Database Administrator — SQL Server, Oracle and Cloud Platforms, US Employers

Banks, insurers, hospitals, retailers, software companies, universities and government agencies across the United States employ database administrators to keep production data available, recoverable and secure. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts 69,990 people in the occupation, plus a further 67,140 database architects doing the design half of the same work.

What the work involves

Installing, patching and upgrading database platforms; monitoring performance and diagnosing slow queries; designing and testing backup and recovery; controlling user access and auditing it; tuning indexes and storage; and migrating databases between servers or into cloud platforms. Most posts carry an on-call rotation for maintenance windows and incidents.

Requirements

• A bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS records for this occupation, most often in computer science or information systems
• Strong SQL, plus working knowledge of at least one platform — SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL or MongoDB
• Backup, restore and point-in-time recovery experience you can describe from a real incident
• Scripting for automation, commonly PowerShell, Python or shell
• Cloud database services such as Amazon RDS, Azure SQL or Cloud SQL, increasingly expected even in on-premises roles
• Access control, auditing and encryption practice, and familiarity with whichever regime binds the employer

What it pays

• Median $104,620 a year for database administrators, with the 10th percentile at $60,230 and the 90th at $163,320 (BLS, May 2025)
• Database architects are a separate, better-paid occupation at a $139,500 median — check which one the advertisement is really describing
• Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington and California lead on average pay; healthcare and education pay below the occupational mean

Before you apply

Read the duties, not the title. "Database Administrator" is used for operational posts at about $104,620 and for design-led posts closer to the $139,500 architect median, and the gap is larger than any certification will move your offer.

Note: pay, on-call arrangements, benefits and eligibility are set by each employer — not by Sajad Digital Services. Confirm the details on the employer's own advertisement before applying.