---
title: "Computer Network Architect"
description: "Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-architect"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Computer Network Architect

**Category:** Computer and Mathematical · **SOC code:** 15-1241 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 15-1241.00

Design and implement computer and information networks, such as local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), intranets, extranets, and other data communications networks. Perform network modeling, analysis, and planning, including analysis of capacity needs for network infrastructures. May also design network and computer security measures. May research and recommend network and data communications hardware and software.

Also advertised as: Computer Network Technologist; Network Analyst; Network Consultant; Network Systems Consultant; Networking Systems Engineer; Solutions Architect; System Programmer; Systems Engineer.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $134,050 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $64.45/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $79,900 to $202,680, with the middle half between $104,620 and $168,200
- **Total US employment:** 179,740
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +11.9% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 11,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 26/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 179,740 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $79,900 |
| 25th | $104,620 |
| 50th (median) | $134,050 |
| 75th | $168,200 |
| 90th | $202,680 |
| Mean (average) | $139,580 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| WA | $168,070 | $157,056 | 4,730 |
| NJ | $162,350 | $149,212 | 5,660 |
| MD | $159,460 | $151,926 | 5,860 |
| CA | $158,870 | $143,488 | 14,870 |
| MA | $155,060 | $146,619 | 6,270 |
| SD | $153,390 | $173,154 | 420 |
| DE | $148,390 | $148,675 | 760 |
| CT | $143,890 | $138,877 | 1,570 |
| VA | $141,340 | $139,797 | 9,380 |
| NY | $140,390 | $130,086 | 9,800 |
| CO | $139,230 | $135,107 | 16,380 |
| NV | $138,060 | $138,089 | 1,010 |
| DC | $137,670 | $125,267 | 1,490 |
| OR | $135,660 | $131,249 | 1,540 |
| SC | $134,990 | $143,991 | 1,950 |

37 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 52 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-architect/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-network-architect.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 179,200 in the 2024–2034 base year to 200,600 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 21,400 jobs, or +11.9%. Much faster than average: 11.9% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 11,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** 5 years or more.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 55.0% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 15.0% |
| Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 15.0% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 5.0% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 5.0% |
| Master's Degree | 5.0% |

## What the work involves

- 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.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Critical Thinking — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Programming — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Technology Design — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Telecommunications — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Education and Training — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 3.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Problem Sensitivity — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Investigative (I), Conventional (C), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| I — Investigative | 5.28 |
| C — Conventional | 5.06 |
| R — Realistic | 4.04 |
| E — Enterprising | 3.20 |
| A — Artistic | 2.25 |
| S — Social | 2.17 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 90.0 |
| INTJ | 82.6 |
| ISTP | 76.6 |
| ESTJ | 71.0 |
| ISFJ | 64.0 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Computer Network Support Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-support-specialist) — median $76,220
- [Network and Computer Systems Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/network-and-computer-systems-administrator) — median $99,130
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Telecommunications Engineering Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/telecommunications-engineering-specialist) — median $134,050
- [Computer Systems Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-analyst) — median $105,850
- [Software Developer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/software-developer) — median $135,980
- [Information Security Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-engineer) — median $116,580
- [Database Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-administrator) — median $104,620
- [Database Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-architect) — median $139,500
- [Computer Hardware Engineer](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-hardware-engineer) — median $161,740

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/computer-network-architect