Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between senior network engineers and network technicians 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 technician. Additionally, a senior network engineer has an average salary of $111,707, which is higher than the $68,938 average annual salary of a network technician.
The top three skills for a senior network engineer include switches, BGP and OSPF. The most important skills for a network technician are customer service, switches, and troubleshoot.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Technician | |
| Yearly salary | $111,707 | $68,938 |
| Hourly rate | $53.71 | $33.14 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 35,428 | 79,712 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| 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 technician is responsible for system malfunction diagnosis and troubleshooting operations. Network technicians duties' include repairing damaged system components, analyzing computer systems and blueprints, installing network connections, and upgrading accessories for efficient operations. Other duties include assisting customers with technical issues, ensuring computer systems' privacy, creating documents of network issues and resolutions, and suggesting alternative equipment for network backups. A network technician must have a broad knowledge of the technology industry and mechanical processes, plus the ability to work under pressure with minimal supervision.
Senior network engineers and network technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Technician | |
| Average salary | $111,707 | $68,938 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $145,000 | Between $51,000 And $92,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Urban Honolulu, HI |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Hawaii |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Apple |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a senior network engineer and a network technician in terms of educational background:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Technician | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 50% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Computer Science |
| Most common college | - | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between senior network engineers' and network technicians' demographics:
| Senior Network Engineer | Network Technician | |
| Average age | 43 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 93.2% Female, 6.8% | Male, 87.3% Female, 12.7% |
| 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, 8.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.4% White, 63.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |