network defects, perform troubleshooting, improve data security systems, and install security updates. A network engineer must have excellent knowledge of the technology industry, as well as a broad understanding of system codes, programming languages, and network configurations.

What does a senior network administrator do?

Senior Network Administrators provide system and network solutions for their organizations. They supervise the functioning of networking equipment and follow strict maintenance standards.

Network engineer vs senior network administrator salary

Network engineers and senior network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Network Engineer	Senior Network Administrator
Average salary	$83,557	$89,169
Salary range	Between $62,000 And $111,000	Between $68,000 And $115,000
Highest paying City	Menlo Park, CA	San Mateo, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	The Citadel	Tesoro
Best paying industry	Technology	Finance

Differences between network engineer and senior network administrator education

There are a few differences between a network engineer and a senior network administrator in terms of educational background:

	Network Engineer	Senior Network Administrator
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Computer Science
Most common college	California State University - Long Beach	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Network engineer vs senior network administrator demographics

Here are the differences between network engineers' and senior network administrators' demographics:

	Network Engineer	Senior Network Administrator
Average age	43	43
Gender ratio	Male, 90.6% Female, 9.4%	Male, 91.7% Female, 8.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.6% Asian, 13.7% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 10.1% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between network engineer and senior network administrator duties and responsibilities

Network engineer example responsibilities.

Manage UCCE deployments which include CUCM, IPIVR, CVP , 3rd party reporting and CUIC.
Manage UNIX's projects to meet project dateline while solving daily network crisis.
Perform the tasks of designing, implementing, supporting, and managing networking and telecommunication infrastructure.
Manage all domain registrations, SSL certificate management.
Create locally manage and centrally manage gateways on checkpoint firewall.
Manage and administrate security policy and procedures for all VPN network connectivity and accounts.

Senior network administrator example responsibilities.

Lead IP management specialist and assist with management of DHCP scopes and reservations.
Establish and manage SharePoint base intranet for departmental and interdepartmental support.
Configure and manage SQL database archival requests for automate timely data submissions.
Configure and manage multiple data and application servers and maintain SQL relational databases.
Prioritize and manage servicing of customer trouble calls in locally develop tracking database.
Configure and manage company routers and switches in addition to VPN configuration and policy enforcement.

Network engineer vs senior network administrator skills

Common network engineer skills

Switches, 7%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Network Infrastructure, 4%
BGP, 4%
OSPF, 4%
Lan Wan, 4%

Common senior network administrator skills

Switches, 8%
Routers, 5%
Troubleshoot, 5%
Windows Server, 4%
Network Infrastructure, 4%
Lan Wan, 4%

Network Engineer vs. similar jobs

Network Engineer related careers

Network Engineer related jobs

Network Engineer jobs by location

Zippia Careers
Computer and Mathematical Industry
Network Engineer
Network Engineer vs Senior Network Administrator

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs