Blue team salaries in 2026
What employers pay defenders, from the pay published in job postings on BlueTeamJobs over the last year. Yearly US dollars, from 171 postings.
| Role | Median | Middle half | Jobs | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOC Analyst | $101,000 | $72,000 – $126,000 | 32 | |
| Incident Responder | $142,000 | $135,000 – $142,000 | 5 | |
| Digital Forensics (DFIR) | $165,000 | $110,000 – $183,000 | 9 | |
| Threat Hunter | $160,000 | $158,000 – $171,000 | 3 | |
| Detection Engineer | $191,000 | $148,000 – $224,000 | 10 | |
| Security Engineer | $179,000 | $145,000 – $204,000 | 94 | |
| Cloud Security Engineer | $171,000 | $156,000 – $191,000 | 6 | |
| Vulnerability Management | $146,000 | $133,000 – $156,000 | 5 | |
| Security Operations Leadership | $230,000 | $182,000 – $263,000 | 7 |
| Seniority | Median | Middle half | Jobs | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry level | $49,000 | $46,000 – $60,000 | 8 | |
| Mid level | $145,000 | $119,000 – $179,000 | 77 | |
| Senior | $180,000 | $143,000 – $204,000 | 61 | |
| Lead / manager | $183,000 | $170,000 – $261,000 | 25 |
Salary pages by role
- SOC Analyst salary
- Incident Responder salary
- Digital Forensics (DFIR) salary
- Threat Hunter salary
- Detection Engineer salary
- Security Engineer salary
- Cloud Security Engineer salary
- Vulnerability Management salary
- Security Operations Leadership salary
Each posting counts once, at the midpoint of its published range; hourly and monthly pay is converted to a full-time year. Pay outside $25,000–$1,000,000 a year is left out, and rows need at least three postings.