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The differences between senior network engineers and network managers 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 manager. Additionally, a senior network engineer has an average salary of $111,707, which is higher than the $97,578 average annual salary of a network manager.
The top three skills for a senior network engineer include switches, BGP and OSPF. The most important skills for a network manager are customer service, fault management, and network infrastructure.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $111,707 | $97,578 |
| Hourly rate | $53.71 | $46.91 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 35,428 | 36,831 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| 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 manager is responsible for monitoring the efficient network connection of the company's technology systems, analyzing system designs, and overseeing installation processes and programs. Network managers inspect the efficiency of existing network management systems, upgrading network data to boost optimal performance and communication transportation. A network manager must have excellent knowledge of technology disciplines and should always be updated with the recent technology trends, guiding the network staff on their tasks and immediately resolving system defects and discrepancies.
Senior network engineers and network managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Average salary | $111,707 | $97,578 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $145,000 | Between $71,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Menlo Park, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior network engineer and a network manager in terms of educational background:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | - | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between senior network engineers' and network managers' demographics:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% | Male, 83.3% Female, 16.7% |
| 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, 9.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.7% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |