SOC Analyst Salary: Your 2025 Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on

Learn about SOC analyst salaries, plus the factors that can influence your earning potential.

[Featured Image]: An SOC analyst responding to a cyber-related threat on a business computer system.

Key takeaways

  • The salary range for an SOC analyst in the US is between $75,000-$137,000 per year [1].

  • SOC analyst salaries tend to be competitive due to the crucial role they play in handling cybersecurity attacks.

  • Your location, education, and experience can all impact your earning potential in this role.

You can gain more SOC analyst salary insights in the following article. If you're interested in transitioning into the field, consider enrolling in Cisco's Cybersecurity Operations Fundamentals Specialization. In as little as three months, you could master the foundational skills you need to pursue your first role.

SOC analyst salary

An SOC analyst earns an average total pay of $100,000 per year [1]. According to Glassdoor, this consists of the average base pay range of $59,000-$106,000 with between $16,000-$30,000 in additional pay. Additional pay averages can include bonuses, commissions, or profit sharing. In the following section, you can learn more about the factors that influence the earning potential of SOC analysts.

Factors that impact SOC analyst salary 

Salaries for SOC analysts vary due to many factors, including location, job title, employment status, and the experience gained through professional development. Cybersecurity certifications may also play into salary potential, as some employers request certifications by name.

Location 

Due to cost of living variability and industry hubs, certain areas of the country offer higher salaries for SOC analysts. The highest-paying states and their average annual salaries are [2]:

  • Portland, OR: $100,933

  • Las Vegas, NV: $94,145

  • Corpus Christi, TX: $87,721

  • Arlington, TX: $87,448

  • San Antonio, TX: $88,657

Employment status

Security operations centers typically have three or four tiers. The higher the tier, the greater the salary—and the more responsibility you will have.

  • A Tier 1 support security analyst looks into daily security, information, and event management (SIEM) alerts and determines the urgency of a crisis. They oversee and configure the security monitoring tools.

  • A Tier 2 support security analyst must address actual security breaches. They will use the information the Tier 1 professional gave to pinpoint the systems impacted by the attack and dig in to find the perpetrator while creating a strategy for containment and recovery.

  • A Tier 3 security analyst has even more experience than those assigned to Tier 2 and must handle critical incidents. This work involves penetration testing and isolating areas of weakness. They review alerts and security data to find the security gaps within the network.

  • The fourth tier is known as an Incident Response Manager, and this professional manages the actions during a crisis. They communicate with C-level professionals and, sometimes, external stakeholders of an organization.

Job title variations

Just like the different tiers, job titles will also determine the salary of a SOC analyst. An information security analyst has about one to three years of experience and earns an average total pay of $136,000 [3]. 

Senior information security analysts may have the same experience level but can earn an annual average salary of  $154,002 [4]. Finally, a principal security analyst with more than seven years of experience earns an average yearly income of $207,229 [5].

Professional development 

Information technology professionals are life-long learners, as the industry demands that they constantly stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. Cybersecurity can change dramatically in terms of threats and solutions to common problems. 

As the expense of cybersecurity breaches rises in America, many opportunities for professionals to continue their professional development could arise while working on a security team.

Online courses can provide a flexible opportunity to add more tools to counter an increasingly complex issue. Reading blogs and following local media are also business best practices for SOC analysis work.

Learn more about a career as a SOC analyst

With a career as a SOC analyst, you can help organizations protect themselves from security threats and cyberattacks. Check out these free resources if you're interested in transitioning into this career:

Accelerate your career growth with a Coursera Plus subscription. When you enroll in either the monthly or annual option, you’ll get access to over 10,000 courses.

Article sources

1. 

Glassdoor.com. “SOC Analyst Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/soc-analyst-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm.”Accessed October 24, 2025.

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