CISSP Salary: Your 2025 Guide

While the technology and cybersecurity fields contain many certifications, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is among the most esteemed worldwide. The CISSP demonstrates your industry knowledge and cybersecurity leadership. Earning this certification can often lead to higher seniority levels in related professions and, ultimately, help you land managerial positions. 

Your CISSP salary potential can also be promising. Read on to explore the average earnings of CISSPs and the range of variables that may impact your salary. 

What is CISSP and its requirements?

CISSP is a globally recognized, vendor-neutral IT security certification. It’s ideal for any IT security professional who’s looking for a way to prove their technical understanding and hands-on experience with cybersecurity programs for organizations.

The International Information System Security Certification Consortium, or ISC2, manages the CISSP program and has strict eligibility requirements. First, it requires a minimum of five years of experience working in at least two of the eight domains of the ISC2 CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK), which are [1]: 

• Security and risk management

• Asset security

• Security architecture and engineering

• Communication and network security

• Identity and access management (IAM)

• Security assessment and testing

• Security operations

• Software development security

How do I gain experience to meet the CISSP requirements?

You can gain this experience working full- or part-time. If you work full-time, your experience builds monthly, meaning you receive one month of experience every four weeks you work at least 35 hours. If you choose to work part-time, you must work between 20 and 34 hours per week. You’ll receive six months of working credit for every 1,040 hours of part-time work and 12 months for every 2,080 part-time hours you work [1]. 

Internships qualify for experience, but experience must be documented on corporate letterhead to count. You can also get up to one year of working credit by earning a four-year college degree or an advanced degree in information security or related field.

Who earns a CISSP?

The CISSP program can help you land a wide range of cybersecurity roles. A CISSP will benefit almost any IT security role, such as:

• Chief information officer

• IT director

• Network architect

• Security analyst

• Senior IT security consultant

• Cybersecurity manager

How much does a CISSP make?

The typical CISSP holder in the US will have a role under the information security analyst’s umbrella, earning a median annual salary of $120,360, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics [2]. 

According to Glassdoor, the average base US salary among all CISSP holders is $134,202 [3]. Keep in mind that CISSP is only a certification, and your actual CISSP salary may vary based on your role, experience level, location, and more.

Factors that impact CISSP salary

Like many salaries in the US, CISSP salaries are impacted by location, experience, education level, and more. Since CISSP is a certification and not a job title, your salary may also vary by the role you work in. Consider each factor and how it impacts the CISSP salary. 

Role

The role you earn with your CISSP certification may greatly impact your CISSP salary. Five common roles for CISSP holders and their average base salary according to several job posting sites include:

*Salaries are sourced from Zippia, Glassdoor, and Payscale and are accurate as of January 2025

Read more: What Is a Good Salary?

Experience

Most workers gain more knowledge the longer they work in a field. This makes them more effective employees and may lead to a higher salary. Using base salary data from Glassdoor, consider how your years of experience impact the five roles associated with a CISSP certification [4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. 

Location

Location can impact your CISSP salary, whether to compensate for the area’s cost of living or income taxes or based on the supply of workers in the region. If relocation is an option, it may be best to check out some of the highest-paying cities for a CISSP-related role. However, compare any higher salary to the cost of living to ensure it makes sense to make that move. 

Highest-paying cities for CISSP

According to Zippia, the cities with the highest pay for the five CISSP-focused roles covered so far illustrate how relocating could impact your CISSP salary. 

Chief information officer [9]

• San Francisco, CA: $177,036

• Washington, DC: $161,636

• New York, NY: $161,433

• Jersey City, NJ: $159,998

• Philadelphia, PA: $157,104

IT manager [10]

• Richmond, CA: $139,104

• New York, NY: $128,391

• Boston, MA: $127,309

• Jersey City, NJ: $125,161

• Seattle, WA: $121,735

Security systems engineer [11]

• San Francisco, CA: $133,942

• Austin, TX: $103,211

• Cambridge, MA: $102,077

• Annapolis, MD: $97,373

• Dearborn, MI: $96,141

Security analyst [12]

• San Francisco, CA: $123,557

• Seattle, WA: $104,120

• Boston, MA: $101,471

• Hoboken, NJ: $100,385

• New York, NY: $99,224

Security architect [13]

• San Francisco, CA: $150,256

• Philadelphia, PA: $146,863

• Salem, OR: $135,092

• Des Moines, WA: $134,727

• Boston, MA: $132,686

Industry

CISSP salary can vary by the industry you choose to work in. Salaries by role in some of the highest-paying industries are as follows.

Highest-paying industries

Chief information officer [9]

• Agriculture: $154,502

• Health care: $153,499

• Professional: $147,586

• Manufacturing: $147,580

• Media: $140,618

IT manager [5]

• Construction, repair, and maintenance services: $143,330

• Financial services: $147,069

• Energy, mining, and utilities: $157,828

• Manufacturing: $146,496

• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology: $169,055

Security systems engineer [11]

• Professional: $102,960

• Finance: $99,711

• Education: $93,649

• Technology: $92,934

Security analyst [12]

• Professional: $119,898

• Finance: $99,608

• Technology: $97,584

• Government: $85,517

Security architect [8]

• Manufacturing: $203,393

• Information technology: $237,395

• Telecommunications: $199,467

Company

Some employers place a premium on CISSP-related roles and pay a higher salary accordingly. Other companies may also have higher budgets, resulting in potentially higher CISSP salaries. Some of the highest-paying companies for the five CISSP-focused roles we highlighted have the following average earnings. 

Highest-paying companies for CISSP

Chief information officer [9]

• Mayer Brown: $209,721

• McKinsey & Company Inc: $195,336

• Rush Street: $184,506

• Targus: $184,475

• Daltile: $182,861

IT manager [10]

• Meta: $176,683

• eBay: $165,177

• The RealReal: $161,422

• Cloudflare: $161,092

• Anaplan: $160,708

Security systems engineer [11]

• Credit Karma: $173,069

• Meta: $161,761

• Safeway: $156,489

• Apple: $152,258

• NVIDIA: $143,007

Security analyst [12]

• The Walt Disney Company: $147,610

• Meta: $145,857

• Apple: $145,665

• McKinsey & Company Inc: $141,735

• PayPal: $141,357

Security architect [13]

• The Knot: $176,508

• Meta: $172,214

• Revlon: $164,781

• Baker McKenzie: $164,052

• Apple: $163,936

Job outlook

The BLS projects that occupations in the computer and information technology industry will grow much faster than average between 2023 and 2033 [14]. More specifically, individuals in the security field, such as information security analysts, have a projected growth rate of 33 percent, much faster than the average, during that time [2]. This translates to high job security for CISSP-certified professionals.

Getting started in cybersecurity with Coursera

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional title is a certification that demonstrates expertise within systems security and often translates to higher salaries. With this certification, you’re ready to help an organization ensure its data is safe from hackers and other bad actors. 

If this sounds like the perfect role for you, discover more about this industry and prepare for your CISSP exam with courses and certificates on Coursera. You can get a better feel for what CISSP-related jobs entail by taking the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity Specialization or the University of Colorado’s Cybersecurity for Business Specializations on Coursera.