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Database Administrators

Computer and Mathematical · SOC 15-1242

33.1% AI Exposure — Very High
$104,620
Median Annual Salary
Average
O*NET Outlook
Proj. Annual Openings
69,990
Employment (OEWS 2025)
-5%/yr
Empl. growth (2021–2025)
67/100
AI Resiliency Score

AI exposure from the Anthropic Economic Index (2025); salary from BLS; skills from O*NET. See /sources.

Decision card

Career Evidence Passport

SOC 15-1242 evidence across exposure, wages, projections, postings, certified LCAs, skills, and transitions.

Proxy / seed data labeledDescriptive-only
SOC exposure
33.2%
Very High · Anthropic AEI
Automation friction
29/100
Low friction; broad SOC seed ORS job-requirements coverage.
Wages
$104,620
H-1B offered wage $111,400; LCAs are filings.
Projected openings
BLS EP 2024–2034; employment change -0.7%.
Observed/proxy demand
6,991
FY2025 certified LCAs; 1,426 postings in 2025.

Skill evidence

Critical ThinkingComplex Problem SolvingReading ComprehensionActive ListeningJudgment and Decision Making
  • H-1B values are certified Labor Condition Applications, not visa approvals.
  • Job postings are seed-static / seed-derived; treat as provider-ready proxy coverage until observed provider data is wired in.
  • Transition matches are directional skill-overlap context, not placement guarantees.
  • This release is a FutureGrid broad-SOC seed derived from public BLS ORS requirement concepts and categories, not direct occupation-level ORS survey estimates. It describes job requirements, not worker ability, AI capability, or displacement probability. Automation friction is a FutureGrid derived score and should be read alongside exposure, demand, wage, and projection signals.

Best transitions from here

Explore all pathways

Lower AI-exposure roles that reuse your skills, ranked by a transition score (skills that transfer, safety gain, pay and retraining effort).

AI Exposure Analysis

AI Exposure33.1%
AI Resiliency67/100
Exposure BandVery High
Sector Avg. Exposure35.3%

Across AI measures

Multiple exposure lenses for this occupation.

73.6%
Consensus
Actual adoption · Anthropic33.2%
AI capability · OpenAI93.5%
AI ability · AIOE94.2%
Automation baseline (2013) · Frey & Osborne3%

AI could do ~93.5% of this role but only ~33.2% is currently done with AI — a large capability-vs-adoption gap.

Top Skills

1.Critical Thinking
2.Complex Problem Solving
3.Reading Comprehension
4.Active Listening
5.Judgment and Decision Making

H-1B Visa Sponsorship Demand

View full H-1B trends →

Certified H-1B Labor Condition Applications naming this occupation, FY2016–FY2025. A descriptive high-skill labor-demand signal — employer filings, not visa approvals or individual outcomes. Note: one LCA can cover multiple worker positions.

68,565
Decade Total (Certified LCAs)
6,991
FY2025 Volume
1% of all H-1B filings in FY2025
$111,400
Median Offered Wage (Latest Year)
#13 of 776
Rank by Total Volume
H-1B filing volume, FY2016–FY2025

O*NET occupation profile

What this work involves

Administer, test, and implement computer databases, applying knowledge of database management systems. Coordinate changes to computer databases. Identify, investigate, and resolve database performance issues, database capacity, and database scalability. May plan, coordinate, and implement security measures to safeguard computer databases.

Common titles: Database Administration Manager, Database Administrator (DBA), Database Analyst, Database Coordinator, Database Engineer, Database Manager

Representative Tasks

  • Modify existing databases and database management systems or direct programmers and analysts to make changes.
  • Plan, coordinate, and implement security measures to safeguard information in computer files against accidental or unauthorized damage, modification or disclosure.
  • Plan and install upgrades of database management system software to enhance database performance.
  • Specify users and user access levels for each segment of database.
  • Test changes to database applications or systems.

Detailed Work Activities

  • Create databases to store electronic data.
  • Update computer database information.
  • Implement security measures for computer or information systems.
  • Develop computer or information security policies or procedures.
  • Install computer software.

Tools & Technologies

Apache Kafka · hotMongoDB · hotMySQL · hotOracle PL/SQL · hotScala · hotAmazon DynamoDB · hotApache Hive · hotApache Maven · hotC# · hotDjango · hot

Employment Projections & AI Exposure

5
Occupations Shown
31.9%
Avg AI Exposure
4
Bright Outlook
Horizontal bar chart showing occupations with the highest projected annual openings. Each bar length represents annual projected openings. Color uses a gradient from violet (lower) to cyan (higher). Summary statistics are shown above the chart.

Employment & Wage Trend

BLS OEWS, 2019–2025


Occupation Employment & Wage TrendMulti-year BLS OEWS history for SOC 15-1242: 2021 — employment: 85,870, median wage: $96,710; 2022 — employment: 80,520, median wage: $99,890; 2023 — employment: 76,140, median wage: $101,510; 2025 — employment: 69,990, median wage: $104,620.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). See /sources.

Sector Comparison

MetricThis CareerSector Average
AI Exposure33.1%35.3%
OutlookAverage19% Bright
Median Salary$104,620N/A
AI Resiliency67/100N/A