Occupation salary profile

Network and Computer Systems Administrators

SOC 15-1244 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Install, configure, and maintain an organization’s local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), data communications network, operating systems, and physical and virtual servers. Perform system monitoring and verify the integrity and availability of hardware, network, and server resources and systems. Review system and application logs and verify completion of scheduled jobs, including system backups. Analyze network and server resource consumption and control user access. Install and upgrade software and maintain software licenses. May assist in network modeling, analysis, planning, and coordination between network and data communications hardware and software. Excludes “Information Security Analysts” (15-1212), “Computer Network Support Specialists” (15-1231), and “Computer User Support Specialists” (15-1232).

National median · BLS
$99,130
▲ +2.41% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$95,000
▼ -0.99% YoY · 5,334 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$103,680
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
314,340
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 5,334 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$62,640$75,338
25th$78,010$84,490
Median (50th)$99,130$95,000
75th$126,640$118,685
90th — top pay$155,050$142,065
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $95,000 for Network and Computer Systems Administrators — 4.2% below the BLS national median of $99,130.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Network and Computer Systems Administrators

BLS projects employment of network and computer systems administrators to decline 4.1% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 13,400 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
323,600 → 310,400
-13,200 jobs
Projected change
-4.1%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
13,400
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
0.2% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 3)
Medium Preparation Needed. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Fastest-declining jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $95,000
Change vs prior year -0.99%
After inflation (CPI-U) -3.99%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 668 12.5% $66,955 $73,070 $81,980
Level II 2,915 54.6% $84,261 $87,779 $99,195
Level III 861 16.1% $103,334 $114,100 $131,300
Level IV 766 14.4% $123,219 $138,923 $158,333
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Network and Computer Systems Administrators

The 48 most-filed job titles inside SOC 15-1244, from 5,334 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Network Engineer 601 11.27% $80,288 $86,965 $100,000 -2.29%
System Administrator 283 5.31% $81,442 $86,424 $99,008 +0.39%
Infrastructure Consultant 258 4.84% $80,933 $85,218 $88,317 —
Systems Administrator 248 4.65% $80,725 $92,075 $109,978 +6.46%
Network and Computer Systems Administrator 239 4.48% $80,000 $86,966 $103,908 -1.54%
Network Administrator 234 4.39% $81,765 $87,000 $99,008 -6.95%
Manager generic 155 2.91% $102,212 $106,080 $119,038 +2.38%
DevOps Engineer 118 2.21% $84,866 $94,661 $104,958 -3.82%
Associate generic 114 2.14% $84,427 $86,965 $91,229 +5.21%
Systems Engineer 105 1.97% $86,965 $99,840 $120,000 +0.36%
Lead Administrator 75 1.41% $85,384 $86,840 $98,311 +4.04%
Technical Support Engineer 71 1.33% $92,290 $108,164 $128,522 -2.08%
Support Engineer II-External 68 1.27% $115,200 $120,300 $126,692 -6.45%
Infrastructure Engineer 48 0.9% $91,354 $122,500 $144,571 -2%
Site Reliability Engineer 47 0.88% $102,742 $119,038 $137,534 -11.17%
Software Engineer 41 0.77% $86,000 $92,200 $104,083 -2%
Network Security Engineer 40 0.75% $86,357 $100,000 $114,214 +11.44%
Cloud Engineer 38 0.71% $85,446 $94,080 $100,000 +10.59%
System Engineer 37 0.69% $82,659 $89,461 $95,000 -1.94%
Network and Systems Administrator 28 0.52% $86,534 $97,902 $120,688 +3.23%
System Admin/Engineer 27 0.51% $114,900 $117,800 $141,550 -6.28%
IT Specialist 25 0.47% $67,000 $76,000 $94,661 +8.21%
Technical Consulting Engineer 24 0.45% $93,775 $113,050 $114,100 +0.94%
Technical Solutions Engineer 23 0.43% $107,310 $119,000 $177,500 +16.38%
Administrator generic 21 0.39% $80,288 $82,930 $90,563 +3.29%
Computer Systems Administrator 18 0.34% $66,492 $83,110 $90,000 +10.81%
IT Consultant 17 0.32% $80,725 $92,622 $99,008 -6.45%
Network and Computer System Administrator 16 0.3% $85,728 $93,200 $105,687 +12.72%
Support Engineer I-Ext 15 0.28% $103,050 $103,200 $106,250 —
Principal Engineer 15 0.28% $123,438 $128,340 $147,884 -2%
Staff Technical Support Engineer 14 0.26% $125,574 $127,608 $147,036 -8.01%
Consulting Engineer 14 0.26% $105,325 $114,100 $127,500 +1.88%
Information Technology Specialist 13 0.24% $67,912 $82,659 $104,083 +44.01%
Cloud Support Engineer 12 0.22% $85,051 $105,000 $147,729 +8.39%
Linux Administrator 12 0.22% $85,054 $94,311 $111,586 +5.38%
Systems Analyst 12 0.22% $88,257 $90,000 $115,778 -6.68%
Engineer generic 12 0.22% $104,578 $121,679 $140,000 +5.81%
Computer Systems Engineer 12 0.22% $78,907 $90,000 $92,665 —
Consultant, Infrastructure Management 12 0.22% $78,733 $80,288 $85,779 -1.43%
Network and System Administrator 11 0.21% $80,900 $87,838 $97,279 +3.13%
Salesforce Administrator 11 0.21% $94,173 $110,362 $120,466 -9.91%
IT Systems Administrator 10 0.19% $71,094 $97,100 $127,750 -11.73%
SAP Basis Administrator 10 0.19% $83,263 $100,145 $118,964 -15.13%
Systems Administrator Specialist 10 0.19% $139,832 $143,300 $150,278 +2.36%
Storage Engineer 10 0.19% $82,436 $90,158 $114,778 -13.2%
IT Systems Engineer 10 0.19% $108,534 $127,162 $136,908 —
Technical Specialist 10 0.19% $89,627 $91,116 $92,622 —
Support Engineer 10 0.19% $65,177 $81,600 $136,246 -28.67%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Network and Computer Systems Administrators

