💡 Why it matters: Banks, hospitals and phone companies store millions of records. Database administrators keep that information safe, quick to find and backed up in case something goes wrong.
💰 What it can pay
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Starting out
- ₦1.5M – ₦3.5M
- Mid-career
- ₦4M – ₦9.5M
- Senior
- ₦9.5M – ₦22M
≈ ₦333k – ₦792k a month mid-career. Indicative estimate by Incusim.
🇺🇸 United States
Closest US category: Database administrators and architects. Median pay. US Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025
🇨🇦 Canada
Closest Job Bank occupation: Database administrator. Hourly wage low/median/high x 2,080 hours. Job Bank (Government of Canada), 2023-2024
Yearly pay before tax. UK, US and Canada figures come from the official sources named on each card. Nigeria has no official salary survey, so those are our indicative estimates. Real pay depends on the employer, the place, your skills and experience.
🛠️ What you actually do
- Set up and manage databases
- Make sure data is backed up and recoverable
- Speed up slow searches
- Control who is allowed to see what
- Plan for growth as data increases
⚡ Skills you'll need
- SQL
- Attention to detail
- Problem solving
- Responsibility
- Planning
Get ready at school
🇳🇬 Nigeria
- Database certifications such as Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server or PostgreSQL courses
- Starting in IT support or as a junior developer
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Digital apprenticeships such as data technician or software developer
- Starting in IT support or as a junior developer, plus database certificates
🇺🇸 United States
- Database certifications from Oracle, Microsoft or open-source (PostgreSQL) courses
- Starting in IT help desk or as a junior developer
🇨🇦 Canada
- Database certifications from Oracle, Microsoft or open-source (PostgreSQL) courses
- Starting in IT support or as a junior developer
🗺️ Your path to this career
- 1Learn what a database is and practise SQL
- 2Build a small database project
- 3Study Computer Science or Information Systems
- 4Join an IT team in a junior role
- 5Earn a certification and take on bigger systems
⏰ A day in the life
Customers complain that a bank app is slow at month end. You find one badly written search, rewrite it to be faster, run a backup test and note the change for the team.