Average IT Salary in 2022: How Much Money Can You Make?

IT professionals across experience levels make a greater average salary than the average across all jobs. Information technology is also one of the rare sectors in which salaries rise every year. Furthermore, the tech unemployment rate is typically half that of all other industries. In light of recent events concerning COVID-19, the current 2% unemployment rate for IT professionals is significantly lower than the 3.8% national average for all occupations. This article brings you all things you need to know about the average IT salary in 2022.

What Does Average IT Salary Mean?

The IT average salary is a calculation of the salaries reported for a given job category, demographic, location, or other specification. This means that the minimum average IT salaries and maximum salaries that make up the range can vary greatly. The salary data put out by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is based on wages reported on federal tax forms, for example.

Here’s an example using CompTIA’s IT Salary Calculator, based on BLS data. So, while the average salary for a cybersecurity analyst is almost $99,730, your actual salary might be anywhere between $57,810 and $158,860, as shown in the table below:

Occupation	10th percentile salary	25th percentile salary	Annual median salary	75th percentile salary	90th percentile salary
Cybersecurity Analysts and Engineers	$57,810	$75,450	$99,730	$128,640	$158,860

This table also shows the salary ranges that can produce a $99,730 average. It’s crucial to not get stuck on the average of $99,730 – remember that there certainly are individuals as a cybersecurity analyst earning a salary in the 10th percentile of $57,810, as well as those earning six figures.

What Makes Salaries Vary So Much?

But why is there such a difference in IT job salary for the same job? First, as the saying goes, location, location, location. Someone who lives in a lower-cost-of-living area might make a lower salary than someone living in a major metropolitan area with a higher cost of living.

Similarly, salary ranges will differ from employer to employer depending on the type – organization, government, or nonprofit – size and earnings of the organization. A global Fortune 100 company, for example, will typically pay more than a local nonprofit.

It’s also possible that the number is based on experience; someone who is new to cybersecurity will earn less than someone who has worked in the field for years. Referring back to the CompTIA IT Salary Calculator, an entry-level cybersecurity analyst tends to earn a salary between the 10th percentile and median salary, in, an advanced level cybersecurity analyst might earn a salary between the median and 90th percentile. Besides years on the job, learning new skills and acquiring IT certifications to validate them play a role in the salary offered.

How to Use Salary Data to Your Benefit

Let’s continue with the example of the cybersecurity analyst. You get your $75,000 salary offer and you are a little bit disappointed — after all, you know that the average salary is $99,730! You might use a few of the following arguments to get that number up a bit.

• Location: Do you live in a city with a high cost of living, such as New York, Washington D.C., or Los Angeles? You might be able to make a case for why you are deserving of a salary closer to the average of $99,730.
• Years of industry experience: Are you a seasoned veteran, or are you still early in your IT career. When obtaining a new salary offer, keep your years of experience in mind.
• Level of Experience: While higher education is not required to be successful in an IT career, it might help you earn a higher salary.
• Skills: Does your previous work experience demonstrate all of the skills you will need to succeed in your new role? If your skills go above and beyond the job description, then you might be entitled to a greater wage.
• Certifications: If you desire a higher salary but you don’t have enough certifications, consider adding a few more to your resume.

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IT salaries by position

So, how much do IT professionals in these roles earn? The following salaries shown below are from Robert Half’s 2022 Technology Salary Guide and represent professionals in the fiftieth percentile—defined as individuals who have average experience and most of the required skills for the job.

The highest salaries in the IT industry are associated with roles that are in high demand and currently have a shortage of qualified workers, such as positions related to cybersecurity, cloud computing, and big data. Engineers, architects, and managers indicate mid-career or senior positions and also correlated with higher incomes.

In general, lower salaries are associated with entry-level positions. Help desk and troubleshooting roles such as IT technician, help desk analyst, and IT associate. Your salary will increase as you gain more experience and specialize your skills in areas such as systems administration or cloud computing.

The following list of salaries is in order of lowest to highest:

• Product support specialist: $57,750
• Desktop support analyst: $62,750
• Hardware analyst: $78,250
• Systems administrator: $88,750
• Systems analyst: $99,500
• Scrum master: $104,000
• Cloud computing analyst: $106,000
• Database administrator: $107,750
• Systems engineer: $111,500
• Network/cloud engineer: $118,750
• DevOps Engineer: $125,750
• Site reliability engineer: $126,750
• Network security engineer: $131,250
• Big data engineer: $141,500
• Security architect: $143,250
• Network/cloud architect: $153,750
• Information systems security manager: $157,250

IT Salaries by Location in U.S.

