CompTIA Network+

Average salary for CompTIA Network+ professionals [2022 update]

Are you looking for a certification program that will support your career of installing, troubleshooting, and managing networks? If so, the Network+ certification hosted by CompTIA may be just what you are looking for.

This will stir the question of how much salary will I make as a certification holder? This article will detail what the average salary is for Network+ cert holders and will explore what the Network+ certification is, the popularity of this certification, how much the average salary is for Network+ certification holders and other considerations such as common job titles, what this certification can do for your career, and what you may earn as a Network+ certification holder in different roles.

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What is Network+?

Network+ is a vendor-neutral, foundational Networking certification. It certifies that the holder has the following skills and knowledge:

• Troubleshoot, configure and manage common network devices
• Establish basic network connectivity
• Understand and maintain network documentation
• Identify network limitations and weaknesses
• Implement network security, standards and protocols

What makes Network+ so popular?

This internationally recognized IT certification is one of the most popular foundational skills certs on the market today. The impact drives this popularity it can have on the careers of cert holders. It can help you nail that elusive entry-level position that so often advertises that the candidate needs to have a certain required level of knowledge and skills that may seem beyond the reach of an entry-level networking professional who does not hold the cert. Remember that this does not mean that you do not need any experience to earn this certification. CompTIA recommends that Network+ certification candidates have earned the CompTIA A+ certification and at least 9 to 12 months of work experience in IT networking.

What is the average Network+ salary?

One thing that you will notice when you search the internet for the average Network+ salary on the internet is how much this figure varies from source to source. To give you the most accurate and realistic average salary, I took an average of the four most common Network+ averages, which were $62,000, $65,000, $74,000, and $88,720. This gives us a 2022 average Network+ salary of $72,430. This figure represents the average salary across the different job titles that hire Network+ certifications holders. 

Putting this average Network+ certification holder salary into perspective, please keep in mind that a Networking professional that does not hold the Network+ cert will earn an average salary of only around $45,200. This significant boost in income would surely be considered life-changing to many.

What are Network+ common job titles?

Network+ is a certification that does not just feed into entry-level network professional job titles such as Network Analyst. Still, rather it can be thought of as a proverbial feeder ramp into a whole host of job titles that you may not be thinking of. Below are the common job titles you can expect for Network+ cert holders.

• Network analyst
• Network engineer
• Network support specialist
• IT consultant
• Systems administrator
• Cyber security analyst
• Information technology specialist
• Information security analyst
•  IT director
• Information technology manager
• Help desk technician
• Cyber security engineer

Average salary by job title

It’s good to know what job titles are looking for Network+ certification holders but the more pressing question is what are their average salaries? Below is what you can expect as an average salary for these job titles.

Network analyst $58,305

Network engineer $73,188

Network support specialist $49,824

IT consultant $59,884

Systems administrator $64,141

Cyber security analyst $76,441

Information technology specialist $56,078

Information security analyst $71,226

IT director $98,854

Information technology manager $79,117

Help desk technician $41,877

Cyber security engineer $99,033

What can Network+ do for your career?

Network+ can be a useful tool for you to advance your career at a time when you may only have around a year of work experience in Networking. This foundational certification verifies that you have the knowledge and skills in the following areas of networking expertise:

• Introduction to network security and access
• Remote access technologies
• Network elements such as LAN, WAN, servers, hosts and workstations
• Common network connectivity devices used by organizations such as router, hub, and NIC
• In-depth knowledge of network operating systems
• TCP/IP fundamentals such as SNMP, NFS, FTP, TFTP and LPD protocols
• Introduction to OSI model
•  Physical media
• Topologies such as ring, start, mesh and bus topologies

Where to go from here

You may be wondering where you can take your career after earning the Network+ certification. Remember that despite how helpful Network+ will be for your career, it is still just a foundational certification. While this is so, you will see that it is also the top vendor-neutral certification on the market today. Your career will dictate where you can go from Network +. You will notice that organizations tend to encourage employees to pursue advanced, vendor-specific certifications for the networking platforms and products they use daily. You may be asked to earn a certification in Cisco, AWS, VMware, and Juniper (among others).

Other ways to boost your average salary

1. Prior experience
2. Additional certifications and training
3. Commitment
4. Regional differences (such as working in a large metropolitan area vs. a small town)
5. Industry variation
6. Refine your soft skills

Earn your Network+ certification, guaranteed!

Enroll in an upcoming live online boot camp and earn your CompTIA Network+, guaranteed.

Get Pricing

Network+ salaries

Network+ is a certification that can be a great stepping-stone toward attaining a respectable entry-level networking job or to help you reach the next networking job in your career. The average salary you can expect after earning the Network+ certification is $72,430, which is almost $30,000 over the average salary of a network professional that has a year of professional experience. If you work on the network side of things and are looking for a certification to help verify the knowledge and skills you have acquired, give the average salary a thought when deciding whether to earn this certification.

 

Sources

• Network+, CompTIA
•  Salary for Certification: CompTIA Network+, Payscale
•  How Much Can I Make with a CompTIA Network+ Certification?, CompTIA