Cyberattacks continue to pose a danger to organizations as technology becomes more and more integrated into everyday lives. Cybercriminals use cutting-edge instruments such as artificial intelligence and deepfake technologies to disrupt communication and supply lines. The current transition to remote and hybrid work has also revealed several security flaws, which hackers worldwide are trying to take advantage of.
Given these developments, it should come as no surprise that American businesses are highly concerned about cyber risks. Not only do large firms waste hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but so do smaller businesses. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, by 2024, hacking and data breaches would have cost the world economy over $9.5 trillion.
The need for cybersecurity specialists will drive rapid industry growth, strong demand, and above-average earnings. This article looks at how much money specialists in this sector may make, and it also looks at how experience usually translates into greater pay.
Cybersecurity Salary and Job Outlook
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) estimates that employment in cybersecurity will increase by 32% between 2022 and 2032, or 16,800 positions each year. This growth estimate considers the persistent labor shortage: CyberSeek listed more than 572,000 cybersecurity job opportunities between September 2022 and August 2023.
According to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 2022, the industries with the greatest employment rates for information security analysts, including many cybersecurity specialists, were banking and insurance, information, and computer systems design.
Additionally, according to the BLS, the typical compensation for information security analysts in 2022 was $122,000, which is about 2.5 times greater than the median wage for all workers. The education, experience, certification, and location of a cybersecurity expert are among the factors that influence their income.
Although some companies hire people with an associate degree or equivalent experience, most cybersecurity careers need a bachelor’s degree in the field. Colleges frequently award these degrees in STEM subjects, computer science, or information technology. Some colleges even offer cybersecurity-specific majors. Cybersecurity boot camps are a great option for those who don’t want to commit to a full degree program because they provide job-ready skills in shorter amounts of time.
Cybersecurity professionals can obtain professional certifications in addition to degrees to hone their abilities in specialized areas of the industry. In many cases, candidates must even possess a certain set of qualifications. These credentials aid in an employee’s eligibility for specialized positions, which frequently pay more. For instance, higher pay may result from having expertise in vendor management, intelligence analysis, network support, and signals intelligence.
Large cities like Washington, D.C., and New York City tend to have better paying jobs than less crowded locations because of the greater cost of living and more demand.
Entry-Level Cybersecurity Salary
Information protection specialists with little to no experience can use their expertise in a professional context with entry-level cybersecurity roles. Even entry-level cybersecurity jobs usually pay more than the average compensation for all workers in the country, according to research from Cyberseek.
Cybersecurity Specialist
$92,901 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: 22% of job postings for this function demand a graduate degree, while 19% do not require a bachelor’s or higher. Employers require a bachelor’s degree for 59% of these positions. Overview of the Job: Cybersecurity professionals are experts in network system maintenance, vulnerability assessment, and security breach response. They are skilled in firewall control maintenance, risk management, and threat hunting. Information security professionals, cybersecurity analysts, and privacy specialists are some of the titles they possess.
Cybercrime Analyst
$101,019 is the average annual salary.
Employers require a bachelor’s degree for 60% of job opportunities in this role, a graduate degree for 24% of positions, and no bachelor’s degree or higher for 16% of positions.
Overview of the Job: Cybercrime analysts create and carry out cybersecurity defenses, evaluate security protocols, and address any security risks. These experts use digital forensics and security architecture ideas in their work.
Incident and Intrusion Analyst
$97,725 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: A bachelor’s degree is required for 63% of job vacancies for this role; a graduate degree is required for 20% of them. Only 18% do not need a bachelor’s degree or beyond.
Incident and intrusion analysts monitor systems and take action in response to cybersecurity occurrences and security threats. The required competencies include firewall management, cyber threat analysis, incident handling, security log and infrastructure design, and incident handling.
Midlevel Cybersecurity Salary
Cybersecurity professionals can progress in their careers through promotions after working in the sector for three to five years. Although they pay more, many mid-level jobs need more training and qualifications than entry-level jobs.
Cybersecurity Analyst
$107,346 is the average annual salary.
Employers require a bachelor’s degree for 70% of job vacancies in this role, a graduate degree for 17%, and no bachelor’s degree for 13%.
Overview of the Job: Cybersecurity analysts oversee technical security initiatives, address escalated user complaints, and track performance indicators. They are skilled in security incident response, threat hunting analysis, firewall administration, risk management, and security log gathering. Additionally, they collect both qualitative and quantitative data.
Cybersecurity Consultant
$118,610 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: 64% of job opportunities for this position call for a bachelor’s degree; 22% call for a graduate degree; and 15% say no bachelor’s degree or above is necessary.
Overview of the Job: Using identity, access, security information, and event management strategies together with intrusion detection and prevention systems, cybersecurity consultants create security architecture and handle events. Programs for cloud infrastructure security like Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Amazon Web Services are also used by them.
Penetration and Vulnerability Tester
$124,424 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Qualifications: 71% of job postings for this position call for a bachelor’s degree; 19% call for a graduate degree; and 10% don’t need any kind of education at all.
Overview of the Job: Penetration and vulnerability testers, sometimes referred to as ethical hackers, identify weak points and weaknesses in security networks. They use several security technologies together with vulnerability scanners. Skilled penetration testers anticipate problems and address them before they cause damage.
Advanced Cybersecurity Salary
Typically, roles in advanced cybersecurity demand 10 to 15 years of expertise. These positions frequently entail managing other staff members. In this area, upper-level employees usually have the greatest levels of training and certification, as well as the highest remuneration.
Cybersecurity Manager
$150,943 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: 67% of job postings for this position call for a bachelor’s degree; 21% call for a graduate degree; and 12% say they don’t.
Overview of the Job: Organizational risk and incident management is led by cybersecurity managers. Both client happiness and the general effectiveness of security services are within their purview. They design, implement, and manage security measures and are informed on best practices for audits and modern security technology.
Cybersecurity Engineer
$131,768 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: 61% of job postings for this position call for a bachelor’s degree; 23% call for a graduate degree; and 16% don’t specify a bachelor’s or above.
Overview of the Job: Security applications and infrastructure are managed and maintained by cybersecurity engineers. They oversee incident and risk management as well. Cybersecurity engineers frequently have credentials from groups like Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) in addition to qualifications from the Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP)® and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)®. According to CyberSeek statistics, between September 2022 and August 2023, there were about 50,000 advertisements for these positions.
Cybersecurity Architect
$147,142 is the average annual salary.
Minimum Education Requirement: 28% of job postings for this role demand a graduate degree, 66% of which require a bachelor’s degree, and 6% of which do not.
Overview of the Job: Security roadmaps are created and managed by cybersecurity architects, who also design and implement security measures. They also supervise and maintain the security applications and infrastructure. They understand the fundamentals of security architecture and security operations effectively. Professional certifications such as GIAC or CISA are frequently required for cybersecurity architects.