Salary report · 2026 to date

What Security jobs pay in the United States, 2026

Name: What Security jobs pay in the United States, 2026
Creator: JobRipe

Security jobs in United States advertised a median of $149K a year in 2026 (middle half $118K–$198K), from 1,256 job postings on JobRipe. Figures come only from pay ranges employers published; estimates are never counted.

Key numbers

$149K
Median advertised pay, yearly: $118K – $198K
Middle half (25th–75th percentile): $71.47
Median, hourly equivalent: $89K – $256K
10th–90th percentile: 1,256
Job postings with pay: 7 Jan – 23 Oct
Posted in 2026

Source: advertised pay in 1,256 job postings on JobRipe, posted 7 January 2026 – 23 October 2026. Yearly figures in USD.

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How advertised pay is spread

Number of postings by yearly midpoint. The first and last bands also hold the lowest and highest 5%.

Under $90K129 (10%)

$90K – $120K198 (16%)

$120K – $150K304 (24%)

$150K – $180K206 (16%)

$180K – $210K157 (13%)

$210K – $240K96 (8%)

$240K – $270K67 (5%)

$270K and over99 (8%)

Breakdowns

Every row rests on at least 5 postings; groups with fewer are left out.

By level

Level	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
Internship	$45K – $56K	$46K	$22.00	12
Entry level	$79K – $145K	$129K	$61.88	14
Mid level	$105K – $157K	$130K	$62.38	711
Senior	$153K – $218K	$193K	$92.55	165
Staff/Principal	$188K – $269K	$231K	$111	111
Manager	$140K – $220K	$181K	$87.02	155
Director	$169K – $284K	$205K	$98.56	63
Executive	$170K – $305K	$183K	$88.10	25

Remote, hybrid or on-site

Workplace	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
On-site	$109K – $181K	$141K	$67.87	893
Remote	$133K – $208K	$172K	$82.82	295
Hybrid	$194K – $286K	$238K	$114	68

By city

City	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
San Francisco	$203K – $310K	$256K	$123	101
Washington	$140K – $174K	$164K	$78.65	93
New York	$147K – $260K	$188K	$90.57	40
Hawthorne	$105K – $184K	$145K	$69.71	30
San Mateo	$202K – $293K	$250K	$120	27
Redmond	$148K – $202K	$148K	$70.91	18
Bellevue	$204K – $245K	$219K	$105	16
Arlington	$140K – $167K	$166K	$79.57	16
Seattle	$138K – $198K	$182K	$87.30	13
Fort Meade	$140K – $166K	$150K	$72.15	12
Palo Alto	$161K – $230K	$223K	$107	11
Location Negotiable After Selection	$93K – $123K	$116K	$55.70	10
Long Beach	$114K – $258K	$185K	$88.98	8
Alexandria	$121K – $140K	$140K	$67.33	8
Philadelphia	$112K – $141K	$135K	$64.85	8
Menlo Park	$198K – $255K	$244K	$117	7
Sunnyvale	$161K – $254K	$182K	$87.26	7
Boston	$139K – $206K	$176K	$84.38	7
El Paso	$114K – $126K	$122K	$58.85	7
District Of Columbia	$149K – $169K	$166K	$79.57	6

By company

Company	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
Customs and Border Protection	$121K – $147K	$126K	$60.77	97
Citizenship and Immigration Services	$101K – $145K	$124K	$59.41	71
SpaceX	$143K – $218K	$148K	$70.91	69
U.S. Coast Guard	$90K – $140K	$118K	$56.62	43
Transportation Security Administration	$108K – $146K	$128K	$61.56	39
Federal Emergency Management Agency	$114K – $148K	$134K	$64.41	36
Anthropic	$308K – $412K	$363K	$174	30
Defense Information Systems Agency	$128K – $175K	$140K	$67.33	20
OpenAI	$225K – $309K	$298K	$143	17
Harvey	$194K – $297K	$275K	$132	16
Salesforce	$188K – $220K	$216K	$104	16
Rocket Lab Corporation	$50K – $237K	$185K	$88.98	16
Roblox	$212K – $334K	$289K	$139	15
Samsara	$198K – $230K	$198K	$95.23	15
Jobgether	$143K – $199K	$163K	$78.55	14

By company size

Company size	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
Small (under 50)	$150K – $194K	$153K	$73.34	11
Mid-size	$175K – $245K	$207K	$99.58	78
Large	$165K – $246K	$203K	$97.60	263
Enterprise	$145K – $263K	$204K	$97.96	196

By industry

Industry	Middle half (yearly)	Median	≈ hourly	Postings
Ai	$223K – $356K	$286K	$137	83
Devtools	$180K – $221K	$206K	$99.04	61
Hardware	$159K – $198K	$187K	$90.06	32
Fintech	$204K – $272K	$250K	$120	26
Finance	$159K – $240K	$195K	$93.75	25
Saas	$159K – $254K	$193K	$92.91	22
Data	$215K – $253K	$244K	$117	19
Security	$170K – $262K	$222K	$107	18
Enterprise	$160K – $195K	$173K	$82.93	17
Gaming	$201K – $323K	$284K	$136	16
Social	$175K – $230K	$189K	$90.95	15
Health	$104K – $138K	$119K	$57.20	13

Download these tables (CSV, aggregates only)

See 1,415 open security jobs in United States Live salary data for open jobs

Methodology: how we count

Source: the pay ranges employers published in security job postings in United States on JobRipe, posted between 7 January 2026 and 23 October 2026 (jobs still open and jobs that have since closed).
Sample: 1,256 postings with a usable pay range in USD. They quoted pay as: 1,229 yearly, 27 hourly.
Each range counts once, at its midpoint, converted to a yearly figure: hourly × 2,080, daily × 260, weekly × 52, monthly × 12. Hourly figures shown are the yearly figure ÷ 2,080.
Excluded: postings without a published range; JobRipe's own pay estimates (they are never stored as pay, so they can't be counted); ranges in other currencies (2 here); unknown pay periods and implausible values (4 here); and postings with a trust score below 35.
A report is only published with at least 25 postings, and every row in a breakdown rests on at least 5. Minimum and maximum values are never shown, so no single posting can be identified.
Advertised pay is what employers offer in job ads, not what people are paid. Senior roles publish pay less often, and some places require pay in job ads while others don't, so the sample leans towards roles and places that publish pay.
Field ("Security") is assigned from the job title by JobRipe's classifier; company size and industry come from JobRipe's company profiles where known.

Cite this report

JobRipe, "What Security jobs pay in the United States, 2026", https://jobripe.com/salary-reports/2026/us/security (23 October 2026).

Journalists and researchers are welcome to quote these figures with a link to this page. Questions about the data: support@jobripe.com

Questions people ask

What is the average security salary in United States in 2026?

The median advertised pay is $149K a year (about $71.47 an hour), from 1,256 job postings on JobRipe that published a pay range between 7 January 2026 and 23 October 2026. Half of them fall between $118K and $198K.

What do the best-paid security jobs in United States offer?

One in ten postings advertised $256K a year or more; one in ten advertised $89K or less.

Which cities in United States advertise the most for security jobs?

By median advertised pay, among cities with enough postings: San Francisco $256K; San Mateo $250K; Menlo Park $244K; Palo Alto $223K.

Do remote security jobs pay more than on-site ones in United States?

Median advertised pay is $172K for remote postings (295) and $141K for on-site ones (893). Remote and on-site roles also differ in seniority and employer, so this is not a like-for-like comparison.

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