Systems Administrator | Salary & Job Information

Becoming a Systems Administrator via Online Education?

At the very least, online education can help you lay a foundation and/or open up alternate career paths. Colorado Technical University is a US school (accredited) offering systems engineering courses to train individuals to become top-notch systems engineers, information systems engineers, information systems managers, systems administrators, systems analysts, etc. Currently, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics there are 338,890 people employed as network and computer systems administrators alone in America, and their average annual salary is $70,930. Network systems and data communications analysts make on average $76,560 per year and there are about 226,080 of them employed today. Colleges and universities like Colorado Technical University that provide online education are successfully launching workers into this field.

Typical Work Locations for a Systems Administrator
  • Network Administration Companies
  • Network Engineering Firms
  • Database Companies
  • Network Companies
  • Application Development Companies
  • Project Management Centers
  • Software developing Companies
  • Software Engineering Companies
  • Systems Analyzing Companies
  • Technical writing Companies
Potential Advantages and Benefits of Working as a Systems Administrator
  • Constantly using the most up-to-date software
  • Well-paid profession
  • The opportunity to be around technology constantly
  • A good deal of computer science training required
  • Large amounts of administration experience required
  • No budgeting responsibilities
  • No travel required
  • Decisions normally have a noticeable effect department-wide and company-wide
  • Introducing and integrating new technologies into existing data center environments
  • Impressive and flexible educational background
Potential Drawbacks
  • Easily outsourced
  • Boring and repetitive work
  • Long and often overnight hours
  • On-call constantly
  • Responsible for upholding the securing of the infrastructure
  • Solutions must be simple to understand and explained thoroughly
  • Interpret and/or discuss information with others, which involves terminology or concepts not familiar to many people
  • Regularly provide advice and recommend actions involving rather complex issues
  • Responsibilities sometimes require working evenings and weekends, sometimes with little advanced notice
  • Not able to travel
Related Professions to Consider
  • Senior System Administrator
  • Linux System Administrator
  • System Administrator
  • Network Engineer
  • Solaris System Administrator
  • Learning Management System Administrator
  • Windows OS System Administrator
  • System Data Administrator
  • Principal System Administrator
  • UNIX System Administrator
Possible Interview Questions When Applying to be a Systems Administrator
  • What command will display the first several lines of a file called "junk"?
  • How do you feel about sudo?
  • What's the difference between telnet and ssh What's a good use for each?
  • What is the difference between a symbolic and hard link When would you use each?
  • What are shadow passwords?
  • How many processes are running on your machine right now?
  • What's your favorite shell Why?
  • How do you keep up with current tools and practices?
  • How do you rig Apache to start up on boot?
  • Describe an experience you had with a difficult user?
Common Collaborating Professions
  • Network System Administrator
  • Enterprise System Administrators
  • Server Database Administrator
  • Infrastructure Systems Engineer
  • Applications Systems Analyst
  • Software Specialist
  • Manager of Data Architecture
  • Senior Principal Engineer
  • Unified Collaboration and Communications Architect
  • Statistical Anal Programmer
Systems Administrator Training books Systems Administrator (More) Popular books Potential Companies to Work For Common College Majors
  • Applied Speech Communication
  • Career Exploration
  • Directed Studies
  • General Studies
  • Liberal Arts
  • Pre-criminal Justice
  • Law Administration
  • Elementary Education
  • Secondary Education
  • Computer Programming

