Computers and math
Network and computer systems administrators
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.
Median pay
$99,130
Growth to 2035
−4%
declining
Openings a year
13,400
Time to qualify*
Minimal
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Network and computer systems administrators
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to network and computer systems administrators
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Network and computer systems administrators: 40% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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) · LAN Specialist (Local Area Network Specialist) · Network Administrator (Network Admin) · Network Analyst · Network Coordinator · Network Engineer · Network Manager · Network Specialist
Outlook and AI
Network and computer systems administrators held 323,600 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 310,400 by 2035 (−4%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Occupational substitution, productivity change - share decreases as job duties are increasingly performed by DevOps engineers and similar roles, including software developers, and as workers increasingly use third-party automation tools or artificial intelligence (AI) to automate routine tasks.
Compare with
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- Network and computer systems administrators vs. Computer systems analyst
- Network and computer systems administrators vs. Information security analyst
- Network and computer systems administrators vs. Computer user support specialist
- Network and computer systems administrators vs. Software engineer
- Network and computer systems administrators vs. Database architect