IT Salary Watch: Database Administrator

Job growth rate between 2004 to 2014: 38.2%

Job Description:

Think of them as the librarian – or rather, the meta-librarian – of the computer age. Database administrators maintain storage systems, running these archival networks with an eye toward maximizing user efficiency. (Indeed, part of a database manager’s job is assisting management and employees with database use.) Administrators monitor their system’s performance constantly. Going forward, security is becoming an increasingly important aspect of database maintenance.

Salary Information:

• The middle 50 percent earned between $44,490 and $81,140.

• The highest 10 percent earned more than $97,450.

• The lowest 10 percent earned less than $33,380.

• The median annual salary: $70,530.

(Government statistics did not list the industries that most frequently hired database administrators.)

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Source of salary and job growth rate data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004.