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The differences between senior data center engineers and data center engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a senior data center engineer and a data center engineer. Additionally, a senior data center engineer has an average salary of $103,215, which is higher than the $102,788 average annual salary of a data center engineer.
The top three skills for a senior data center engineer include windows, vmware esxi and nexus. The most important skills for a data center engineer are data centers, troubleshoot, and HVAC.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Center Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $103,215 | $102,788 |
| Hourly rate | $49.62 | $49.42 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 139,255 | 178,277 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior data center engineer specializes in designing and developing systems and networks to optimize data center operations. It is their responsibility to set guidelines and objectives, identify and understand the needs of facilities, conduct research and analyses, develop prototypes and test structures, troubleshoot problems, perform installations and repairs, and conduct regular maintenance checks on systems. Moreover, a senior data center engineer oversees projects and leads junior engineers to reach goals, all while implementing the company's data security policies and regulations.
A data center engineer is responsible for managing the efficiency and optimal performance of the network data systems of an organization. Data center engineers ensure the safety and security of the database to prevent unauthorized access and suspicious activities within the network that may pose risks for the business. They assess the navigation of the servers, conduct regular maintenance, and perform immediate troubleshooting for glitches to avoid any delays in the operation. A data center engineer must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in writing data resolution for reference and configuration.
Senior data center engineers and data center engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Center Engineer | |
| Average salary | $103,215 | $102,788 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $140,000 | Between $71,000 And $147,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | California |
| Best paying company | CDW | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior data center engineer and a data center engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Center Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 59% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior data center engineers' and data center engineers' demographics:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Center Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.9% Female, 2.1% | Male, 94.2% Female, 5.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 11.0% White, 62.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 8.6% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 11.0% White, 62.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |