Entry-Level Cybersecurity Salary: What Starting Pay Looks Like

Starting pay in cybersecurity falls in the lower part of a wide range. The federal wage survey shows the lowest-paid tenth of information security analysts earning $75,090 or less and a quarter earning $97,810 or less. It doesn’t track experience, so those figures are the closest stand-in for beginner pay, and your state shifts them a lot.

What Counts as an Entry-Level Cybersecurity Salary?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) wage survey reports one list of percentiles for each job category. It doesn’t say who is new and who has fifteen years in. So there’s no official “entry-level” number, and any site that quotes one is estimating.

Here’s a fair way to use the data. The 10th percentile of $75,090 describes the lowest-paid tenth of working analysts. That group includes beginners, but also part-year workers and people at low-paying employers. The 25th percentile of $97,810 is a steadier benchmark. A newer analyst at a mid-sized employer in an average state will often land between those two numbers.

The national median is $129,180. You shouldn’t expect to start there, but it’s a useful target for what a few years of growth can look like. For the full picture, see our cybersecurity salary overview.

How Does Starting Pay Change by State?

State matters more at the start of a career than later, because employers in a high-cost state set a higher floor. The table shows the 10th and 25th percentiles for several states with a lot of analysts, from the May 2025 survey.

California is the interesting row. Its 25th percentile is above the national figure, but its 10th percentile of $66,070 is below it, and the spread from $66,070 to $101,840 means offers there vary widely.

At the low end of the country, Montana’s 25th percentile is $62,870 and Mississippi’s is $62,940. Indiana is at $72,220, Arkansas at $72,680 and Oklahoma at $73,350. Those are still solid incomes in states with lower living costs, though the gap with Washington is large.

Why Does Starting Pay Vary So Much Within One State?

Within a single state, the spread can be wide. In California the 10th percentile is $66,070 and the 25th is $101,840, a gap of $35,770. Four things usually explain it.

Employer size is the first. Larger organizations tend to have defined pay bands for analysts, and smaller ones negotiate case by case. Industry is the second, because some industries have more at stake when a breach happens.

Role scope is the third, since a person who watches alerts is paid differently from one who investigates them. Location inside the state is the last. A large metro area usually pays more than a rural one.

If you’re comparing offers, ask what the role owns. A title like “security analyst” can mean very different things, and the percentile ruler only helps when you know which part of the job you’d actually be doing.

What Do Employers Look for When You Have No Experience?

BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical education for analysts. But when you don’t have a work history to point to, employers lean on proof of hands-on skill. Degrees can supply that if the program is built for it.

Look at what the program makes you do. Some programs include required internships. Hilbert College’s online bachelor’s in cybersecurity makes a three-credit internship part of the major, and the University of Maine at Augusta bachelor’s requires an internship arranged with a faculty coordinator. American National University’s master’s in cybersecurity requires 50 hours of practicum training each term.

Other programs build experience in through capstones, labs or externships. West Virginia Junior College lists a 90-hour externship in the last quarter of its associate program. Our online cybersecurity degrees with internships list shows the full set.

A graded project you can describe in an interview, such as a lab where you found a vulnerability or a report you wrote after an incident drill, does a lot of work for a beginner.

Do Certifications Help a New Cybersecurity Worker?

They help most when you have little else to show. CompTIA Security+ is the foundational choice. CompTIA recommends Network+ and two years of experience in a security or systems administrator role, but says no prerequisite is required. The exam has a maximum of 90 questions and takes 90 minutes.

Many online programs build preparation for it into their courses. Northern Wyoming Community College District’s associate degree lists preparation for Security+ and CySA+ and runs $168 a credit across 61 credits, which comes to a total tuition of $10,248. That’s a low-cost way to get a degree and exam preparation together.

Treat a certification as a signal, not a ticket. Employers read it as evidence that you know the vocabulary and the basics. They still want to hear how you’ve used them.

What Does It Cost to Get Started?

Entry is cheaper than people assume if you pick carefully. Total tuition across the online programs we compare has a median of $15,822 at the associate level and $54,780 at the bachelor’s level, and the cheapest associate programs cost far less than the median. Albany Technical College’s associate degree charges $107 a credit across 72 credits, which comes to $7,704 in total tuition, plus fees.

Compare that with starting pay. At the 25th percentile of $97,810 in the national survey, a year of beginner pay is several times the price of the cheapest associate degree, about six times the median associate price ($15,822) and nearly twice the median bachelor’s price ($54,780). It’s not a guaranteed return, but it explains why so many career changers start at the associate level and move up.

