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The differences between operations engineers and devops engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an operations engineer, becoming a devops engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a devops engineer has an average salary of $104,019, which is higher than the $91,522 average annual salary of an operations engineer.
The top three skills for an operations engineer include python, cloud and AWS. The most important skills for a devops engineer are python, docker, and java.
| Operations Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $91,522 | $104,019 |
| Hourly rate | $44.00 | $50.01 |
| Growth rate | 2% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 155,188 | 257,025 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
An operations engineer is an individual who is responsible for ensuring that the operations of a company are working properly in industries such as manufacturing or shipping. Operations engineers are required to handle repairs or upgrades to the company's machinery and coordinate with department heads to assist in fine-tuning their operations system. When they have upgraded their system, operations engineers should conduct training with managers as well as employees and other workers. They are also required to examine machinery for defects and communicate maintenance schedules with department heads.
DevOps engineers are practitioners of DevOps, a software development strategy that aims to bridge the gap between computer software development and information technology (IT) operations. They work closely with computer software developers and other IT staff to manage code deployments and releases. Their duties include overseeing the IT infrastructure supporting software code in different environments, choosing a suitable deployment model, and directing testing protocol needed to validate releases. Other tasks they may likely perform include preparing test data, analyzing results, and troubleshooting issues and problems.
Operations engineers and devops engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Operations Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Average salary | $91,522 | $104,019 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $132,000 | Between $80,000 And $135,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Start-up |
There are a few differences between an operations engineer and a devops engineer in terms of educational background:
| Operations Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 75% |
| Most common major | Mechanical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Michigan Technological University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between operations engineers' and devops engineers' demographics:
| Operations Engineer | Devops Engineer | |
| Average age | 41 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.9% Female, 10.1% | Male, 86.2% Female, 13.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.2% Asian, 10.6% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 4.6% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.8% White, 52.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 8% |