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The differences between network planning engineers 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 planning engineer and a network administrator. Additionally, a network planning engineer has an average salary of $94,120, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.
The top three skills for a network planning engineer include network planning, capacity planning and OSPF. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Network Planning Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $94,120 | $71,357 |
| Hourly rate | $45.25 | $34.31 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 40,398 | 106,886 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A Network Planning Engineer is a person who has a significant role in maintaining the internal and external network of an organization. Their responsibilities include:
Offering support to critical teams within the organization as needed.
Engineering designs.
Communicating new strategies for new projects from deployment to maintenance and upgrades.
Completing the setup of a network in a manner that satisfies the organization and generally design and improves networks.
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 planning engineers and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Network Planning Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average salary | $94,120 | $71,357 |
| Salary range | Between $71,000 And $123,000 | Between $56,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | Bothell, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Superior Group | |
| Best paying industry | Telecommunication | Finance |
There are a few differences between a network planning engineer and a network administrator in terms of educational background:
| Network Planning Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | 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 planning engineers' and network administrators' demographics:
| Network Planning Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 80.9% Female, 19.1% | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 14.1% White, 60.7% 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% |