Systems Administrator Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $99,130 a year, with most systems administrators earning between $78,010 and $126,640. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›Systems Administrator
Nationally, the typical systems administrator earns $99,130 a year. Early-career pay starts around $78,010, experienced systems administrators earn $126,640 or more, and the top 10% make over $155,050. About 314,340 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in Maryland ($118,290) and, among metro areas, in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA ($133,360).
Systems Administrator salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What systems administrators do
Systems administrators keep servers, networks and core IT systems running, handling setup, upgrades, backups and security patches. BLS counts them as network and computer systems administrators.
Systems Administrator salary by state
Typical annual pay for systems administrators in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | $118,290 | $90,900 | $156,360 |
| New Jersey | $116,420 | $90,440 | $137,990 |
| Massachusetts | $110,980 | $91,950 | $136,810 |
| District of Columbia | $110,970 | $98,480 | $137,030 |
| Virginia | $109,610 | $83,480 | $136,480 |
| California | $106,440 | $88,680 | $134,190 |
| Connecticut | $105,880 | $85,830 | $132,190 |
| New York | $105,810 | $83,630 | $134,390 |
| Washington | $103,910 | $82,800 | $127,740 |
| Nevada | $103,440 | $83,040 | $129,230 |
| Colorado | $103,370 | $85,390 | $130,230 |
| Rhode Island | $103,100 | $80,890 | $128,750 |
| Oregon | $102,000 | $84,220 | $121,620 |
| Minnesota | $101,870 | $83,020 | $129,200 |
| Hawaii | $101,450 | $84,300 | $129,470 |
| Texas | $101,240 | $79,570 | $128,140 |
| New Hampshire | $100,230 | $83,930 | $121,220 |
| Illinois | $100,080 | $79,520 | $128,790 |
| Ohio | $97,570 | $77,990 | $128,930 |
| Alaska | $97,500 | $76,780 | $104,030 |
| Georgia | $97,170 | $76,980 | $122,730 |
| Utah | $95,820 | $78,260 | $117,170 |
| North Carolina | $95,230 | $72,090 | $124,100 |
| Florida | $95,200 | $73,800 | $118,450 |
| Delaware | $94,200 | $71,970 | $122,140 |
| Michigan | $92,750 | $76,080 | $108,440 |
| South Carolina | $92,520 | $75,330 | $119,410 |
| Idaho | $91,880 | $76,850 | $107,160 |
| New Mexico | $90,790 | $75,270 | $104,990 |
| Arizona | $90,280 | $74,950 | $113,420 |
| Louisiana | $90,160 | $74,260 | $107,580 |
| Tennessee | $88,100 | $75,700 | $107,160 |
| Kentucky | $87,020 | $70,710 | $106,950 |
| North Dakota | $86,450 | $73,290 | $101,860 |
| Pennsylvania | $86,140 | $71,150 | $105,840 |
| Vermont | $86,020 | $77,180 | $102,810 |
| Nebraska | $84,700 | $67,890 | $110,530 |
| Indiana | $84,550 | $70,680 | $104,450 |
| Iowa | $84,500 | $70,470 | $105,210 |
| Oklahoma | $83,990 | $67,980 | $102,720 |
| Maine | $83,890 | $72,090 | $103,320 |
| Wisconsin | $83,650 | $67,150 | $102,180 |
| Kansas | $83,340 | $68,580 | $106,000 |
| Arkansas | $81,590 | $64,650 | $104,590 |
| Alabama | $81,400 | $64,800 | $104,260 |
| Montana | $80,950 | $67,760 | $95,300 |
| Missouri | $80,870 | $63,290 | $103,790 |
| Mississippi | $79,990 | $65,750 | $103,700 |
| Wyoming | $75,220 | $63,100 | $92,630 |
| South Dakota | $75,010 | $63,310 | $87,400 |
| West Virginia | $74,490 | $63,520 | $94,320 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $133,360 |
| 2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $129,680 |
| 3. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $125,430 |
| 4. Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | $122,950 |
| 5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $119,390 |
| 6. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $118,810 |
| 7. Carson City, NV | $118,340 |
| 8. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $117,200 |
| 9. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $116,770 |
| 10. Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA | $112,530 |
| 11. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC | $110,640 |
| 12. Springfield, IL | $110,600 |
| 13. Vallejo, CA | $110,520 |
| 14. Salem, OR | $109,970 |
| 15. Boulder, CO | $109,790 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $101,000 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $103,260 |
| Houston | $101,430 |
| Austin | $104,520 |
| Charlotte | $89,990 |
| Raleigh | $103,380 |
| San Antonio | $96,770 |
| Chicago | $103,170 |
| Orlando | $91,800 |
| Tampa | $101,560 |
| Miami | $97,180 |
| Jacksonville | $99,460 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $95,740 |
| Columbia, SC | $86,650 |
| Charleston, SC | $97,480 |
| Savannah | $95,180 |
Related it and software salaries
Systems Administrator salary FAQs
How much does a systems administrator make in the US?
The typical (median) systems administrator in the US earns $99,130 a year, or about $47.66 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a systems administrator in the US?
Early-career systems administrators in the US typically earn around $78,010 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $62,640. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced systems administrators earn in the US?
Experienced systems administrators in the US earn $126,640 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $155,050.
Which state pays systems administrators the most?
Maryland has the highest typical pay for systems administrators at $118,290 a year. The highest-paying metro area is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA at $133,360 (BLS, May 2025).
Are systems administrators in demand?
BLS projects employment in this occupation to shrink 4.1% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% for all jobs, with about 13,400 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring systems administrators?
Where these numbers come from
Pay figures come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program (OEWS), which surveys about 1.1 million employer locations and is the government's main source of pay by occupation and location. This page uses the May 2025 survey, released in 2026, and updates itself when BLS publishes the next year's figures. Job outlook comes from the BLS Employment Projections for 2025–35. Cost of living comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities for 2024, where the US average is 100.
Pay is base wages and salary before tax. It does not include bonuses, overtime, benefits or equity. Early career is the 25th percentile (a quarter of workers earn less), Typical is the median and Experienced is the 75th percentile. The bar shows the full range from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The salary rank check estimates a percentile by drawing straight lines between those five published points.
BLS groups some job titles together. Controls engineers, for example, are counted with electrical engineers, and CAD designers with drafters. Each result names the BLS occupation it uses so you can see exactly what is being measured. BLS does not publish every occupation in every area, for example when too few people in a job were surveyed or when a figure does not meet its reliability standards. When a metro figure is missing, the calculator shows the state figure, or the national figure if the state is also missing, and says so.
BLS occupation used on this page: Network and Computer Systems Administrators (SOC 15-1244).