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The differences between senior data center engineers and data engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a senior data center engineer, becoming a data engineer takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a data engineer has an average salary of $109,675, which is higher than the $103,215 average annual salary of a senior 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 engineer are python, java, and cloud.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $103,215 | $109,675 |
| Hourly rate | $49.62 | $52.73 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 139,255 | 303,105 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
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 engineer is someone who makes data science possible. This IT job requires the search for data set trends and algorithm development to make raw data more beneficial to the enterprise. Data engineers are responsible for establishing and maintaining an environment that permits other data functions. The necessary skills for the job include in-depth knowledge of multiple programming languages and SQL database design. Among the other skills data engineers should develop include data warehousing and architecture, data mining and modeling, and statistical regression analysis.
Senior data center engineers and data engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Engineer | |
| Average salary | $103,215 | $109,675 |
| Salary range | Between $75,000 And $140,000 | Between $80,000 And $149,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Idaho | California |
| Best paying company | CDW | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior data center engineer and a data engineer in terms of educational background:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 55% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Northeastern University | California State University - Long Beach |
Here are the differences between senior data center engineers' and data engineers' demographics:
| Senior Data Center Engineer | Data Engineer | |
| Average age | 43 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 97.9% Female, 2.1% | Male, 81.5% Female, 18.5% |
| 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, 4.3% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 30.1% White, 52.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 8% |