Web Administrators
Also called Corporate Webmaster, Web Site Manager, Web Technologies Administrator, or Webmaster
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Web Administrators do
You keep a company's website alive, safe, and fast, and you help build what comes next.
Web administrators look after the websites and web apps a company depends on. That means setting them up, testing them, fixing what breaks, and protecting them. You watch for intrusions (someone trying to break in) and denial of service attacks (floods of fake traffic meant to knock a site offline). You install updates and patches (small fixes software makers release), and you set up firewalls (filters that block unwanted traffic) and encryption (scrambling data so only the right people can read it).
You also plan for bad days. Backups and recovery plans are yours, so a crash or a mistake does not erase everything. Some of the work is quiet and solo, digging into why a page is slow. The rest is people work: sitting with developers and designers to sort out problems users are hitting, and explaining who gets access to what.
A day in the life
You start indoors at a desk, coffee and email. You scan overnight alerts and logs (automatic records of what the computers did) to see if anything strange hit the servers (the computers that store and deliver a website). One page is loading slowly, so you trace it back to a recent change and undo that change so the page works again. Mid-morning you meet face-to-face with the development team about a checkout form users keep abandoning, and you test a fix. After lunch you schedule a security update for a quiet hour and confirm last night's backup actually restores. Someone new joins the marketing team, so you set their access level and write down what you did. You spend a lot of the day sitting, switching between focused solo work and short conversations.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Like keeping systems accurate, orderly, and running on schedule
- ✓Enjoy chasing down why something broke until you find the real cause
- ✓Can explain technical problems clearly to people who are not technical
- ✓Stay calm when something goes wrong and people are waiting on you
- ✓Want work that mixes solo focus with regular team conversation
You might not like it if you…
- –Prefer spending all your time creating brand-new products, since a lot of this job is testing, updating, and keeping existing sites running well
- –Dislike sitting indoors at a computer for most of the day
- –Would rather not be the person people turn to when a website stops working
- –Find it draining to document access rules, backups, and recovery plans carefully
How people get in
- 1Get comfortable with computers early: build a simple website, break it, and fix it, so you learn how the pieces fit together.
- 2Plan for a bachelor's degree, which is the typical entry education here. Common paths include computer science, computer and information sciences, information science, information technology project management, or medical informatics (using computer systems to manage health information).
- 3While studying, take on hands-on work: run a club or campus site, do an internship, or take a help desk job (answering people's computer problems at a school or company) so you get real experience with backups and security.
- 4Practice the human side too. Write clear instructions, listen well in meetings, and get used to explaining a technical fix in plain words.
- 5Look for entry roles like web support, systems support, or junior administrator, where many people learn from experienced administrators before looking after a company's whole set of websites on their own.
- 6Keep learning on the job. Security threats and tools change, and employers expect you to stay current.
Who tends to enjoy it
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Leading
People who like persuading, selling, starting things, and taking charge.
Official task list
Web Administrators manage web environment design, deployment, development and maintenance activities. Perform testing and quality assurance of web sites and web applications. (O*NET)
- Monitor systems for intrusions or denial of service attacks, and report security breaches to appropriate personnel.
- Identify or document backup or recovery plans.
- Back up or modify applications and related data to provide for disaster recovery.
- Correct testing-identified problems, or recommend actions for their resolution.
- Identify, standardize, and communicate levels of access and security.
- Determine sources of Web page or server problems, and take action to correct such problems.
- Implement updates, upgrades, and patches in a timely manner to limit loss of service.
- Implement Web site security measures, such as firewalls or message encryption.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Critical Thinking
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Complex Problem Solving
- Monitoring
- Judgment and Decision Making
What you'll need to know
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Communications and Media
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
How much Web Administrators make
The median pay for Web Administrators in the U.S. is $116,580 a year ($56.05 an hour). Most earn between $55,940 and $188,470. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in District of Columbia ($156,590) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($60,470).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $106,330 | 2,630 |
| Alaska | $105,960 | 710 |
| Arizona | $105,240 | 5,510 |
| Arkansas | $86,940 | 1,120 |
| California | $134,440 | 80,150 |
| Colorado | $139,580 | 11,800 |
| Connecticut | $127,720 | 3,100 |
| Delaware | $137,470 | 860 |
| District of Columbia | $156,590 | 17,200 |
| Florida | $105,370 | 13,710 |
| Georgia | $104,610 | 20,630 |
| Guam | $76,770 | 280 |
| Hawaii | $120,100 | 2,080 |
| Idaho | $98,700 | 1,040 |
| Illinois | $99,360 | 11,160 |
| Indiana | $93,540 | 3,340 |
| Iowa | $107,340 | 3,850 |
| Kansas | $103,380 | 1,340 |
| Kentucky | $89,420 | 1,850 |
| Louisiana | $77,000 | 5,020 |
| Maine | $107,990 | 900 |
| Maryland | $144,680 | 19,060 |
| Massachusetts | $109,590 | 6,170 |
| Michigan | $105,680 | 7,440 |
| Minnesota | $91,750 | 4,180 |
| Mississippi | $86,940 | 1,450 |
| Missouri | $101,040 | 14,340 |
| Montana | $81,970 | 540 |
| Nebraska | $92,480 | 2,280 |
| Nevada | $100,220 | 2,610 |
| New Hampshire | $91,720 | 970 |
| New Jersey | $108,310 | 12,010 |
| New Mexico | $127,090 | 1,650 |
| New York | $116,990 | 11,460 |
| North Carolina | $104,850 | 15,090 |
| North Dakota | $78,330 | 730 |
| Ohio | $109,780 | 6,150 |
| Oklahoma | $102,520 | 3,320 |
| Oregon | $97,350 | 2,450 |
| Pennsylvania | $107,230 | 14,580 |
| Puerto Rico | $60,470 | 880 |
| Rhode Island | $102,210 | 830 |
| South Carolina | $112,260 | 4,300 |
| South Dakota | $105,370 | 240 |
| Tennessee | $76,470 | 10,930 |
| Texas | $111,530 | 57,020 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | $96,180 | 40 |
| Utah | $97,470 | 6,680 |
| Vermont | $111,530 | 1,320 |
| Virginia | $139,030 | 17,000 |
| Washington | $128,940 | 14,360 |
| West Virginia | $107,140 | 3,380 |
| Wisconsin | $88,130 | 4,680 |
| Wyoming | $94,520 | 170 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Computer Science 1,091 colleges
- Computer and Information Sciences 1,032 colleges
- Information Science / Studies 467 colleges
- Medical Informatics 182 colleges
- Information Technology Project Management 92 colleges
- Computational Science 104 colleges
- Cyber / Computer Forensics and Counterterrorism 148 colleges
- Human Computer Interaction 59 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 15-1299.01, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 15-1299. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.