How To Become A Senior Server Administrator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior server administrator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Maryam Farahani

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior server administrator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.73 an hour? That's $86,797 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 18,200 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior server administrator?

Maryam Farahani

Engineering Instructor, Bakersfield College

Thinking about the fields they want to experience or try. And to be intentional about their job search. The best advice is learning as much as they can about what company offers. Visualizing themselves in the next 5 years as a starting point. Do they want to travel a lot, or be in management positions? Do they want to be subject matter expert, or a hands-on engineer or technologist? Their goal may change as they progress in their career but having one makes a big difference in their career choices and keeping them on track.

ScoreSenior Server AdministratorUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $86,797

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.7

Growth rate 5%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 13.98%

Black or African American 8.02%

Hispanic or Latino 11.74%

Unknown 5.01%

White 60.94%

Gender

female 10.16%

male 89.84%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

5.7

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.7

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior server administrator

Explore senior server administrator education requirements

Most common senior server administrator degrees

Bachelor's

59.0 %

Associate

22.1 %

Master's

9.0 %

Start to develop specific senior server administrator skills

Skills	Percentages
PowerShell	7.06%
Linux	4.71%
Troubleshoot	4.40%
DNS	4.24%
Microsoft Windows Server	4.12%

Complete relevant senior server administrator training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior server administrators learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior server administrator based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior server administrator resumes.

Research senior server administrator duties and responsibilities

Manage all backup, Citrix and remote systems.
Manage several internal URLs host under IIS across multiple servers.
Manage L2/L3 switches, as well as routers and the company firewall.
Assist in managing and creating GPO's to be deploy to enterprise systems.

Get senior server administrator experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior server administrator. The most common roles before becoming a senior server administrator include systems administrator, sql database administrator team lead and network administrator.

Apply for senior server administrator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior server administrator job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average senior server administrator salary

The average senior server administrator salary in the United States is $86,797 per year or $42 per hour. Senior server administrator salaries range between $55,000 and $135,000 per year.

Average senior server administrator salary

$86,797 Yearly

$41.73 hourly

What is a senior server administrator and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a senior server administrator?

Senior server administrator career paths

Key steps to become a senior server administrator

Explore senior server administrator education requirements

Most common senior server administrator degrees

Start to develop specific senior server administrator skills

Complete relevant senior server administrator training and internships

Research senior server administrator duties and responsibilities

Get senior server administrator experience

Apply for senior server administrator jobs

How did you land your first senior server administrator job

Average senior server administrator salary

How do senior server administrators rate their job?