We were asked a simple question recently – “How much can you earn in a cyber security job?” – but the question is not as simple as you might think. Factors like the type of role, location, the skills and experience you have, the sector the role is in and more, all play a part in determining the answer. But we don’t like unanswered questions, so we set about trying to find out what the ‘simple answer’ is!
A quick word about Intaso: We provide professional expertise sourcing the best people for a cyber security role within your organisation. Our cyber security recruitment experts work alongside a range of industry clients, sourcing and supplying technical talent that match your requirements.
So how much can you earn? We undertook thorough research on this, using multiple different sources, including our own cyber security salary calculator, so we can get you an accurate answer. You can read how we found the information at the bottom of this article.
What the data showed
Starting salaries for Cyber Security Analysts in 2025 show notable regional variation. Entry-level roles typically begin at around £40,000, with London offering some of the highest starting salaries, averaging £45,000 to £50,000. Outside the capital, regions like Birmingham remain competitive, with starting salaries averaging £43,000 and upper ranges nearing £65,000.
Interestingly, remote roles continue to outperform many region-specific salaries. The average salary for remote cyber security positions is £54,829, with senior roles reaching up to £77,500 — making remote work not only flexible but also financially attractive.
To summarise our overall findings, before we get to the ‘simple answer’:
- You don’t need to move to London to get a great cyber salary!
- The earning potential is vast, and there is a huge amount of roles at the lower end of the spectrum
- Working remotely is a viable option, and salary estimates are higher than for some fixed location jobs
- As with most roles, your exact salary will depend on experience, size of company, target sector, etc
- The top end roles CISO, Chief Security Architect, CSO, Director, VP level can pay a package anywhere from £200k-800k
- There are plenty of opportunities for career and salary progression in the cyber industry!
So, what is the “average cyber security salary in the UK?”
The ‘simple answer’ to the far more nuanced question of ‘how much can you earn in a cyber security job?’ is…….
£54,829
This figure is influenced by the abundance of opportunities in SOC environments, where large teams of Level 1 and Level 2 analysts, along with numerous graduate schemes and entry-level positions, contribute to the overall average.
How much can you earn in your career?
While average salary figures offer a benchmark, they rarely reflect the full earning potential across a cybersecurity career. At the top end, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) at large enterprises can earn well into six figures, and in some cases reaching over £800,000 when bonuses and equity are included.
At the start of the journey, entry-level or junior cybersecurity roles, such as SOC Analysts or Trainee Security Analysts, typically offer salaries in the region of £25,000 to £40,000, often including structured training programs or certifications as part of the employment package. These are accessible to individuals without prior industry experience but who demonstrate the right aptitude and commitment to learn.
What makes cybersecurity particularly attractive is the clear path for progression. Professionals can move between roles and organisations, gaining exposure to new technologies, sectors, and challenges. With demand growing across industries, especially in cloud security, threat intelligence, and compliance, the opportunities to climb the ladder are increasing every year.
Over a 20-year career, it’s not uncommon for a skilled cybersecurity professional to earn well over £1 million in total salary alone, not accounting for bonuses, benefits, and pensions. The blend of job security, high demand, and long-term growth potential makes cybersecurity a compelling and future-proof career choice.
Our research to find the average cyber security salary
Assumptions
According to an ITPro study, more than 6,000 new jobs were added to the UK’s cyber security workforce in 2021. These roles ranged from junior level internships through to board level CISO roles. To answer our question, we stripped out these extremes and focused on more typical “Cyber Security Analyst” jobs. We also assumed that the person in this role had 3-4 years of experience.
In many jobs, location can have a large impact on the salary you will earn. However, the ITPro study points out that in 2020 there were 1,838 cyber security firms active across the UK, of which more than half were based outside of London and the South East. To make our ‘simple answer’ as accurate as possible, we decided to gather data for six locations: London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Newcastle, plus a remote working option.
How we gathered data
Intaso have an online salary calculator, which contains historic data on the salaries paid for different job types, across varying sectors and geographies. We used data from the tools of five job sites in addition to our own, to try and get an unbiased answer to our ‘simple question’.
Unfortunately, not all the sites had detailed information for our chosen cyber security analyst role, or openly admitted that they had ‘low confidence’ in the salary data they were providing, as cyber was not their focus area. However, we did manage to extract around 100 data points, allowing us to come up with a geographic range, based on the mean average of the salaries the tools suggested.
We discarded extreme data, both at the low end (why would someone with 3-4 years Cyber experience want a job paying less than £20,000?… come on) and also some suspiciously high end salaries that came with the caveat “up to”, which made us think they could be more sales focused.
Finally we took our answer and blind tested it against a new set of online job portals. It passed the test with flying colours. This gave us enough confidence to publish a number that can hold its head high!
