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The differences between senior network 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 senior network engineer and a network administrator. Additionally, a senior network engineer has an average salary of $111,707, which is higher than the $71,357 average annual salary of a network administrator.
The top three skills for a senior network engineer include switches, BGP and OSPF. The most important skills for a network administrator are switches, windows server, and troubleshoot.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Yearly salary | $111,707 | $71,357 |
| Hourly rate | $53.71 | $34.31 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 35,428 | 106,886 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
A senior network engineer is responsible for managing the organization's network infrastructure, handling advanced network issues, upgrading the system's design for optimization, configuring network features, and ensuring the network's highest security measures to avoid unauthorized access and suspicious activities. Senior network engineers work with network architects to implement network designs, run diagnostic tests, and create network solution reports for review and recovery reference. A senior network engineer must have excellent communication and organization skills and broad knowledge of the technology industry, programming languages, and system codes.
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.
Senior network engineers and network administrators have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average salary | $111,707 | $71,357 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $145,000 | Between $56,000 And $90,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior network engineer and a network administrator in terms of educational background:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 55% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | - | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior network engineers' and network administrators' demographics:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Administrator | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% | Male, 88.6% Female, 11.4% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 13.5% White, 61.2% 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% |