Salary Guide to Popular Cybersecurity Careers
Cybersecurity professionals with the skills for protecting an organization’s computer networks and systems from vulnerabilities and malicious cyber attacks are in high demand and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future.
The technology landscape has changed drastically. Cyber criminals have become more sophisticated and cyber attacks are now commonplace. The pervasiveness of mobile devices, such as tablets and mobile phones, has also contributed to the increased threats to the nation’s public health and the vulnerability of our private data to bad actors.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected a 33 percent growth in information security analyst jobs from 2020 to 2030.
The job outlook for cybersecurity careers is strong and expected to continue on this trajectory as people in the cybersecurity industry wrangle with emerging technologies and the advanced techniques of cyber criminals.
Below are the entry-level, mid-level, and advanced cybersecurity roles tracked by CyberSeek.org, a project under the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE), which provides detailed information on the shortage of cybersecurity workers in the United States. It’s mission is to “close the cybersecurity talent gap with interactive tools and data.”
CyberSeek collected its data from April 2020 through March 2021. According to the CyberSeek website, “on average, cybersecurity roles take 21% longer to fill than other IT jobs.”
Cybersecurity Specialist (Entry-Level)
According to CyberSeek.org, the average salary for a cybersecurity specialist is $92,000.
This is an entry level role with growth potential within the cybersecurity industry.
- District of Columbia – $121,396
- Maryland – $112,990
- New Jersey – $109,729
- New York – $107,017
- Massachusetts – 103,271
Cybersecurity specialists can go on to mid-level roles, such as penetration testers and cyber analysts, and eventually to advanced cybersecurity positions, including cybersecurity engineers and architects.
States with the highest location quotient for cybersecurity specialists are Virginia, Rhode Island, Maryland and West Virginia. The location quotient is the concentration of cybersecurity jobs available in a particular state or metro area. It is relative to the national average, which is equal to one (1).
According to CyberSeek, the skills most commonly requested in job listings for cybersecurity specialists are:
- Information security
- Information systems
- Information Assurance
- Network security
- Security operations
- Vulnerability assessment
- Project management
- Linux
- NIST cybersecurity framework
Cyber Crime Analyst (Entry-Level)
The average salary for a cyber crime analyst is $94,000.
Highest paying states:
- Alaska – $86,309
- California – $84,870
- North Dakota – $78,804
- Rhode Island – $78,530
- Connecticut – $77,867
While there are far fewer opportunities for cyber crime analysts — which may be listed on company websites or employment sites such as Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or LinkedIn, as digital forensics analysts, cybersecurity forensic analysis, cyber forensic specialists, or computer forensics analysts — this is still a lucrative cybersecurity role that can lead to a more advanced position in the field.
CyberSeek reported 900 cyber crime analyst job openings nationwide based on their 12 month data.
Skills needed to become a cyber crime analyst include:
- Computer forensics
- Linux
- Information security
- Consumer electronics
- Hard drives
- Information systems
- Forensic toolkit
- UNIX
- Malware engineering
Incident and Intrusion Analyst (Entry-Level)
The average salary for an incident and intrusion analyst is $89,000.
Highest paying states:
- California – $107,707
- Alaska – $97,499
- Washington – $96,813
- Maryland – $94,023
- Oregon – $93,671
The location quotient for incident and intrusion analysts is highest in Montana, Oregon, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Vermont.
With 9,380 total jobs open in the United States, incident and intrusion analysts have a wealth of career opportunities open to them.
The top skills requested from employers for this role are:
- Information security
- Project management
- Information systems
- Linux
- Network security
- Technical support
- Intrusion detection
- UNIX
- Security operations
IT Auditor (Entry-Level)
The average salary for an IT auditor is $98,000.
Highest paying states:
- California – $96,38
- District of Columbia – $89,209
- New Jersey – $85,610 85,000
- Connecticut – 84,080 $4,626.84.
- Washington – $82,983 $82,923.
CyberSeek reported 6,880 open IT auditor positions from their data. There is a high concentration of open IT auditor jobs in Illinois, Missouri, and Texas.
According to CyberSeek, the top skills listed in the job posts were:
- Internal auditing
- Audit planning
- Information systems
- Accounting
- Risk assessment
- Information security
- COBIT
- Business process
- Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX)
Cybersecurity Analyst (Mid-Level)
The average salary for a cybersecurity analyst is $95,000.
Highest paying states:
- Delaware – $97,031
- New York – $93,986
- New Jersey – $90,521,
- Maine – $90,010
- Maryland – $89,487
Second only to cybersecurity engineers in the number of available jobs, cybersecurity analysts are in high demand. With 20,161 jobs open across the country, these positions are at the top of the list of the most sought after job titles in every one of the 50 states. cybersecurity consultants.
Top skills for cybersecurity analysts include:
- Information security
- Information systems
- Linux
- Network security
- Threat analysis
- Security operations
- Vulnerability assessment
- Project management
- Intrusion detection
Cybersecurity Consultant (Mid-Level)
The average salary for a cybersecurity consultant is $91,000.
Highest paying states:
- District of Columbia – $115,212
- California – $113,015
- Maryland – $107,744
- Connecticut – $97,465
- Maine – $96,995
Employers across the United States are currently looking for more than 21,000 cybersecurity consultants. Many of these jobs are available in states with very high location quotients, including Virginia, West Virginia. Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont.
The skills most often found in job listings for cybersecurity consultants include:
- Information security
- Surveillance
- Information systems
- Oracle
- Project management
- Asset protection
- Python
- Prevention of criminal activity
- Security operations
Penetration and Vulnerability Tester (Mid-Level)
The average salary for a penetration and vulnerability tester is $103,000.
Highest paying states:
- Massachusetts – $133,318
- Alaska – $125,864
- Nevada – $124,969
- Washington – $122,834
- New York – $119,221
There are nearly 19,000 jobs available for penetration and vulnerability testers, with the highest demand for these workers in states such as West Virginia, Vermont, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
Penetration and vulnerability testers may be promoted into more advanced-level roles within the cybersecurity industry. These senior-level roles include cybersecurity engineers and cybersecurity architects. A move to either of these roles would result in a significant salary increase.
The average salary for a cybersecurity architect, for example, is roughly 30 percent higher than the average penetration and vulnerability tester’s salary.
Penetration and vulnerability tester candidates will increase their chances of finding employment with the following skills:
- Information security
- Penetration testing
- Linux
- Python
- Java
- Vulnerability assessment
- Information systems
- Software development
- Project management
Cybersecurity Manager (Advanced)
The average salary for a cybersecurity manager is $105,000.
Highest paying states:
- California – $152,473
- Delaware – $134,825
- District of Columbia – $133,003
- Oregon – $129,318
- Nevada – $126,267
Cybersecurity managers are needed in all industries and specializations.
There were 21,316 job openings during the 12-month period during which CyberSeek was collecting their data. Virtually every state in the country is currently hiring cybersecurity managers — including those with below-average location quotients.
The top skills for people seeking employment as a cybersecurity manager include:
- Information security
- Information systems
- Project management
- Information assurance
- Linux
- Network security
- NIST cybersecurity framework
- Risk Management Framework
- SAP
Cybersecurity Engineer (Advanced)
The average salary for a cybersecurity engineer is $106,000.
Highest paying states:
- New Jersey – $134,259
- District of Columbia $134,204
- Maryland $125,263
- New York $114,972
- Connecticut $113,225
By far the most in-demand roles at the time of the study, cybersecurity engineers account for 63,261 available cybersecurity jobs in the nation.
This advanced-level role is achievable through a few different career paths. All mid-level cybersecurity professionals can transfer their skills — whether they were developed during their tenure as a cybersecurity analyst or consultant, a penetration and vulnerability tester, or another entry-level position — to this role.
Formal education, such as a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or a cybersecurity MBA, and professional certification can supplement these competencies, allowing professionals across the cybersecurity industry to elevate their careers and attain this advanced role.
The skills needed to qualify for a job as a cybersecurity engineer include:
- Information security
- Network security
- Linux
- Information systems
- Python
- Cryptography
- Project management
- Cisco
- Authentication
Cybersecurity Architect (Advanced)
The average salary for a cybersecurity architect is $133,000, and senior cybersecurity architects can earn up to $170,000.
Highest paying states:
- District of Columbia – $150,501
- Maryland – $140,447
- California – $136,863
- New Jersey – $134,742
- New York – $131,346
There are fewer opportunities for cybersecurity architects within the cybersecurity ecosystem, but this lucrative role — $27,000 more than the salary for the occupation with the next highest average salary (cybersecurity engineer) — is essential to an enterprise’s security.
The role of cybersecurity architects is a senior-level position that falls between cybersecurity engineers and the C suite within the organizational hierarchy.
Companies such as Amazon, Google, Goldman Sachs, and the Walt Disney Company employ cybersecurity architects to plan, design, test, implement, and maintain their network security infrastructure. The demand for these worker from a host of business verticals underscores the value of these highly skilled professionals.
CyberSeek’s research revealed the most requested skill sets from employers who are looking to fill these roles:
- Information security
- Network security
- Cryptography
- Information systems
- Authentication
- Linux
- Software development
- Cisco
- NIST cybersecurity framework