The highest paying cybersecurity jobs
Each job below is ranked by the salary ranges employers wrote into the postings that are open for it right now. A role belongs to the first job whose words its title holds, reading leadership, then senior titles, then the specialist jobs, so a staff detection engineer counts once, as staff.
Ranking
Security jobs by their middle salary
Typical means the span from the 25th percentile of range midpoints to the 90th percentile of range tops, every figure taken as a full-time year (an hourly rate times 2,080 hours). A job needs enough distinct stated ranges to be ranked.
| # | Job | Middle |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CISO or VP of Security | $300k/yr |
| 2 | Security director | $265k/yr |
| 3 | Principal or staff security engineer | $228k/yr |
| 4 | Security manager | $221k/yr |
| 5 | AI security engineer | $213k/yr |
| 6 | Penetration tester or red teamer | $213k/yr |
| 7 | Security architect | $211k/yr |
| 8 | Application security engineer | $205k/yr |
| 9 | IAM engineer | $202k/yr |
| 10 | Security engineer | $200k/yr |
| 11 | Detection engineer | $198k/yr |
| 12 | Threat intelligence analyst | $187k/yr |
| 13 | Cloud security engineer | $185k/yr |
| 14 | GRC or compliance analyst | $170k/yr |
| 15 | Security researcher | $167k/yr |
| 16 | Incident responder | $166k/yr |
| 17 | SOC analyst | $158k/yr |
| 18 | Security analyst | $99.4k/yr |
At the top
The best-paid opening of each job right now
- CISO or VP of Security: CISO$424,300 - $489,400 per year
- Security director: Senior Director, Privacy, Product and Platform Security$457,970-$525,510 per year
- Principal or staff security engineer: Staff Security Engineer- Security and Compliance$289,320-$537,360 per year
- Security manager: Engineering Manager, Hardware Platform Security$485,000-$625,000 per year
- AI security engineer: Principal Engineer, AI Security$252,000-$374,000 per year
- Penetration tester or red teamer: Red Team Engineer, Safeguards$320,000-$405,000 per year
- Security architect: Applied AI Architect, Cyber Specialist$300,000-$400,000 per year
- Application security engineer: Product Engineer, Cyber$255,000-$445,000 per year
- IAM engineer: Security Software Engineer, IAM$208,000 - $312,000 per year
- Security engineer: Enterprise Security Engineer, Vulnerability Management$347,000-$445,000 per year
- Detection engineer: Security Engineer, Detection & Response$300,000-$405,000 per year
- Threat intelligence analyst: Technical Threat Investigator, Threat Intel Engineering$347,000-$510,000 per year
- Cloud security engineer: Security Engineer, Cloud$270,000-$330,000 per year
- GRC or compliance analyst: Security Engineer, Privacy$184,800-$374,900 per year
- Security researcher: Research Engineer, Cybersecurity RL$500,000-$850,000 per year
- Incident responder: Software Engineer - Forensics$149,000-$224,000 per year
- SOC analyst: SoC Engineer$287,000-$485,000 per year
- Security analyst: Lead Information Security Analyst$115000 - $214000 per year
Questions
Who earns the most in security
What is the highest paying job in cybersecurity?
CISO or VP of Security: open postings for it state a typical $230k–$400k/yr, with the middle at $300k/yr. Security director comes next at $265k/yr.
Do you have to manage people to earn the most?
No. Principal and staff engineers, who lead through their work rather than a team, show a middle of $228k/yr, against $221k/yr for security managers. Only CISO or VP of Security and Security director sit higher.
Which security job pays the least?
Of the jobs ranked here, security analyst roles state the lowest middle salary, $99.4k/yr.
Also: the employer pay ranking, salaries by specialty and the offer checker.
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