Our online associate degrees in cybersecurity list shows tuition, delivery and prerequisites side by side. If you want the broadest view of cost, the cheapest online cybersecurity degrees list sorts across every level.

Which States Make Sense for a First Cybersecurity Job?

A first job is a numbers game. You want a state where pay is decent and where lots of employers are hiring. By that measure, a few states stand out.

Virginia employs 19,120 analysts, the most in the country, and its 25th percentile is $103,980. Texas employs 16,130 with a 25th percentile of $101,380. California employs 15,570 at $101,840, and Florida employs 14,220 at $91,020. New York has 10,060 analysts at $102,930. Those five markets alone give a new graduate many employers to approach.

Smaller states can pay well at the bottom but have far fewer openings. Washington’s 25th percentile of $123,590 is the highest in the country, but the state employs 6,030 analysts, and Colorado employs 5,700 with a 25th percentile of $108,150. If you can relocate or work remotely, those are worth a look.

If you can’t move, check your own state’s table before you set expectations. A graduate in Ohio will see a 25th percentile of $83,250, and one in Pennsylvania will see $84,390. Both are well below the national figure, but both states have thousands of analysts, with 6,010 in Ohio and 4,660 in Pennsylvania.

Should You Start in IT Support First?

Many people reach security by way of an IT job, and the pay data shows why that’s a reasonable plan. Network and computer systems administrators have a national 10th percentile of $62,640 and a 25th of $78,010. Those figures are lower than the analyst numbers, but the barrier to entry is often lower too.

BLS lists maintaining network and computer system security among administrator duties, so you can start building security experience while you’re still in the title. A year or two there, plus a Security+ certification and a degree in progress, gives you a clear story for an analyst application.

The path isn’t required. Some graduates move straight into analyst roles, especially from programs with internships. But if you can’t find an analyst job right away, an administrator job is a sensible bridge, not a detour. Our systems administrator salary page has the full numbers.

How Do You Compare an Offer With the Tables?

Take the offer and put it against three numbers: your state’s 25th percentile, your state’s median, and the national 25th percentile of $97,810.

If the offer is below the state 25th percentile, the role is probably support with a security label, or a small employer with a thin budget. Ask what you’ll learn and who will mentor you.

If the offer is between the state 25th percentile and the median, it’s a normal starting offer. If the offer is above the median, check what’s driving it, because the employer may expect on-call duty or prior experience.

Here’s an example. In Texas the 25th percentile is $101,380 and the median is $129,890. An offer of $95,000 is under the state 25th percentile, so it’s worth a question. An offer between $101,380 and $129,890 sits in the normal range for a newer analyst.

Always compare the whole package. Tuition help, certification budgets, remote options and paid training all count, and a lower salary with strong support can beat a higher salary with none.

Which Degree Level Fits Your Starting Point?

The right degree depends on where you’re starting from. Here’s a simple way to think about it.

If you have no college credits and want the fastest route into an IT role, an associate degree works. The median total tuition for associate programs we compare is $15,822, and many include Security+ preparation. If you already hold an associate degree or have transfer credits, a bachelor’s builds on it. The median bachelor’s total is $54,780, but transfer credit can cut that.

If you already hold a bachelor’s degree in any field, a master’s in cybersecurity is the usual step. The median total tuition is $25,488, and of the 111 master’s programs we compare, 41 (about 37 percent) don’t require the GRE. Our online master’s in cybersecurity with no GRE list shows them.

Whichever level you choose, look at what the program does for people who have no job history in the field. That’s the part that shapes your first offer.

How Fast Does Pay Grow After the First Job?

The survey gives you the distance but not the speed. The 25th percentile is $97,810 and the 75th is $163,500. A person who moves from one end of that range to the other is doing more than the same work for more years.

The usual moves are specific. Analysts take on investigations, learn a cloud platform, write the detection rules or become the person who briefs management. Each of those makes your work harder to replace, which is what raises pay.

BLS projects 21 percent growth for the occupation from 2025 to 2035, with about 14,100 openings a year. That demand gives newer analysts room to move between employers, and moving is often when pay jumps most.

For a step-by-step view of how people get into the field, read our entry-level cybersecurity jobs guide. If you’re deciding whether the cost is worth it, is a cybersecurity degree worth it lays out the math.