Cybersecurity Analyst Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 11,153 US job postings by 3,007 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for cybersecurity analysts: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 11,153 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for cybersecurity analysts in US job postings is $157,000 a year (3,589 postings from 1,056 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $126,000 to $190,000.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $120,000 a year (261 postings).
- The skills that most set cybersecurity analyst postings apart are siem, Python, vulnerability management.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 5 years of experience.
Cybersecurity Analyst job postings in the US, October 2026
- $157,000
- Median advertised pay (3,589 postings)
- $126,000–$190,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- $120,000
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 11,153
- US job postings from 3,007 employers
How much does a cybersecurity analyst make?
The median advertised pay is $157,000 a year, from 3,589 US job postings by 1,056 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $228,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 3,589 US cybersecurity analyst job postings: median $157,000 a year, middle half $126,000 to $190,000.
- Median: $157,000
- 25th percentile: $126,000
- 75th percentile: $190,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $20K–$30K | 0.1% |
| $30K–$40K | 0.2% |
| $40K–$50K | 0.6% |
| $50K–$60K | 0.8% |
| $60K–$70K | 0.8% |
| $70K–$80K | 1.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 2.5% |
| $90K–$100K | 2.9% |
| $100K–$110K | 4.6% |
| $110K–$120K | 6.1% |
| $120K–$130K | 7.7% |
| $130K–$140K | 7.8% |
| $140K–$150K | 7.2% |
| $150K–$160K | 9.9% |
| $160K–$170K | 8.8% |
| $170K–$180K | 6.5% |
| $180K–$190K | 5.7% |
| $190K–$200K | 5.7% |
| $200K–$210K | 5.1% |
| $210K–$220K | 3.3% |
| $220K–$230K | 2.4% |
| $230K–$240K | 1.8% |
| $240K–$250K | 1.7% |
| $250K–$260K | 1.1% |
| $260K–$270K | 1.3% |
| $270K–$280K | 0.8% |
| $280K–$290K | 0.4% |
| $290K–$300K | 0.7% |
| $300K–$310K | 0.2% |
| $310K–$320K | 0.8% |
| $320K–$330K | 0.0% |
| $330K–$340K | 0.0% |
| $340K–$350K | 0.0% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $158,000 | $129K–$193K | 2,559 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $157,000 | $126K–$190K | 3,589 |
What is the starting salary for a cybersecurity analyst?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $120,000 a year (261 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $120,000 | 261 |
| 2-4 years | $145,000 | 1,296 |
| 5+ years | $168,000 | 1,617 |
Cybersecurity analyst levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked. Senior cybersecurity analysts have a median advertised pay of $162,000 a year.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 81.9% | 4 years | $152,000 |
| Senior | 10.6% | 5 years | $162,000 |
| Lead | 1.7% | 5 years | – |
| Staff | 1.3% | 7 years | – |
Highest-paying cybersecurity analyst jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security Engineer | $169,000 | 466 | 277 |
| Cybersecurity Engineer | $150,000 | 409 | 148 |
| Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO) | $150,000 | 432 | 120 |
| Cybersecurity Analyst (general) | $130,000 | 357 | 150 |
Cybersecurity analyst pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $180,000 | $142,000–$218,000 | 285 | 10.9% |
| New York | $172,000 | $140,000–$216,000 | 140 | 7.3% |
| Maryland | $162,000 | $130,000–$190,000 | 242 | 9.8% |
| District of Columbia | $152,000 | $125,000–$187,000 | 102 | 5.7% |
| Virginia | $150,000 | $128,000–$180,000 | 281 | 12.6% |
Skills employers ask for in cybersecurity analyst job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 33% |
| Python | 26% |
| Analytical skills | 16% |
| AWS | 16% |
| Problem-solving | 15% |
| Azure | 13% |
| Siem | 13% |
| Powershell | 10% |
| Cybersecurity | 10% |
| Vulnerability management | 9% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set cybersecurity analysts apart
- Siem98.6× as often as in all postings · 13%
- Python7.9× as often as in all postings · 26%
- Vulnerability management88.3× as often as in all postings · 9%
- AWS11.1× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Cybersecurity45.5× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Incident response72.9× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Powershell28.7× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Azure13.1× as often as in all postings · 13%
- Nist72.3× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Cloud security81.7× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Penetration testing115.4× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Network security62.6× as often as in all postings · 7%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a cybersecurity analyst job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a cybersecurity analyst do?
