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General Discussion

nicholas maddren
nicholas maddren
12,793 Points

Why are SQL developers paid so much?

I've noticed that SQL developers/database administrators get paid massive amounts to do there job.

Why do they get paid so much what is so challenging, I think that MySQL is one of the easiest part of development.

Obviously for companies that have giant databases I can imagine they need maintenance however what are the tasks they carry out on a daily basis?

1 Answer

Ken Alger
STAFF
Ken Alger
Treehouse Teacher

Nicholas;

In my experience with businesses, database admins get paid well for a couple of reasons, I am sure there are others.

1) There is an "art" to designing a database that is efficient, maintainable, and upgradable. Simply knowing the SQL commands necessary to build tables and relationships does not necessarily mean that it is efficient. For Ma & Pa's Store with a few products and a few customers it may be adequate. For a large company database efficiency is critical. 2) A company's database is, in many respects, their lifeline. It, generally, holds all of the information regarding customers, vendors, accounting, etc. It is mission critical. Having a good DB Admin reduces the risk of losing all that data. 3) Sometimes it is work paying someone well for the security of knowing that if something does go wrong, there is someone there how can fix things. On a day-to-day basis their job may be working to make the DB more efficient, backing things up, upgrading software, etc. You may be able to hire Joe Blow to do those tasks. What happens when a server goes down? Or when the CEO/CFO/CTO decides it is time to migrate from one database to another?