Network Engineer: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.
The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.
10% of network engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $79,900
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
25% of network engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $104,620
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Half of network engineers earn more than this and half earn less.
- Annual
- $134,050
- Hourly
- $64.45
- Source
- BLS May 2025
75% of network engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $168,200
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
90% of network engineers earn less than this amount.
- Annual
- $202,680
- Hourly
- n/a
- Source
- BLS May 2025
Network Engineers design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. The median pay is $134,050 a year ($64.45 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (55% of workers surveyed by O*NET).
- Median pay
- $134,050
- BLS May 2025
- Employed in the U.S.
- 179,740
- BLS May 2025
- Preparation
- Job Zone 4 of 5
- considerable preparation
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree
- 55% of workers
Data Government data groups this job as Computer Network Architects (O*NET-SOC 15-1241.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
Every page for Network Engineers
Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.
Open →How to becomeNetwork Engineer how to becomeEducation, training and the skills to build first.
Open →ResumeNetwork Engineer resumeKeywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.
Open →Interview questionsNetwork Engineer interview questionsQuestions with what they test, plus practice mode.
Open →Free toolCheck your resumeParsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.
Open →What network engineers do day to day
Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).
- Develop disaster recovery plans.
- Develop or recommend network security measures, such as firewalls, network security audits, or automated security probes.
- Develop and implement solutions for network problems.
- Maintain networks by performing activities such as file addition, deletion, or backup.
- Coordinate network operations, maintenance, repairs, or upgrades.
- Coordinate installation of new equipment.
- Monitor and analyze network performance and reports on data input or output to detect problems, identify inefficient use of computer resources, or perform capacity planning.
- Develop network-related documentation.
Ranked by importance to the job
Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.
Knowledge areas: Computers and Electronics, Engineering and Technology, Telecommunications, English Language, Education and Training, Design.
Software network engineers use
Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.
- Ansible softwareExpert system softwareIn demand
- Border Gateway Protocol BGPSwitch or router softwareIn demand
- IBM TerraformConfiguration management softwareIn demand
- Firewall softwareNetwork security and virtual private network VPN equipment softwareIn demand
- Adobe After EffectsVideo creation and editing softwareHot technology
- Amazon DynamoDBData base management system softwareHot technology
- Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationCloud-based management softwareHot technology
- Apache CassandraData base management system softwareHot technology
- Apache HadoopData base management system softwareHot technology
- Apache HiveData base management system softwareHot technology
- Apache Subversion SVNFile versioning softwareHot technology
- Atlassian JIRAContent workflow softwareHot technology
Also called: Network Architect, Computer Network Technologist, Network Analyst, Network Consultant, Network Systems Consultant, Networking Systems Engineer, Solutions Architect.
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How this page is built
Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the correlation between the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level, subtract the average across all occupations, and correlate the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 or below means unrelated. Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- How a specific employer defines the job.
- Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
- Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).