Maryland is the best state to be a network administrator, study says

A new study looked at hotspots for network administrators around the country, and found that Maryland was the top state in the nation.

The report from UK-based Comparitech looked at a variety of factors for the folks who are in charge of overseeing computer networks, including average salaries, growth in the number of jobs and how many positions are currently available.

“We were interested specifically in network administrators because we felt that it is a somewhat overlooked area which despite its importance doesn’t necessarily get the attention it deserves for job studies,” said Comparitech data journalist Rebecca Moody, who oversaw the research.

Coming out on top overall, the Free State’s 16,220 network administrators currently have average annual salary of $108,190 ranks highest. Employment per 1,000 jobs of 6.04 is also on top. The number of people employed in the position has grown 68.26 percent over the last decade, the report states.

Moody said the reasons for Maryland topping the ranking were “numerous,” and owed to the same factors that we’ve heard during discussions of the area’s cyber talent, including the 16 certified centers of academic excellence and more than 35 incubators and research parks in the field.

“There is a high concentration of IT talent in the state attracted by security agencies such as the U.S. Cyber Command, NSA, DISA and NIST that call Maryland home,” Moody said. “Many of these government workers at some point in their careers transition into the corporate world making Maryland the perfect hub for many businesses in need of experienced networking professionals.”

Above-average quality of life considerations also helps, he said.

However, there are some challenges. The report states that Maryland didn’t score as high when it comes to projections for short-term and long-term growth in the area.

“This is perhaps due to the current saturation of these roles which is also shown in the state’s middle-of-the-ground ranking for the number of roles currently being advertised for,” the report states.

Rounding out the top 5 were Texas, California, South Carolina and Utah.