According to Payscale.com, the average income of a network administrator is $58,500 while the average income of a systems administrator is $61,500. Either way, this is a solid salary for a position which has the chance to lead to even more responsibility and higher salaries later in your career. Later-career average pay is $68,800 and $73,900, respectively.
The BLS shows network and computer systems administrators as making slightly less than the average across all computer-related occupations, but significantly more than that across all occupations. And, this is before you take into account the location or size of the company at which you will work. Larger cities and larger companies often pay higher wages than small companies in small cities. Your pay can also be affected by your certifications, degree earned, past experience, and the industry of the company you work for. Companies who’s income relies on them protective significant amounts of sensitive data will often pay better wages to retain top talent in cyber security.
The employment of cyber security administrators (also called network and computer systems administrators) should grow about 5% between 2018 and 2028. This is about the same rate as for all other US occupations. IT and cyber security employees are in high demand; organizations and government agencies are growing as they buy new mobile networks and related technology and this growth is also pushed by the increasing use of information technology in the healthcare industry.
The only cloud on the horizon regarding growth in this sector comes from the increasing use of cloud computing. Network administrators may become more productive, which could lead to a slowdown in the growth of the sector. Several industries may be susceptible to this slowdown in employment growth.
Network administrators who specialize in computer systems design is predicted to grow about 24% between 2018 and 2028. Computer and information systems managers can look forward to a projected industry growth of 11% between 2018 and 2028. The demand for these professionals will grow as organizations move their data to new digital platforms—the computer and information systems managers will carry these goals out.
The need for better cyber security also fuels the growing need for administrators in this field. The retail trade needs to invest and put into place better cyber security policies, given the numbers of recent cyber-attacks.
Computer and information systems managers may find themselves migrating to companies providing cloud computing as companies may outsource this role to organizations that provide cloud computing. Thus, IT and cyber security specialists may end up working in industries that are not related to computer industries (retail, schools, healthcare, etc.).