IT certification salary trends: which certs move the needle in 2026

The baseline: BLS 2024 median

The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook is the most cited, most consistent salary source for US IT roles. Its 2024 figure for “computer and information technology occupations” is $104,420/year median. That number is useful as a floor check, not a ceiling. Certified cloud and DevOps roles consistently land above it; entry-level helpdesk and uncertified generalist roles consistently land below it. Here is where six widely-held certifications actually sit relative to that median.

CompTIA Security+ — $62k–$80k entry

Security+ (SY0-701) is the ATS gate for SOC Analyst and junior information security roles. It is required by DoD Directive 8570, which means it appears on every US federal contractor posting in the security domain. The salary range reflects that it is a floor cert, not a differentiator: Security+ proves you know the concepts; higher-paying roles demand CySA+ or CISSP on top. For candidates entering IT from non-technical backgrounds, Security+ is the fastest route to a $70k role — typically achievable in three to four months of part-time study.

CCNA — $70k–$95k entry

Cisco’s CCNA holds better salary leverage than Security+ because the skills are harder to memorize from flashcards alone — they require lab time. Entry-level Network Engineer roles in 2026 open at $70k–$80k; CCNA holders with a year of hands-on experience regularly move to $90k–$95k. The exam costs $330. The clearest salary upside for CCNA candidates in 2026 is in SD-WAN and cloud-adjacent network roles: pairing CCNA with an AWS or Azure associate cert routinely pushes offers past $100k.

AWS SAA-C03 — $95k–$130k entry

SAA-C03 is the single cert with the most documented salary-uplift evidence in the industry. Candidates moving from sysadmin or on-prem IT roles ($60k–$75k) consistently land AWS Cloud Engineer positions at $95k–$130k. At $300 for the exam, it delivers the best cost-to-salary-bump ratio of any cert on this list. Senior cloud engineers who stack SAA-C03 with SAP-C02 routinely field offers at $140k–$165k. The 2024-updated version of the exam also covers Amazon Bedrock and SageMaker architectural trade-offs, keeping the credential current through 2026.

Microsoft AZ-104 — $90k–$125k entry

The Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104) tracks SAA-C03 closely in salary outcomes but skews toward financial services, healthcare, and government sectors where Microsoft enterprise agreements dominate. Azure Cloud Engineer roles open at $90k–$125k with AZ-104. The path to senior Azure Engineer ($130k+) runs through AZ-305 (Solutions Architect) or AZ-500 (Security Engineer), both of which require AZ-104 as the prerequisite. European and UK markets pay proportionally similar premiums for AZ-104 relative to their local IT medians.

Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) — $110k–$145k entry

CKA consistently delivers the highest entry-level salary of the six certs on this list when paired with a cloud associate cert. DevOps/SRE and Platform Engineer roles open at $110k–$145k. The exam costs $395 and uses hands-on CLI performance tasks — no multiple-choice. CKA holders who also hold AWS SAA-C03 or AZ-104 are the most sought-after entry-level candidates in the DevOps job market in 2026, with metro areas like San Francisco and New York seeing opening offers above $150k for that combination.

CISSP — $130k–$165k for experienced candidates

CISSP is not an entry-level cert: it requires five years of verifiable, paid security experience across at least two of eight domains. But for the right candidate it is the most powerful single credential in information security. Security Architects, Security Managers, and Principal Security Engineers with CISSP routinely command $130k–$165k, with CISO-track roles exceeding $200k at larger organizations. The exam costs $749 and covers cryptography, identity management, software development security, and six other domains. It is the salary ceiling cert for the security track.

What the data actually shows

The salary gap between the floor cert (Security+) and the ceiling cert combination (CKA + cloud) is approximately $50,000 at entry level: a $70k start versus a $120k start. That gap compounds over a career. The strategic move is not to collect certs at random but to get the ATS-gate cert for your target role first, then add the salary-lever cert that pushes your offer above the entry tier. Every career roadmap on this site is sequenced on exactly that logic.