If you’re considering ethical hacking as a profession, you’ll also want to know how much ethical hackers earn. What qualifications affect the salary of ethical hackers? How about the experience? To what extent do certifications help people enter the field of ethical hacking?
In this article, we answer the question “How much do ethical hackers make?” and address related questions, including the future of ethical hacking, so that you can prepare for what’s ahead in this exciting field of cyber security. No matter how old or what field you’re in, you’ll soon see that ethical hacking is a career choice worth paying attention to.
Given the limited space, we’ll cover as much ground as possible, so if you’re ready to learn whether ethical hacking will be worth your efforts in mastering it, let’s dive in and get started.
What Ethical Hackers Do
Organizations employ ethical hackers to lawfully break into their computer systems. Ethical hackers work to discover vulnerabilities and patch them before criminal hackers can exploit them. You can learn more about ethical hacking in our sister articles on what ethical hackers are and ethical hacking as a career.
Salary Ranges for Ethical Hackers
Because of the crucial role ethical hackers play in organizations, great and small, the compensation for their labor is handsome—you can fetch up to a six-figure salary in USD. This section will give you a general idea of what to expect when looking at ethical hacking job positions.
Average Salary in Different Countries
The following table presents the average salary of ethical hackers in various countries according to Glassdoor as of October 29, 2023. In the countries marked with an asterisk (*), we used “penetration tester” as the query string instead because “ethical hacker” returned limited or low-confidence results. All monthly amounts are multiplied by 12 to give the annual figure.
Country | The annual average salary of ethical hackers in USD | 25th - 75th percentile in USD | The average yearly salary in 2023 across all jobs and industries in USD |
United States of America | $134K | $100K-$184K | $59K |
Canada | $71K (CAD $96K) | $56K-$92K (CAD $76K-$125K) | $48K (CA$65K) |
United Kingdom | $68K (£54K) | $49K-$94K (£39K-£75K) | $37K (£30K) |
Australia* | $74K (AUD $113K) | $52K-$128K (AUD 79K-195K) | $60K (AUD 90.8K) |
Singapore* | $134K ($15K SGD/month) | $71K-$223K (SGD 8K-25K/month) | $68K (SGD 7.65K/month) |
As you can see from the table above, ethical hacking pays more than other professions within the confines of a nation, so it’s becoming more and more of an appealing career choice. We’ll break down the salary of an ethical hacker according to experience level in the next section.
Salary by Experience Level
How long you’ve worked in the technology industry, especially in the information security sector, can impact your salary significantly. Here, we’re breaking down the wages of ethical hackers according to their years of experience in the tech world in general, and we’re using the local currencies in the countries listed above.
United States of America
This table of salaries applies to ethical hacking jobs in the US:
Years of experience (USA) | The average base pay in USD (Glassdoor) |
0-3 | $115K |
4-6 | $135K |
7-9 | $145K |
10-14 | $158K |
15+ | $175K |

Canada
Here are the varying salaries of ethical hackers in Canada according to experience level:
Years of experience (Canada) | The average base pay in CAD (Glassdoor) |
0-1 | CA$91K |
1-3 | CA$96K |
4-6 | CA$96K |
7-9 | CA$104K |
10-14 | CA$113K |
15+ | CA$121K |
United Kingdom
In the UK, the breakdown follows a similar upward progression as the countries above:
Years of experience (UK) | Annual gross mean salary in GBP (Salary Explorer) |
0-2 | £37K |
2-5 | £47.5K |
5-10 | £65.6K |
10-15 | £81.2K |
15-20 | £87K |
20+ | £92.8K |
Australia
The following table enumerates ethical hacker salaries according to experience level in Australia:
Years of experience (Australia) | Mean annual wage |
0-2 | AUD 51.6K |
2-5 | AUD 63.4K |
5-10 | AUD 89.8K |
10-15 | AUD 105K |
15-20 | AUD 115K |
20+ | AUD 122K |
Singapore
Ethical hacker job salaries in the emerging international job market of Singapore by experience level are as follows:
Years of experience (Singapore) | Mean annual wage in 2023 |
0-2 | SGD 45,580 |
2-5 | SGD 60,160 |
5-10 | SGD 85,760 |
10-15 | SGD 104,140 |
15-20 | SGD 112,420 |
20+ | SGD 119,900 |
Comparison With Other Stage 4 Cyber Security Jobs
Stage 4 cyber security jobs refer to advanced generalist and specialist cyber security careers. Here, we use Glassdoor inquiries to compare the annual average salaries across a selection of these Stage 4 careers across all years of experience in the countries above:
Country → Stage 4 Cyber Security Job ↓ | USA | Canada | UK | Australia | Singapore |
Ethical hacker | $134K USD | CA$96K | £54K | AUD 113K | SGD 180K |
Stage 4 Generalist | |||||
Cyber security specialist | $150K USD | CA$102K | £66K | AUD 108K | SGD 192K |
Cyber security architect | $187K USD | CA$134K | £94K | AUD 211K | SGD 144K |
Cyber security consultant | $141K USD | CA$98K | £55K | AUD 105K | SGD 132K |
Stage 4 Specialist | |||||
Cyber security researcher | $145K USD | CA$99K | £47K | AUD 81K | SGD 72K |
Cloud security engineer | $144K USD | CA$111K | £70K | AUD 137K | SGD 72K |
Malware analyst | $107K USD | CA$73K | £46K | AUD 130K | SGD 828K |
Cyber crime analyst/investigator | $86K USD | CA$81K | £39K | * | * |
Data protection officer | $125K USD | CA$56K | £59K | * | SGD 480K |
Privacy analyst | $87K USD | CA$71K | £45K | AUD 67K | * |
Incident and intrusion analyst | $76K USD | CA$76K | £36K | AUD 79K | * |
Security software developer | $181K USD | CA$90K | £50K | AUD 83K | * |
*Insufficient data in Glassdoor as of December 2023.
