Networking and Data Center Salary Survey: Is 2012 What You Expected?

We're closing in on the final quarter of 2012; back when we conducted our 2012 Network Computing Salary Survey, staff members across the country were reporting both higher salaries and greater dissatisfaction with their jobs. How has 2012 treated you? Has your salary held steady? Or were you passed up for that raise you were anticipating?

In our 2011 survey of 803 IT networking and data center staff members throughout the country, only those in the Pacific region of the U.S. reported salary increases, from an average of $77,000 per year in 2010, to $79,000 in 2011. Staff salaries in the Northeast, Midwest and South Atlantic held steady, while the South Central and Mountain portions of the country saw declines.

The story shifted for our 2012 report. The 711 IT staff members polled in January reported an average salary of $78,000 this year for networking and data center employees, an increase from $74,000 in 2011. Managers also saw an uptick; the salaries reported by the 509 managerial-level respondents averaged out to $97,000 per year, an increase from $95,000 in 2011.

Yet, the rise in salaries hasn't helped job satisfaction levels; 16% of networking and data center staffers reported they were dissatisfied, an increase from 13% in 2011. Two percent reported they were very dissatisfied in both years. By comparison, 12% of managers surveyed this year reported they were dissatisfied, a slight increase from the 11% of 648 managers in 2011 who reported the same. As with the networking and data center staff members, 2% of IT managers were very dissatisfied in both years.