Systems Administrator Salary Information

Category: Network and computer systems administrators

Total # Employed in the US 338,890
Average Hourly Wage: $34.1/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$20.16 $25.45 $32.55 $41.26 $50.95
Average Yearly Salary $70,930
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$41,940 $52,940 $67,710 $85,830 $105,970
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
0.7% 8.4% 25.2% 15.5% 39.0% 10.2% 1.0%
Network and computer systems administrators — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
North Dakota $39.02/hr $81,160
Mississippi $38.51/hr $80,100
Colorado $38.38/hr $79,830
Florida $38.06/hr $79,170
Oklahoma $37.96/hr $78,960
Missouri $37.31/hr $77,600
Connecticut $36.59/hr $76,110
Kansas $36.19/hr $75,260
Delaware $35.29/hr $73,400
Utah $34.54/hr $71,840
Idaho $34.13/hr $70,980
Virginia $33.9/hr $70,520
Nebraska $33.67/hr $70,040
Hawaii $33.42/hr $69,520
Oregon $33.05/hr $68,750
Wyoming $32.52/hr $67,630
Tennessee $32.46/hr $67,520
New Hampshire $32.32/hr $67,220
Montana $31.98/hr $66,520
Arkansas $31.91/hr $66,380
Alaska $31.73/hr $65,990
North Carolina $31.64/hr $65,800
District of Columbia $31.49/hr $65,500
Indiana $30.93/hr $64,340
Guam $30.67/hr $63,790
Alabama $30.48/hr $63,390
New Mexico $30.27/hr $62,960
Wisconsin $30.2/hr $62,810
New York $30.08/hr $62,560
Washington $30.07/hr $62,540
South Carolina $29.96/hr $62,310
Louisiana $29.66/hr $61,700
Puerto Rico $29.66/hr $61,690
Maine $29.13/hr $60,590
Michigan $28.77/hr $59,830
California $28.46/hr $59,200
Kentucky $28.29/hr $58,850
Iowa $27.77/hr $57,750
Ohio $27.52/hr $57,230
Massachusetts $26.89/hr $55,930
South Dakota $25.93/hr $53,930
Nevada $25.17/hr $52,360
West Virginia $25.11/hr $52,230
Maryland $24.97/hr $51,940
New Jersey $24.85/hr $51,690
Pennsylvania $24.84/hr $51,660


Category: Network systems and data communications analysts

Total # Employed in the US 226,080
Average Hourly Wage: $36.81/hr
Hourly Wage Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$20.62 $26.88 $35.22 $45.35 $55.83
Average Yearly Salary $76,560
Yearly Salary Range
PERCENTILE
10%25%50%75%90%
$42,880 $55,900 $73,250 $94,320 $116,120
Employment Demographics
% OF WORKERS WITH
< High School Diploma High School Diploma Some College Associate Degree Bachelor Degree Master Degree Doctoral Degree
0.7% 8.1% 21.6% 13.5% 42.8% 12.1% 1.2%
Network systems and data communications analysts — WAGES BY STATE, SORTED BY SALARY
STATEAverage Hourly WageAverage Annual Salary
North Dakota $43.33/hr $90,120
Colorado $40.96/hr $85,190
Mississippi $40.81/hr $84,880
District of Columbia $40.44/hr $84,110
Florida $40.15/hr $83,510
Nebraska $40/hr $83,210
Missouri $39.49/hr $82,140
Oklahoma $38.92/hr $80,950
New Hampshire $38.7/hr $80,490
Connecticut $37.59/hr $78,190
Utah $37.49/hr $77,970
New York $37.22/hr $77,410
Idaho $37.11/hr $77,200
Wyoming $36.74/hr $76,420
Oregon $36.14/hr $75,170
Delaware $35.81/hr $74,490
Virginia $35.5/hr $73,830
Kansas $35.31/hr $73,450
Guam $35.25/hr $73,320
Montana $34.83/hr $72,440
South Carolina $34.38/hr $71,510
Hawaii $33.64/hr $69,960
Arkansas $33.17/hr $69,000
Wisconsin $32.94/hr $68,520
California $32.84/hr $68,300
North Carolina $32.8/hr $68,220
Tennessee $32.37/hr $67,330
Puerto Rico $32.11/hr $66,780
Alaska $31.91/hr $66,370
Louisiana $31.87/hr $66,280
New Mexico $31.38/hr $65,270
Indiana $31.33/hr $65,160
Kentucky $30.72/hr $63,910
Maine $30.24/hr $62,900
Michigan $30.15/hr $62,720
Washington $30.15/hr $62,710
Alabama $29.99/hr $62,390
Ohio $29.77/hr $61,930
Iowa $28.94/hr $60,190
Pennsylvania $28.44/hr $59,160
South Dakota $28.43/hr $59,130
Maryland $28.43/hr $59,130
Nevada $28.01/hr $58,270
New Jersey $27.45/hr $57,100
West Virginia $26.47/hr $55,060
Massachusetts $26.1/hr $54,290


Systems Engineering Programs by State & City