As you can see from above, ethical hackers enjoy a salary comparable to that of other Stage 4 cyber security professions, even though these careers all require the same degree of advanced knowledge in cyber security.

What Affects Ethical Hacker Salary?
You may have noticed that the ethical hacker salary range can be broad. In this section, we’ll talk about the factors determining an ethical hacker’s wages and what you can do now as an aspiring ethical hacker to gain a salary advantage.
Education and Certifications
Nowadays, degrees are becoming less relevant compared to certifications which prove specific skills. Online-based training programs enable people from all backgrounds to prepare for a career in ethical hacking by gaining industry-recognized ethical hacking, pentesting, and security management certifications:
- The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certifications offered by EC-Council are the best known in ethical hacking. The two separate CEH certifications are CEH (ANSI) for the theoretical elements and CEH Practical for everything hands-on. Despite the cost, certified ethical hackers can earn more than their non-certified peers.
- Pentest+ by CompTIA is a more advanced alternative to CEH, preparing you for well-paid roles in offensive cyber security.
- eLearn Security Junior Penetration Tester (eJPTv2) is a beginner-level ethical hacking certification with a significant practical element.
- Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), an industry-standard ethical hacking certification offered by Offensive Security, is not only practical and challenging but also highly rewarding.
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) by (ISC)2 is an advanced generalist cyber security certification well suited for those aiming for cyber security managment and consulting careers.
Work Experience
Depending on the hiring organization, “years of experience” may refer to the combined total of your years at technical jobs from entry-level upwards or only the years you’ve worked in cyber security-related roles. The Salary by Experience Level tables show that the longer you’ve worked in ethical hacking, the higher your pay becomes.
Specializations
We’re referring to areas of specialization such as focusing on hacking cloud, hacking supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, web/mobile app hacking, API hacking, and red teaming.
Geographic Location
Where you live affects how much you earn as an ethical hacker. The table in Average Salary in Different Countries shows clearly how remuneration for ethical hackers differs among the listed countries.
We could have included the salaries for ethical hackers in Brazil and India above but refrained from doing so, because Brazil-based ethical hackers don’t earn more than their working peers, and the salaries of ethical hackers differ starkly in various regions across India, making the national average of this profession less representative than it should be:
Country | Average ethical hacker salary | 25th - 75th percentile | Average salary across all industries |
Brazil | $19K USD (R$8K/month) | $5K-$41K (R$2K-R$17K/month) | $18K USD (R$7450/month) |
India | $46K USD (318K INR/month) | $29K-103K (199K-714K INR/month) | $12K USD (965K INR) |
If you don’t live in any of the places above, it would be instructive to search on Glassdoor for local salaries of ethical hackers quickly. Let us know your findings in the comments.
Ability to Negotiate Salary
Even with well-honed hard skills, ethical hackers at any stage of their career should also be able to get their desired pay. Once you get a job offer, instead of accepting it straightaway, consider what’s important to you and what you can provide to your potential employer, and be skillful in asking for what you want. Who knows how much more you could gain as a result?
What Is the Future for Ethical Hackers?
There is no shortage in demand for ethical hackers as more and more organizations, especially small- and medium-sized businesses, strive to stay ahead of cyber criminals and government regulations related to cyber security. As other paid positions get phased out, it becomes increasingly likely that you get to keep your job if ethical hacking becomes your profession.
According to a recent (ISC)2 survey, cloud computing security, artificial intelligence, and zero trust implementation are the topmost specializations hiring managers seek. If you master these subjects as an ethical hacker, you’ll inevitably become a hot catch for employers.
Conclusion: How Much Do Ethical Hackers Make?
If you’re serious about a career out of ethical hacking, gain the necessary certifications, and be strategic in other factors such as your field of specialization and your work location, we’ve just shown you that you can earn a salary higher than those of other working professionals in your country and look forward to raises with increasing years of experience.
If the idea of becoming an ethical hacker appeals to you, we’re here to help you get started on this journey. Check out our StationX Membership, where you’ll gain access to dozens of ethical hacking courses and interact with our community of like-minded folks in cyber security.
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