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The differences between network infrastructure engineers and network managers 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 infrastructure engineer and a network manager. Additionally, a network manager has an average salary of $97,578, which is higher than the $82,895 average annual salary of a network infrastructure engineer.
The top three skills for a network infrastructure engineer include network infrastructure, switches and cloud. The most important skills for a network manager are customer service, fault management, and network infrastructure.
| Network Infrastructure Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $82,895 | $97,578 |
| Hourly rate | $39.85 | $46.91 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 67,606 | 36,831 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A network infrastructure engineer designs, deploy, and secures the network of the organization. In this position, you will be required to perform site surveys and audits, ensure the company's network site meets set standards, ensure the networks function with minimum downtime, come up with strategies that help minimize operational costs, and helps the organization streamline the operations by ensuring the different systems work effectively.
A network manager is responsible for monitoring the efficient network connection of the company's technology systems, analyzing system designs, and overseeing installation processes and programs. Network managers inspect the efficiency of existing network management systems, upgrading network data to boost optimal performance and communication transportation. A network manager must have excellent knowledge of technology disciplines and should always be updated with the recent technology trends, guiding the network staff on their tasks and immediately resolving system defects and discrepancies.
Network infrastructure engineers and network managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Infrastructure Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Average salary | $82,895 | $97,578 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $119,000 | Between $71,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Menlo Park, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a network infrastructure engineer and a network manager in terms of educational background:
| Network Infrastructure Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between network infrastructure engineers' and network managers' demographics:
| Network Infrastructure Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 92.4% Female, 7.6% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.7% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 12.0% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |