30 Honest DevOps Engineer Salaries
As you build your career, one of the big challenges you’ll face is knowing whether or not you’re being paid fairly. A “reasonable salary” changes from company to company and job to job. Plus, it’s easier to figure out a fair salary for some jobs than others. In the world of IT, DevOps engineers have a particularly hard time figuring out what they’re worth.
That’s because not many people know what DevOps is, much less what a DevOps engineer is or how they’re different from their colleagues in development or operations. To help you make sense of that mess, we’ve collected DevOps engineer salaries from all over the country and analyzed them for you.
Several factors impact a DevOps engineer’s earning potential: experience, training, company, and possession of a DevOps certification. Read on to learn what a DevOps engineer does, how much a DevOps engineer can expect to earn, and what you can do to improve your salary prospects.
What is a DevOps Engineer?
A DevOps engineer is a senior IT professional who bridges the gap between software development and IT operations. They manage the tools, networks, and technologies that support a product's entire lifecycle—from development and delivery to updates and retirement.
DevOps is more of a flexible workflow strategy than a fixed role, which is why salaries and job expectations can vary widely. Each company implements DevOps differently, but the core goal remains the same: improving efficiency across the board.
Ideally, DevOps engineers have experience in both development and operations. Development experience helps them understand how apps are built and updated, while operations experience equips them to automate processes, optimize infrastructure, and troubleshoot issues.
DevOps engineers typically don’t design a company’s overall DevOps strategy—that’s the DevOps architect’s job. Instead, they work within existing frameworks to streamline collaboration between developers and IT teams.
30 Real Salaries for DevOps Engineers
In our search, we discovered salary information for DevOps engineers from all over the country. We took those salaries from 30 job markets and created the chart below. To find all that data, we found job postings, read job descriptions, and pulled data from salary-sharing professional networks like ZipRecruiter, Economic Research Institute, and Salary.com.
Although the data is most interesting on a city-by-city basis, the national data from ZipRecruiter is valuable as a snapshot:
The national average salary for a DevOps Engineer is $125,000.
The average high for a DevOps Engineer is $144,500.
The average low for a DevOps Engineer is $105,000.
Compare those national numbers to the following chart of 30 DevOps engineer salaries:
City | State | Average |
Nome | AK | $156,000 |
Boston | MA | $133,000 |
Houston | TX | $128,000 |
Atlanta | GA | $120,000 |
Clarksville | TN | $105,000 |
Jackson | MS | $103,942 |
Mobile | AL | $110,327 |
Akron | OH | $110,994 |
Sioux Falls | SD | $105,256 |
Little Rock | AR | $103,355 |
Overland Park | KS | $111,763 |
Kansas City | MO | $81,831 |
Newport News | VA | $115,438 |
Tucson | AZ | $108,693 |
Metairie | LA | $111,221 |
Tampa | FL | $114,618 |
Pittsburgh | PA | $112,332 |
Charlotte | NC | $121,161 |
Reno | NV | $117,315 |
Salem | MA | $128,655 |
Providence | RI | $121,999 |
Worcester | MA | $120,680 |
Chicago | IL | $123,075 |
Jewett | TX | $154,000 |
Washington | DC | $142,250 |
Denver | CO | $129,595 |
Cupertino | CA | $155,000 |
Lakewood | OH | $113,000 |
New York | NY | $156,973 |
Berkeley | CA | $154,167 |
Takeaways from DevOps Engineer Salaries
DevOps engineers earn solid salaries across the U.S., but location still plays a big role in just how high those numbers go. The national average is around $125,000, but several cities significantly exceed that. For instance, New York, Nome (AK), Cupertino (CA), and Berkeley (CA) all report salaries north of $154,000.
That said, high compensation isn’t limited to the coasts. Jewett, TX, has a competitive average of $154,000, while Denver, Salem, and Washington, D.C., are all strong six-figure contenders.
On the other end of the scale, cities like Kansas City, MO ($81,831) and Little Rock, AR ($103,355) fall below the national average. That suggests DevOps engineers in those markets may be earning less either due to lower cost of living, less competition, or narrower role expectations.
One thing to note: many of these salaries include additional compensation like bonuses or stock options, which can vary widely by company and industry. That variability makes it hard to pin down exact earnings, but it also highlights the potential upside.
