Career-PathGPS
← All education and training
Career

Web Administrators

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeLower pressure Bright Outlook

What they do

Manage web environment design, deployment, development and maintenance activities. Perform testing and quality assurance of web sites and web applications.

Kinds of work

  • Conventional: Organizing information, following clear procedures and working with data and details.
  • Investigative: Science, research, figuring out how things work and solving complex problems.
  • Enterprising: Leading, persuading, selling and starting new projects or businesses.

Lower pressure: How much pressure workers in this job report: deadlines, conflict, dealing with upset people, the cost of mistakes, responsibility for others' safety, competition and long hours. It varies a lot from one employer to the next. Source: U.S. Department of Labor worker surveys.

Pay, tasks and more

Salary

United States $116,580 Median per year · $56.05/hr Most earn $55,940–$188,470

BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, 2025.

What you might do

  • Develop testing routines and procedures.
  • Gather, analyze, or document user feedback to locate or resolve sources of problems.
  • Develop Web site performance metrics.
  • Monitor systems for intrusions or denial of service attacks, and report security breaches to appropriate personnel.
  • Identify or document backup or recovery plans.
  • Check and analyze operating system or application log files regularly to verify proper system performance.

Job outlook

Bright Outlook Rapid Growth

United States
5% more jobs by 2035, faster than average · about 27,000 openings a year

Openings include new jobs and jobs left by workers who retire or change careers. Projections: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. "Bright Outlook": U.S. Department of Labor.

Where they work

  • Federal government, excluding postal service19.6%
  • Computer systems design and related services16.0%
  • Management of companies and enterprises4.9%
  • Self-employed (their own business)4.9%
  • Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services3.5%

Share of all workers in this career. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Employment Matrix.

Experience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Career path

How people usually get into this career, from school to their first job and beyond.

Typical education: Bachelor's degreeExperience before this job: 2 to 4 years

Web Administrator is not usually a straight-out-of-school job. Most people earn a bachelor's degree and then spend about 2 to 4 years in related web or IT work before taking this role, so the full path often takes roughly 6 to 8 years from high school.

  1. Bachelor's degree in computer science, information technology, or a related field

    4 years

    You learn programming, networking, databases, and how websites work, which gives you the base knowledge employers look for.

  2. Web Developer

    2-4 years

    You build and test websites and web applications, and you learn how sites are deployed and kept running, which is the day-to-day work of web administration.

  3. Web Administrator

    Ongoing once you reach this role

    You manage the web environment, handle deployment and maintenance, and run testing and quality assurance on sites and web applications.

Where it can lead

  1. Systems Architect

    2-4 years of experience first

    You move from running web environments to designing the larger technical systems they depend on, which takes strong planning skills and deep technical knowledge.

  2. Information Technology Project Manager

    2-4 years of experience first

    You lead teams and budgets for web and IT projects instead of doing the hands-on administration, which requires good communication and organization skills and often a project management certification.

What you can do now

Ideas for high school and college students.

In high school

  • Take computer science or programming classesLearning to code now gives you a head start on the skills you'll use in web work later.
  • Learn HTML, CSS, and basic JavaScriptThese are the building blocks of websites, and you can practice them for free online or with a simple project.
  • Join a coding or robotics clubWorking on team projects helps you practice problem solving and gives you something to show later.
  • Volunteer to manage your school's website or help run tech for school eventsKeeping a real website updated gives you hands-on experience with the job's day-to-day tasks.
  • Get a starter job or volunteer position helping with computersTech support or helping family and neighbors with devices builds troubleshooting and customer skills.

In college

  • Major in computer science, information technology, or a web-related fieldA bachelor's degree is the typical starting point for this career, and these majors cover the skills it needs.
  • Take courses in networking, databases, and Linux server administrationThese classes cover the systems web administrators keep running every day.
  • Apply for an internship at a company with a website or IT departmentReal work experience is often what gets you hired, and many employers expect 2 to 4 years of related experience.
  • Work a campus IT help desk or web-related jobCampus tech jobs let you practice supporting users and maintaining systems while you study.
  • Join a student tech or web development groupBuilding projects with others helps you practice testing, teamwork, and showing your work to others.

Tips for getting started

  • Build a small website or web app of your own and host it online. Being able to show working projects matters a lot in this field.
  • Get comfortable with the basics of servers, Linux, and version control like Git, since they show up in many web admin job listings.
  • Look for part-time or summer IT help desk or tech support work. It gives you real experience with users, systems, and troubleshooting before you finish your degree.

Related jobs that often lead here

Related jobs a step up

Education, experience and related careers: U.S. Department of Labor. The step-by-step path, where it can lead and what you can do now were written by AI as typical examples; many people take other ways.

College majors that lead here

Majors: U.S. Department of Education and BLS (CIP–SOC crosswalk). Earnings and debt: College Scorecard, typical across U.S. colleges.

Related careers