American State / Territory	Mean Hourly Wage	Mean Annual Wage
Alabama	$41.69	$86,720
Alaska	$40.02	$83,250
Arizona	$41.84	$87,030
Arkansas	$35.28	$73,390
California	$56.16	$116,820
Colorado	$48.33	$100,520
Connecticut	$45.94	$95,550
Delaware	$47.76	$99,340
District of Columbia	$54.78	$113,930
Florida	$39.81	$82,810
Georgia	$44.00	$91,510
Hawaii	$40.32	$83,870
Idaho	$37.65	$78,320
Illinois	$44.87	$93,320
Indiana	$37.66	$78,340
Iowa	$39.34	$81,820
Kansas	$37.70	$78,420
Kentucky	$36.21	$75,330
Louisiana	$35.50	$73,840
Maine	$38.48	$80,030
Maryland	$50.55	$105,150
Massachusetts	$50.67	$105,400
Michigan	$39.32	$81,780
Minnesota	$45.47	$94,570
Mississippi	$34.48	$71,720
Missouri	$39.44	$82,040
Montana	$34.40	$71,540
Nebraska	$38.83	$80,770
Nevada	$38.29	$79,650
New Hampshire	$45.50	$94,650
New Jersey	$50.04	$104,090
New Mexico	$38.06	$79,160
New York	$49.65	$103,280
North Carolina	$44.19	$91,920
North Dakota	$34.53	$71,820
Ohio	$41.48	$86,270
Oklahoma	$36.33	$75,560
Oregon	$44.25	$92,040
Pennsylvania	$42.29	$87,970
Puerto Rico	$21.42	$44,550
Rhode Island	$44.43	$92,410
South Carolina	$37.06	$77,080
South Dakota	$33.65	$70,000
Tennessee	$36.86	$76,660
Texas	$45.04	$93,690
Utah	$39.82	$82,830
Vermont	$38.55	$80,180
Virginia	$51.50	$107,130
Washington	$58.96	$122,640
West Virginia	$35.29	$73,410
Wisconsin	$39.55	$82,270
Wyoming	$32.52	$67,640

How to Boost Your IT Salary

Salary increases have been related to learning in-demand skills through certifications or other means. Therefore, continuing your education has also been beneficial.

According to Global Knowledge, through training for certifications or otherwise, 12% of those who received a raise in 2020 credit gaining new skills.  IT professionals who received raises related to obtaining new certifications saw a $13,000 increase in their salary on average.

IT skills associated with higher salaries

Pursuing in-demand skills in this industry could make you more competitive for raises and higher-paying jobs. These technical skills include the following:

• Cybersecurity
• Data analysis
• DevOps
• Cloud computing
• Machine learning

You can also speak with your employer to find out what skills gaps your company is looking to fill. Alternatively, look through job listings of roles that are similar to yours to determine what skills are currently in demand.

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IT certifications associated with higher salaries

According to Global Knowledge’s 2021 IT Skills and Salary Survey, the following IT certifications are linked to the highest salaries:

• Google Certified Professional Data Engineer: $171,749
• Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect: $169,029
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate: $159,033
• Certified Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC): $151,995
• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): $151,853
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM): $149,246
• Project Management Professional (PMP): $148,906
• Nutanix Certified Professional – Multicloud Infrastructure (NCP-MCI): $142,810
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA): $134,460
• VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization 2020 (VCP-DVC): $132,947

You can also look at cloud and security certifications, which are both in high demand currently. The following are some of the popular cybersecurity certifications:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• CompTIA Security+
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Consider these entry-level cloud certifications if you are attempting to incorporate cloud knowledge into your skillset:

• AWS Solutions Architect – Associate
• Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals
• Google Associate Cloud Engineer
• IBM Certified Solution Advisor – IBM Cloud Foundations V2
• Cloud Security Alliance: Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK)

Conclusion

IT jobs, as diverse as they are, offer an average IT salary that is higher than other jobs.  To get a job in IT, you don’t always need a degree. Higher education, on the other hand, is linked to higher incomes. Furthermore, for many IT positions, employers may still favor job candidates with at least a bachelor’s degree, if not a master’s degree. So yes, an IT degree has its benefits. It’s essential to create a plan for your IT career.