Employers post these jobs as Security Engineer, Cybersecurity Engineer, Senior Security Engineer, Cyber Security, Cyber Security Engineer and other titles. The largest specializations are Security Engineer (13%), Security Analyst (6%), Cybersecurity Engineer (9%), Information Systems Security Officer (ISSO) (11%), Security Architect (5%), Cloud Security Engineer (3%).
The closest official occupation is Information Security Analysts (15-1212.00). Its most important tasks:
- Develop plans to safeguard computer files against accidental or unauthorized modification, destruction, or disclosure and to meet emergency data processing needs.
- Monitor current reports of computer viruses to determine when to update virus protection systems.
- Encrypt data transmissions and erect firewalls to conceal confidential information as it is being transmitted and to keep out tainted digital transfers.
- Perform risk assessments and execute tests of data processing system to ensure functioning of data processing activities and security measures.
- Modify computer security files to incorporate new software, correct errors, or change individual access status.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a cybersecurity analyst?
Among 5,161 postings that state a minimum, the median is 5 years. 1% say 0 years and 7% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 5,161 US cybersecurity analyst job postings: median 5 years, and 7% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 6% |
| 2 yrs | 15% |
| 3-4 yrs | 27% |
| 5-7 yrs | 34% |
| 8-9 yrs | 7% |
| 10+ yrs | 9% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 99% of the 783 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a cybersecurity analyst: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Security Engineer | 348 (11.6%) |
| Cybersecurity Engineer | 178 (5.9%) |
| Senior Security Engineer | 135 (4.5%) |
| Cyber Security | 113 (3.8%) |
| Cyber Security Engineer | 111 (3.7%) |
| Cybersecurity Analyst | 104 (3.5%) |
| Security Architect | 102 (3.4%) |
| Information Security Analyst | 99 (3.3%) |
| Information Systems Security Officer | 96 (3.2%) |
| Security Analyst | 75 (2.5%) |
| Cloud Security Engineer | 74 (2.5%) |
| Information System Security Officer | 73 (2.4%) |
| Cyber Security Analyst | 72 (2.4%) |
| Information Systems Security Engineer | 70 (2.3%) |
| Application Security Engineer | 63 (2.1%) |
| Cybersecurity Specialist | 61 (2.0%) |
| Information Security Engineer | 59 (2.0%) |
| IAM Engineer | 58 (1.9%) |
| Penetration Tester | 57 (1.9%) |
| Reverse Engineer | 54 (1.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Cybersecurity analyst job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Security Engineer | 594 | 348 | – | 5 years | communication, Python, AWS |
| Cybersecurity Engineer | 343 | 178 | – | – | communication, problem-solving, analytical skills |
| Security Analyst | 120 | 75 | – | – | – |
| Cyber Security Engineer | 178 | 111 | – | – | – |
| Information Security Analyst | 133 | 99 | – | – | – |
Cybersecurity Analyst compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cybersecurity Analyst | $157K | 5 years | 11,153 | – |
| Sales Engineer | $140K | 4 years | 4,954 | 10 |
| Solutions Architect | $175K | 5 years | 7,307 | 8 |
| Systems Administrator | $125K | 4 years | 8,047 | 12 |
| IT Manager | $134K | 5 years | 1,839 | 9 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Sales Engineer | 10 | $140K |
| Solutions Architect | 8 | $175K |
| Systems Administrator | 12 | $125K |
| IT Manager | 9 | $134K |
| DevOps Engineer | 11 | $152K |
| Engineering Manager | 9 | $200K |
Applying for cybersecurity analyst jobs?
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Frequently asked questions
How much does a cybersecurity analyst make?
What is the starting salary for a cybersecurity analyst?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 19 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.