On November 10, 2026 there were 2,330 open cybersecurity jobs in the US in our data: 1,473 security engineer roles and 857 cybersecurity analyst roles. They come from employers' own hiring systems.
The two roles pay very differently. Security engineers have a median advertised base salary of $179K. Cybersecurity analysts have $145K.
Salaries here are the midpoint of each posted annual range. Bonuses and equity are not included.
Engineer or analyst
| Security Engineer | Cybersecurity Analyst | |
|---|---|---|
| Open jobs | 1,473 | 857 |
| With a posted salary | 1,076 | 572 |
| Median salary | $179K | $145K |
| Middle half of listings | $149K–$216K | $119K–$183K |
| Fully remote | 309 (21%) | 128 (15%) |
| Intern and entry level | 36 (2%) | 99 (12%) |
The analyst role has about five times the share of beginner jobs.
Pay by level
| Level | Security Engineer | Cybersecurity Analyst |
|---|---|---|
| Intern | – | $80K |
| Entry level | $108K | $96K |
| Mid level | $158K | $135K |
| Senior | $182K | $151K |
| Lead / Staff | $203K | $166K |
| Manager | $240K | $233K |
From mid level to lead, engineers earn $23K to $37K more. At entry level the gap is $12K, and at manager level it almost closes: $240K against $233K.
What the job posts ask for
Security engineer postings, out of 1,473:
| Skill | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 710 | 48% |
| AWS | 634 | 43% |
| CI/CD | 517 | 35% |
| Vulnerability management | 474 | 32% |
| Incident response | 455 | 31% |
| Azure | 425 | 29% |
Cybersecurity analyst postings, out of 857:
| Skill | Postings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Incident response | 335 | 39% |
| Vulnerability management | 273 | 32% |
| CISSP | 271 | 32% |
| NIST | 270 | 32% |
| CompTIA certifications | 189 | 22% |
| SIEM | 182 | 21% |
Engineer postings read like software jobs: Python and cloud come first. Analyst postings read like compliance jobs: frameworks and certificates. CISSP is named in almost a third of analyst postings.
Who is hiring
Defense and government contractors post the most. For security engineers: Booz Allen (64 open roles), RTX (51), CACI (43), Leidos (36), General Dynamics IT (33). For analysts: Booz Allen (55), Northrop Grumman (52), Leidos (23).
They are not the top payers. The highest medians for security engineers are at Anthropic ($362K), OpenAI ($356K), Roblox ($343K) and Lambda ($330K).
Where
Security engineers earn the most in the San Francisco Bay Area ($231K), Seattle and New York (both $216K). Remote security engineer jobs pay $190K, above the national median.
Washington, DC has the third-largest number of salaried security engineer listings, 195, after remote and the Bay Area, but pays $168K, below the median.
FAQ
How many cybersecurity jobs are open in the US?
In our November 10 count, 2,330: 1,473 security engineer and 857 cybersecurity analyst roles.
How much do cybersecurity jobs pay?
Security engineers have a median advertised base salary of $179K, cybersecurity analysts $145K.
What is the best entry level cybersecurity job?
Cybersecurity analyst. 12% of analyst postings are for interns and entry level, against 2% for security engineers. Entry-level analysts have a median of $96K.
Do I need a certification for a cybersecurity job?
For analyst roles it helps: CISSP is named in 32% of postings and CompTIA certifications in 22%. Engineer postings ask more for Python and cloud.
Are there remote cybersecurity jobs?
Yes. 21% of security engineer jobs and 15% of analyst jobs are fully remote.
Which companies hire the most cybersecurity people?
Defense contractors: Booz Allen, RTX, Northrop Grumman, CACI and Leidos.
Source, updated daily: security engineer salaries and cybersecurity analyst salaries on Sudo Get Job.
This post was written with AI assistance and checked against the source data.