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Judgment and Decision Making4.0
  • Systems Analysis4.0
  • Systems Evaluation4.0
  • Troubleshooting4.0
  • Complex Problem Solving3.9
  • Critical Thinking3.9
  • Monitoring3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Operations Monitoring3.5
Top knowledge areas
  • Computers and Electronics4.6
  • Telecommunications3.6
  • Customer and Personal Service3.4
  • English Language3.4
  • Administration and Management3.2
  • Administrative3.1
  • Engineering and Technology3.0
  • Design2.4
Software and technology used
Amazon Web Services AWS softwareAnsible softwareBashLinuxMicrosoft Active DirectoryMicrosoft Azure softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerShellMicrosoft SharePointMicrosoft Windows ServerPythonRed Hat Enterprise LinuxServiceNowStructured query language SQLUNIXFirewall software

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What network and computer systems administrators do

  • Plan, coordinate, and implement network security measures to protect data, software, and hardware.
  • Perform data backups and disaster recovery operations.
  • Diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve hardware, software, or other network and system problems, and replace defective components when necessary.
  • Maintain and administer computer networks and related computing environments, including computer hardware, systems software, applications software, and all configurations.
  • Configure, monitor, and maintain email applications or virus protection software.
  • Confer with network users about solutions to existing system problems.
  • Operate master consoles to monitor the performance of computer systems and networks and to coordinate computer network access and use.
  • Maintain logs related to network functions, as well as maintenance and repair records.
Also called
LAN Administrator (Local Area Network Administrator)Network Administrator (Network Admin)Network EngineerSystems EngineerLAN Specialist (Local Area Network Specialist)Network AnalystNetwork CoordinatorNetwork ManagerNetwork Specialist
More job titles for this occupation (39)
Application Security AdministratorApplication Systems AdministratorComputer Support SpecialistComputer Systems Security Administrator (Computer Systems Security Admin)E-Mail System Administrator (Electronic Mail System Administrator)Enterprise Systems AdministratorHardware Installation CoordinatorInformation Systems AdministratorInformation Systems OperatorInternet Systems AdministratorInternetwork Expert (CCIE)IS Coordinator (Information Systems Coordinator)IT Administrator (Information Technology Administrator)IT Analyst (Information Technology Analyst)IT Systems Admin (Information Technology Systems Administrator)LAN Systems Administrator (Local Area Network Systems Administrator)Mainframe Systems AdministratorNetwork Control AnalystNetwork Professional (CCNP)Network Security AdministratorNetwork Support AdministratorNetwork Support CoordinatorNetwork Support ManagerNetwork Support SpecialistNetwork Systems AdministratorNetwork Systems CoordinatorNetwork TechnicianNetwork Transport AdministratorNetworking AdministratorProvider Network ManagerServer AdministratorSoftware ManagerSystems Administrator (Systems Admin)Systems OperatorSystems SpecialistSystems Tester AdministratorWAN Administrator (Wide Area Network Administrator)WAN Systems Administrator (Wide Area Network Systems Administrator)Windows Administrator

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.