IT Support Specialist Salary (2026)
Typical pay is $61,860 a year, with most IT support specialists earning between $49,000 and $79,040. Based on the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Salary Calculator›IT Support Specialist
Nationally, the typical IT support specialist earns $61,860 a year. Early-career pay starts around $49,000, experienced IT support specialists earn $79,040 or more, and the top 10% make over $100,540. About 717,190 people work in this occupation in the US. Pay is highest in District of Columbia ($80,950) and, among metro areas, in Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA ($106,040).
IT Support Specialist salary in the United States
Annual pay, BLS survey of May 2025
What IT support specialists do
IT support specialists and help desk technicians fix hardware, software and network problems for users, set up equipment and keep systems running day to day. BLS counts them as computer user support specialists.
IT Support Specialist salary by state
Typical annual pay for IT support specialists in every state where BLS publishes figures, highest first.
| State | Typical | Early career | Experienced |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | $80,950 | $66,410 | $100,730 |
| California | $79,570 | $62,790 | $101,780 |
| Washington | $75,220 | $60,160 | $92,760 |
| Massachusetts | $75,070 | $60,540 | $91,020 |
| New York | $72,560 | $56,510 | $91,150 |
| Colorado | $71,900 | $58,690 | $90,040 |
| Connecticut | $70,210 | $56,720 | $85,590 |
| Wyoming | $65,100 | $50,940 | $71,760 |
| Virginia | $65,040 | $51,460 | $80,870 |
| Maryland | $64,750 | $51,270 | $82,560 |
| New Jersey | $64,470 | $52,000 | $82,090 |
| Minnesota | $63,630 | $54,450 | $78,710 |
| Alaska | $63,110 | $52,420 | $75,550 |
| Vermont | $63,030 | $54,900 | $80,620 |
| Oregon | $62,840 | $53,500 | $79,070 |
| Rhode Island | $62,510 | $51,490 | $75,690 |
| Delaware | $62,160 | $50,480 | $77,170 |
| Arizona | $61,410 | $48,910 | $76,610 |
| North Dakota | $61,310 | $49,780 | $77,380 |
| Utah | $61,110 | $47,390 | $77,880 |
| Maine | $60,890 | $52,650 | $73,900 |
| Nebraska | $60,830 | $49,030 | $64,980 |
| New Hampshire | $60,660 | $48,160 | $75,930 |
| Georgia | $60,440 | $48,170 | $78,330 |
| North Carolina | $60,120 | $47,520 | $77,130 |
| Illinois | $59,860 | $47,190 | $76,660 |
| Missouri | $59,770 | $47,380 | $73,330 |
| Ohio | $59,720 | $47,890 | $73,440 |
| Texas | $59,490 | $47,270 | $72,820 |
| Idaho | $59,170 | $47,840 | $77,460 |
| Iowa | $58,810 | $47,820 | $73,700 |
| Wisconsin | $58,810 | $49,000 | $69,690 |
| Florida | $58,740 | $46,990 | $74,850 |
| Pennsylvania | $58,670 | $47,190 | $73,230 |
| Montana | $58,460 | $49,050 | $65,070 |
| Nevada | $57,870 | $47,290 | $72,080 |
| Kentucky | $57,850 | $44,980 | $71,790 |
| Hawaii | $56,760 | $48,570 | $72,800 |
| Indiana | $56,510 | $46,330 | $66,200 |
| Michigan | $56,240 | $46,220 | $70,000 |
| Kansas | $56,150 | $47,470 | $64,890 |
| Tennessee | $55,990 | $47,010 | $66,700 |
| West Virginia | $55,350 | $46,650 | $68,900 |
| New Mexico | $53,280 | $45,610 | $61,920 |
| Louisiana | $52,440 | $45,050 | $65,350 |
| Mississippi | $52,230 | $43,830 | $64,740 |
| South Carolina | $52,080 | $44,160 | $66,320 |
| Oklahoma | $52,040 | $44,400 | $65,320 |
| Alabama | $49,630 | $42,260 | $61,300 |
| South Dakota | $48,260 | $40,750 | $59,080 |
| Arkansas | $46,360 | $39,510 | $60,060 |
Highest-paying metro areas
| Metro area | Typical |
|---|---|
| 1. Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | $106,040 |
| 2. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $93,590 |
| 3. Carson City, NV | $93,560 |
| 4. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $89,440 |
| 5. Vallejo, CA | $81,280 |
| 6. Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA | $80,520 |
| 7. Napa, CA | $79,050 |
| 8. Yuba City, CA | $78,420 |
| 9. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $78,330 |
| 10. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT | $78,070 |
| 11. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $77,860 |
| 12. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | $77,850 |
| 13. Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA | $76,900 |
| 14. Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA | $75,720 |
| 15. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $75,690 |
Pay in Apollo's markets
| Metro | Typical |
|---|---|
| Atlanta | $62,110 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $60,710 |
| Houston | $59,250 |
| Austin | $61,990 |
| Charlotte | $60,220 |
| Raleigh | $62,460 |
| San Antonio | $57,400 |
| Chicago | $60,730 |
| Orlando | $54,430 |
| Tampa | $61,050 |
| Miami | $60,500 |
| Jacksonville | $59,340 |
| Greenville-Spartanburg | $51,880 |
| Columbia, SC | $50,080 |
| Charleston, SC | $52,590 |
| Savannah | $61,970 |
Related it and software salaries
IT Support Specialist salary FAQs
How much does a IT support specialist make in the US?
The typical (median) IT support specialist in the US earns $61,860 a year, or about $29.74 an hour (BLS, May 2025). Half earn more and half earn less.
What is the entry-level salary for a IT support specialist in the US?
Early-career IT support specialists in the US typically earn around $49,000 (the 25th percentile), and the lowest-paid 10% earn under $40,980. Degree, internships, licenses and the industry all move starting pay.
How much do experienced IT support specialists earn in the US?
Experienced IT support specialists in the US earn $79,040 or more (the 75th percentile), and the top 10% earn over $100,540.
Which state pays IT support specialists the most?
District of Columbia has the highest typical pay for IT support specialists at $80,950 a year. The highest-paying metro area is Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA at $106,040 (BLS, May 2025).
Are IT support specialists in demand?
BLS projects employment in this occupation to shrink 3.5% from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3.5% for all jobs, with about 39,700 openings a year nationally as people retire, change jobs or the field grows.
Hiring IT support specialists?
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: Computer User Support Specialists (SOC 15-1232).