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The national median salary for Database Administrators is $104,624 per year ($50.30/hr) according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. The middle 50% of earners make between $79,622 and $135,470 annually. Top earners at the 90th percentile reach $163,322 per year. There are approximately 69,990 database administrators employed in the United States.
About This Role
BLS Standard Occupational Classification 2018
Administer, test, and implement computer databases, applying knowledge of database management systems. Coordinate changes to computer databases. Identify, investigate, and resolve database performance issues, database capacity, and database scalability. May plan, coordinate, and implement security measures to safeguard computer databases.
Career Outlook
BLS Employment Projections · 2024-2034
10-year growth
-0.7%
Little or no change
Annual openings
4K
per year, on avg
Workforce today
78K
as of 2024
Why those openings exist
0% from new growth100% from people leaving the role
Most openings come from replacement, not growth. Retention matters more than recruiting here.
Typical entry requirements
Education
Bachelor's degree
Experience
None
On-the-job training
None
Industry Wage Breakdown
Top 5 industries by employment · median annual wage, sector-specific
Industry
Workforce
Median Pay
Computer Systems Design and Related Services
NAICS 541500
10K
$124,130
Management of Companies and Enterprises
NAICS 551100
5K
$124,270
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools
NAICS 611300
4K
$95,010
State Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999200
3K
$100,050
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)
NAICS 999300
3K
$110,860
Wage range across top 5 industries: $95,010 to $124,270 (31% spread)
Wage Percentiles
Hourly & annualized (2,080 hours)
Percentile
Hourly Rate
Annual Salary
P10
$28.96
$60,237
P25
$38.28
$79,622
P50MEDIAN
$50.30
$104,624
P75
$65.13
$135,470
P90
$78.52
$163,322
Market Context Signal
JOLTS · tech sector
Cooling
Openings Rate
2.8%
Quits Rate
1.1%
Information sector openings held flat at 81K in March, but layoffs jumped to 66K (+13K, rate 2.4%) -- the highest layoff rate among major sectors. Quit rates dropped to 1.1%. Tech employers retain maximum leverage; cuts continue in pockets.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average database administrators salary?
The national median salary for Database Administrators is $104,624 per year ($50.30/hr) according to BLS OEWS May 2025 data. The middle 50% earn between $79,622 and $135,470 annually.
How much do top-earning database administrators make?
The 90th percentile salary for Database Administrators is $163,322 per year ($78.52/hr). The 75th percentile is $135,470 per year.
What is the entry-level salary for database administrators?
Entry-level Database Administrators (10th percentile) earn approximately $60,237 per year ($28.96/hr). The 25th percentile is $79,622 per year.
Wage figures on this page come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025 release. OEWS surveys roughly 1.1 million establishments annually. It is the most comprehensive employer-reported wage dataset in the United States.
P10 through P90 percentiles represent the wage distribution across all surveyed employers (not self-reported by workers). Geographic adjustments use BLS-derived cost multipliers calibrated from regional wage variation.
Wages are estimates. Individual compensation depends on experience, education, employer size, industry, and negotiation. Use this as benchmark context, not absolute ground truth.
CompSignal is a free labor market intelligence tool built for HR, compensation, and talent acquisition teams. We make BLS data, the same primary source Mercer and Radford cross-reference in their paid surveys, searchable and actionable without an enterprise subscription.
Built and maintained by Falcon Incentives, a compensation strategy and incentive design consultancy.