DevOps Engineer salary

Q: How much does a devops engineer make?

The median devops engineer salary in the U.S. is about $132,000 per year. Most devops engineers earn between $88,000 and $200,000, and top earners (90th percentile) make $200,000 or more. DevOps Engineer is a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so these figures are labeled, mapped estimates benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

Q: What is the highest devops engineer salary?

Top-earning devops engineers (90th percentile) make about $200,000 or more nationally. In the highest-paying metros, estimated devops engineer pay can run even higher — for example around $195,360 (median) in San Jose. Metro figures are cost-of-labor estimates, not direct BLS metro data.

Q: How much do entry-level devops engineers make?

Entry-level devops engineers (0–2 years) earn about $103,000 per year, rising to roughly $142,500 at mid-level and $178,000+ at the principal/staff level. These by-experience figures are modeled estimates based on typical engineering career progression.

Q: Do devops engineers make good money?

Yes. The median devops engineer salary of $132,000 is 13% above the roughly $116,537 median across engineering occupations, and experienced devops engineers can earn $200,000 or more.

Q: Which cities pay devops engineers the most?

Estimated devops engineer pay is highest in San Jose ($195,360), San Francisco ($187,440), Seattle ($171,600). These are cost-of-labor estimates that adjust the national baseline by local wage levels — not direct BLS metro wages.

Mapped est.

Updated January 2025

DevOps engineers build the CI/CD pipelines, automation, and observability that let teams ship software reliably and fast, often sharing ground with SRE and platform engineering.

Median pay

$132,000

U.S. typical

Top earners

$200,000

90th percentile

Entry level

$103,000

0–2 yrs

Senior

$178,000

15+ yrs

The median devops engineer salary in the U.S. is about $132,000 per year. Entry-level pay starts near $88,000, while top earners (90th percentile) make $200,000 or more. DevOps Engineeris a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so this figure is a labeled estimate benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

Median annual wage

$132,000

Mean

$137,000

10th pct · $88,00090th pct · $200,000

What devops engineers do

Build and maintain CI/CD pipelines, automate infrastructure and releases, run observability and incident response, and own deployment reliability.

DevOps engineers build the CI/CD pipelines, automation, and observability that let teams ship software reliably and fast, often sharing ground with SRE and platform engineering.

What affects devops engineer pay

▹CI/CD, Kubernetes, and IaC tooling depth
▹Company type (Big Tech vs. enterprise)
▹Years of experience and on-call scope
▹Overlap with SRE / platform engineering
▹Metro cost of labor

DevOps Engineer salary by experience

Pay typically climbs from about $103,000 for entry level engineers to $178,000+ at the principal / staff level.

Entry level 0–2 yrs

$103,000

Early career 3–5 yrs

$124,000

Mid level 6–9 yrs

$142,500

Senior 10–14 yrs

$161,000

Principal / Staff 15+ yrs

$178,000

Your actual offer depends on company, location, and specialization — run the calculator for a tailored range.

Highest-paying cities for devops engineers

Estimated devops engineer pay in the top-paying metros, vs the national median.

8results

Metro	State	Median	90th pct	vs U.S.	Data
San Jose California	CA	$195,360	$296,000	+48%	Estimate
San Francisco California	CA	$187,440	$284,000	+42%	Estimate
Seattle Washington	WA	$171,600	$260,000	+30%	Estimate
New York City New York	NY	$166,320	$252,000	+26%	Estimate
Boston Massachusetts	MA	$161,040	$244,000	+22%	Estimate
Washington, D.C. District of Columbia	DC	$158,400	$240,000	+20%	Estimate
Los Angeles California	CA	$155,760	$236,000	+18%	Estimate
San Diego California	CA	$151,800	$230,000	+15%	Estimate

DevOps Engineer salary by state

State	Est. median	Est. 90th pct
California	$163,680	$248,000
Texas	$137,280	$208,000
New York	$150,480	$228,000
Washington	$155,760	$236,000
Massachusetts	$153,120	$232,000

State figures are estimates — open a state for its full city-by-city breakdown.

DevOps Engineer salary — frequently asked questions

How much does a devops engineer make?

The median devops engineer salary in the U.S. is about $132,000 per year. Most devops engineers earn between $88,000 and $200,000, and top earners (90th percentile) make $200,000 or more. DevOps Engineer is a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so these figures are labeled, mapped estimates benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

What is the highest devops engineer salary?

Top-earning devops engineers (90th percentile) make about $200,000 or more nationally. In the highest-paying metros, estimated pay can run even higher — for example around $195,360 in San Jose. Metro figures are cost-of-labor estimates, not direct BLS metro data.

How much do entry-level devops engineers make?

Entry-level devops engineers (0–2 years) earn about $103,000 per year, rising to roughly $142,500 at mid-level and $178,000+ at the principal/staff level. These by-experience figures are modeled estimates based on typical engineering career progression.

Do devops engineers make good money?

Yes. The median devops engineer salary of $132,000 is 13% above the roughly $116,537 median across engineering occupations, and experienced devops engineers can earn $200,000 or more.

Which cities pay devops engineers the most?

Estimated devops engineer pay is highest in San Jose ($195,360), San Francisco ($187,440), and Seattle ($171,600). These are cost-of-labor estimates that adjust the national baseline by local wage levels — not direct BLS metro wages.

How can a devops engineer earn more?

DevOps Engineer pay rises most with ci/cd, kubernetes, and iac tooling depth, company type (big tech vs. enterprise), and years of experience and on-call scope. Moving to a higher-cost metro, specializing, and taking on senior or lead scope are the biggest levers — the salary calculator lets you model each one.

Source details

DevOps Engineer is not a BLS-tracked title; it overlaps with site-reliability and platform engineering. Mapped to BLS SOC 15-1252 Software Developers. Not a direct BLS-tracked title — treat as an estimate.

Benchmarks come from published government wage data via BLS OEWS. Local and emerging-role figures are labeled estimates. Full methodology →