The key takeaway? While DevOps is in demand nationwide, targeting high-paying regions—or companies known for generous comp packages—can be a smart strategy if maximizing income is your goal. Regardless of where you start, training and certifications can pave the way to higher pay.
Want to learn more about becoming a DevOps engineer? Check out our DevOps training
4 Factors That Influence Your DevOps Engineer Salary
It doesn’t matter if you’re already working as a DevOps engineer or if you’re looking to land your first gig as one; there are always ways to improve your salary. Believe it or not, DevOps is still a young and poorly defined career field.
There are many opportunities to clarify it for your company and justify raises and promotions. There are four things you can do to improve your salary prospects: learn DevOps tools, earn DevOps certifications, develop the right skills, and choose the right industry.
Experience Requirements for DevOps Engineer
The exact work experience that defines a DevOps engineer can be hard to nail down. They tend to command strong salaries because they have great soft skills on top of a foundation of deep technical knowledge. Because the skills and knowledge it takes to understand a company’s production lifecycle and then introduce the right tools and methodologies are rare and hard to define.
In many companies, a DevOps engineer is an agent of change. But often, they’re not authorized to make sweeping changes on their own, so they must also convince every stakeholder along the way. In that regard, experience navigating the politics within a company is an incredibly important experience requirement for a DevOps engineer.
Development teams and IT operations teams tend to have different skills and different goals, so a DevOps engineer often finds themselves playing a balancing act. That’s why robust experience in both backgrounds is so helpful for a DevOps engineer.
It’s good to be friendly and a good communicator, but a DevOps engineer also has to draw on a deep well of knowledge of both development and operations to convince subject matter experts in those fields.
5 DevOps Tools You'll Need to Know
DevOps success still hinges on speed, stability, and automation, and the tools you use play a big part in that. While the specific tech stack can vary, DevOps engineers are expected to master tools in a few key categories to boost efficiency and, yes, salary.
Here are five must-know toolsets in 2025:
1. Configuration Management Tools
These tools automate infrastructure provisioning and scaling. Ansible, Puppet, and Chef remain staples, but Terraform and Pulumi (for infrastructure as code) are now just as important, especially in cloud-native environments.
Why it matters: Knowing how to configure and scale environments automatically is core DevOps territory—and a major salary booster.
2. Deployment & GitOps Tools
Modern deployments rely heavily on tools like Argo CD, Flux, and Spinnaker to automate updates to clusters and services. GitOps approaches—where Git is the single source of truth—are becoming standard.
Why it matters: Deployment automation is a high-skill, high-impact area. Smooth, repeatable releases = higher paychecks.
3. Monitoring & Observability Tools
Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog, and New Relic help track everything from app health to system performance. Observability now includes tracing and real-time alerts—key to maintaining uptime.
Why it matters: Turning raw data into actionable insights is a premium skill. Companies pay more for engineers who can prevent issues before they escalate.
4. CI/CD & Build Tools
Jenkins is still around, but GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and CircleCI are leading the charge now. These tools automate testing, building, and deployment across development pipelines.
Why it matters: A deep understanding of CI/CD means you can streamline workflows and accelerate time to production—music to any company’s ears.
5. Source Code Management DevOps Tools
Git is universal, but platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket are essential for version control, collaboration, and automation triggers.
Why it matters: No matter your stack, source code management is non-negotiable. If you can’t work in Git, you can’t work in DevOps.
3 Best Certifications for a DevOps Engineer
Certifications can make a real difference in a DevOps engineer’s salary, but choosing the right one depends on your tech stack, your role, and your company’s ecosystem. DevOps isn’t a one-size-fits-all career—some engineers are deep specialists in specific tools, while others are generalists who manage entire CI/CD pipelines.
That said, some DevOps certifications consistently stand out for their relevance, difficulty, and earning potential.
1. Docker Certified Associate (DCA)
Containers are a core part of modern DevOps workflows, and Docker remains a leading player in the space. The Docker Certified Associate validates your ability to work with Docker’s Enterprise features, manage containerized apps, and troubleshoot at scale.
Even though Docker was acquired by Mirantis, the DCA remains the go-to cert for proving hands-on Docker expertise, especially in multi-cloud and hybrid environments.
Salary impact of Docker Certified Associate: Significant. While many companies offer Docker courses, the DCA (via Mirantis) is still the most recognized. If your DevOps role involves containerization—and most do—this cert is a smart investment.
2. AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional
For companies running on AWS (and that’s a lot of them), this cert proves you're ready to manage and automate infrastructure at scale. It covers the full DevOps lifecycle using AWS-native tools—from provisioning and configuration to CI/CD and monitoring.
You’ll need at least two years of hands-on AWS experience to succeed with this exam.
Salary impact: High. If your company is built on AWS, this certification can lead directly to more senior roles and a substantial pay bump. It's also a standout credential if you're looking to move into platform engineering or cloud architecture.
3. Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert
If your company uses Azure, this is the certification to pursue. It focuses on collaborative DevOps practices using Microsoft’s tools and services, including Azure DevOps, GitHub, infrastructure as code, compliance, and monitoring.
This certification requires passing either the Azure Administrator or Azure Developer Associate cert first, so it’s best suited for engineers already embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Salary impact of Microsoft Certified: DevOps Engineer Expert: significant. Obviously, if your company doesn’t use Microsoft Azure, it might not be a good idea to earn this certification. For organizations that run on Azure, this cert signals that you can integrate DevOps processes directly into the backbone of their infrastructure.
3 Types of Companies That Need DevOps Engineers Today
DevOps started in the software world, but in today’s digital-first economy, nearly every company acts like a tech company to some degree. Whether it’s a retail giant optimizing logistics or a healthcare provider modernizing patient portals, the demand for scalable, secure, and automated infrastructure is everywhere.
That said, some industries offer more exciting challenges (and often better salaries) for DevOps engineers. If you’re planning a DevOps career, it’s worth thinking about not just the job, but the industry you’re in. It could affect your long-term growth, the pace of innovation, and how much autonomy and support you’ll get.
1. Software and SaaS Companies
This is still DevOps HQ. Whether the company builds internal tools or consumer-facing apps, DevOps engineers are central to delivering faster releases, smoother rollouts, and resilient infrastructure. Continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), container orchestration, and observability tools are standard operating procedures here.
Career outlook: Very strong. While you might not start at the highest salary, software companies tend to offer room for advancement, cutting-edge tools, and the kind of challenges that build long-term skills and career capital.
2. Cloud-Based Service Providers and Tech Giants
Think AWS, Netflix, and Google—companies where uptime, speed, and scalability are everything. These organizations often blur the line between DevOps and platform engineering, pushing the envelope with custom tooling, AI-powered pipelines, and ultra-resilient systems.
Career outlook: Excellent. You’ll likely work with massive scale, large distributed systems, and advanced automation. Salaries in this space are often top-tier, but so are expectations—this is where elite DevOps pros thrive.
3. Large Enterprises and Retailers
Retailers like Walmart and Target, along with logistics firms, banks, and insurance providers, rely on DevOps to keep complex systems running smoothly across hundreds or thousands of endpoints. These companies manage everything from cloud deployments to mobile apps to backend infrastructure—often in regulated environments.
Career outlook: Strong. While the tech stacks might be less bleeding-edge than startups, the problems are huge and meaningful. You’ll gain experience in large-scale, mission-critical environments and benefit from stable salaries, internal mobility, and long-term growth.
How to Increase Your Salary as a DevOps Engineer
If there’s one thing that consistently boosts a DevOps engineer’s salary, it’s a commitment to continuous learning. DevOps isn’t a static role—fast-moving technologies like container orchestration, infrastructure as code, and AI-driven automation shape it. The most valuable engineers stay curious and adaptable.
Whether it’s a new deployment tool, monitoring platform, or source code manager, explore how it fits into your workflow. You don’t need to master every tool, but understanding how they work and when to use them can set you apart.
In today’s evolving DevOps landscape, the engineers who thrive blend technical depth with creative problem-solving. That combination delivers real value to companies and commands the highest paychecks.
Armed with all the knowledge we’ve provided about competitive DevOps engineer salaries and the tools and knowledge you should equip yourself with, we hope you feel confident in beginning a career in DevOps engineering.
Learn tools, earn certifications, stay curious, and constantly question your industry’s norms and standards.
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