Base
The guaranteed number, and the one everything else is calculated from.
Cybersecurity salary guide
Cybersecurity salary guide:
how to benchmark and negotiate
How to work out what you are worth, read an offer properly, and ask for the number with
confidence.
Start here
How to benchmark your cybersecurity salary
Benchmarking means comparing your pay against the market for your role, your experience level and your location — not against a national average, which almost nobody is actually paid. Start with the salary data for your specific role and level, adjust for where you work and whether the role is remote, then compare total compensation rather than base salary alone.
What this guide covers
- Benchmarking your role, level and location
- Reading an offer — base, bonus, equity, benefits
- Negotiating, step by step
- Turning verified skills into leverage
A national average is the least useful number in a salary conversation. It blends entry and senior, coasts and small markets, and specialisms with very different demand. The number that matters is the one for your role, at your level, where you are.
See the salary data by role, level and location
Want to understand what moves the number in the first place — experience, specialisation, location, certifications? That is covered in the full guide to what drives cyber pay.
Total compensation
Reading a cyber job offer
Four components. Comparing two offers on base salary alone will mislead you.
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Bonus
Ask what it is tied to and what it actually paid out last year.
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Equity
Ask about the vesting schedule and what the shares are currently worth.
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Benefits
Pension, healthcare, training budget and leave carry real cash value.
Add them together before you compare. A lower base with a serious training budget and a reliable bonus can be the better offer — and often is, early in a security career.
The playbook
How to negotiate
Four steps. The first one does most of the work.
Step 01
Prepare
Know your benchmark and the evidence behind your number before the call.
Step 02
Anchor
Give a range grounded in data, and put your figure at the top of it.
Step 03
Counter
Respond to the whole package, not just the base. Ask before you concede.
Step 04
Close
Get the agreed package in writing before you resign anything.
Negotiating is expected. Declining to negotiate does not read as reasonable to a hiring manager — it reads as a candidate who has not benchmarked. Community pay conversations are a useful sense-check on what people at your level are actually seeing.
Your position
Turn skills into leverage
Leverage in a pay conversation is not confidence. It is evidence. The candidate who can demonstrate in-demand skills is negotiating from a different position than the candidate asserting the same thing — and the difference shows up in the offer.
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Verify what you can do
A Skills Wallet turns claims into proof employers and matching engines can both read.
Get your free Skills Profile
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Close the gaps that pay
Target the in-demand skills for your track rather than collecting credentials broadly.
Check your skills readiness
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See the full salary data
Compare by role, experience level and location before you name a number.
See the salary data
Frequently asked questions
Pay conversations,
answered
Practical answers for the point where the offer lands and you have to respond.
Next step
Know the number before the conversation
Benchmark against your role, level and location — then bring verified skills to the table so the number has
something behind it.