Network & Computer Systems Administrator BLS median: ~$51K–$58K (early 2000s, needs-verification) rising to $96,800 (May 2024)
Summary
Claim: BLS median wage for Network & Computer Systems Administrators: roughly $51K–$58K (2002–2004), rising to $96,800 (May 2024). Fully-loaded employer cost ~1.25–1.4× wage.
Source: BLS OEWS (2024 figure verified). Early-2000s figure not rendered from primary BLS OEWS at brief deadline — treat as needs-verification.
Confidence: Verified for 2024. Single-source / needs-verification for the early-2000s range.
Why this matters for Candid: The other half of the pre-cloud cost stack. A pre-2009 database-backed app needed a server plus the sysadmin to keep it patched and backed up. The labor cost was the dominant line item, and managed services absorbed it. See The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included).
Related entries
Referenced by (4)
- reference Research brief: the falling cost floor of "real" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026) relates-to
- reference Amazon RDS announced October 2009 (MySQL first); GA May 31, 2011 — managed DB absorbs admin/backup/failover relates-to
- reference The structural shift: capex (server + sysadmin) → opex (managed service, administration included) depends-on
- reference Caveats: AWS vendor framing quarantined; build-vs-buy vendor cost pages flagged; DrPeering single-source; sysadmin wages needs-verification relates-to