How much do network engineers make?

Network Engineer salary 2026 · BLS occupation: Computer Network Architects (SOC 15-1241) · Updated October 28, 2026

Answer

Network engineers in the US earned a median of $134,050 a year ($64.45 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned $104,620 to $168,200.

Median annual pay: $134,050; Mean $139,580
Median hourly pay: $64.45; Mean $67.11
Typical range (10th–90th): $79.9K–$203K; $79,900 to $202,680
US jobs: 179,740; +7.7% projected, 2025–35

BLS OEWS, May 2025, released April 30, 2026. Wages include tips, commissions and production bonuses but not overtime premiums, shift differentials, other bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers are not included. Methodology

How to become a network engineer: steps, years and cost · Best-paying state after cost of living: South Dakota

Network Engineer pay range

Annual wages, May 2025

10th percentile$79,900
25th percentile$104,620
Median$134,050
75th percentile$168,200
90th percentile$202,680

Half of all network engineers earned more than $134,050 and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10% made under $79,900; the top 10% made over $202,680. The middle 50%, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, ran from $104,620 to $168,200.

These percentiles describe everyone in the occupation at one time. They are not pay steps by years of experience: they mix new and senior workers, different states, employers and hours. Pay generally rises with experience, credentials and specialization, but BLS does not publish pay by experience.

Percentile	Annual	Hourly	Monthly
10th	$79,900	$38.42	$6,658
25th	$104,620	$50.30	$8,718
Median (50th)	$134,050	$64.45	$11,171
75th	$168,200	$80.86	$14,017
90th	$202,680	$97.44	$16,890
Mean (average)	$139,580	$67.11	$11,632

Network Engineer salary by state

Median annual pay; cost of living from BEA regional price parities 2024

Median annual pay for network engineers by state. Darker tiles pay more.

Highest-paying states

1. Washington $168,070
2. New Jersey $162,350
3. Maryland $159,460
4. California $158,870
5. Massachusetts $155,060

Lowest-paying states

51. Mississippi $90,990
50. Wyoming $100,520
49. Kansas $100,610
48. Iowa $103,050
47. Missouri $103,130

Best after cost of living: South Dakota. Its median of $153,390 is worth about $173,154 at national-average prices, more than in Washington once prices are counted.


Alabama	$130,810	26	$147,270	6	$62.89	4,200	1.99
Alaska	$119,720	33	$116,961	40	$57.56	120	0.37
Arizona	$130,890	25	$130,010	27	$62.93	3,990	1.23
Arkansas	$110,400	37	$126,989	31	$53.08	910	0.69
California	$158,870	4	$143,488	9	$76.38	14,870	0.82
Colorado	$139,230	11	$135,107	20	$66.94	16,380	5.70
Connecticut	$143,890	8	$138,877	14	$69.18	1,570	0.93
Delaware	$148,390	7	$148,675	5	$71.34	760	1.57
District of Columbia	$137,670	13	$125,267	32	$66.19	1,490	2.13
Florida	$132,800	19	$128,416	29	$63.85	9,370	0.94
Georgia	$133,890	16	$139,044	13	$64.37	7,690	1.57
Hawaii	$108,000	42	$98,226	51	$51.92	320	0.50
Idaho	$107,620	43	$112,698	45	$51.74	720	0.83
Illinois	$132,790	20	$132,846	24	$63.84	7,810	1.28
Indiana	$124,190	29	$133,067	23	$59.71	2,030	0.63
Iowa	$103,050	48	$117,420	39	$49.54	1,170	0.75
Kansas	$100,610	49	$111,704	47	$48.37	1,770	1.23
Kentucky	$103,740	46	$115,063	42	$49.87	1,710	0.85
Louisiana	$106,620	44	$120,875	36	$51.26	470	0.24
Maine	$108,570	41	$111,870	46	$52.20	570	0.90
Maryland	$159,460	3	$151,926	3	$76.66	5,860	2.12
Massachusetts	$155,060	5	$146,619	7	$74.55	6,270	1.72
Michigan	$112,040	35	$116,445	41	$53.87	3,210	0.73
Minnesota	$133,270	18	$135,133	18	$64.07	2,040	0.69
Mississippi	$90,990	51	$104,643	50	$43.75	—	—
Missouri	$103,130	47	$113,558	43	$49.58	3,360	1.15
Montana	$104,300	45	$110,201	48	$50.14	250	0.49
Nebraska	$116,420	34	$129,208	28	$55.97	1,350	1.32
Nevada	$138,060	12	$138,089	15	$66.38	1,010	0.65
New Hampshire	$125,420	28	$120,405	37	$60.30	560	0.82
New Jersey	$162,350	2	$149,212	4	$78.05	5,660	1.32
New Mexico	$109,080	39	$118,293	38	$52.44	420	0.48
New York	$140,390	10	$130,086	26	$67.49	9,800	1.01
North Carolina	$127,320	27	$134,979	21	$61.21	8,350	1.69
North Dakota	$108,990	40	$122,517	34	$52.40	230	0.54
Ohio	$131,070	24	$141,279	10	$63.01	5,150	0.93
Oklahoma	$109,450	38	$124,597	33	$52.62	1,320	0.77
Oregon	$135,660	14	$131,249	25	$65.22	1,540	0.78
Pennsylvania	$131,840	21	$135,121	19	$63.39	6,080	1.00
Rhode Island	$131,320	23	$128,393	30	$63.14	460	0.92
South Carolina	$134,990	15	$143,991	8	$64.90	1,950	0.85
South Dakota	$153,390	6	$173,154	1	$73.75	420	0.92
Tennessee	$123,860	30	$134,821	22	$59.55	4,330	1.32
Texas	$133,310	17	$137,352	16	$64.09	13,650	0.97
Utah	$121,000	32	$122,390	35	$58.17	1,330	0.77
Vermont	$110,930	36	$113,242	44	$53.33	130	0.42
Virginia	$141,340	9	$139,797	12	$67.95	9,380	2.28
Washington	$168,070	1	$157,056	2	$80.81	4,730	1.33
West Virginia	$122,520	31	$136,898	17	$58.91	360	0.51
Wisconsin	$131,720	22	$139,986	11	$63.33	2,170	0.74
Wyoming	$100,520	50	$108,446	49	$48.33	50	0.19

BLS OEWS, May 2025, state estimates. Adjusted pay = median ÷ (state price level ÷ 100), using BEA regional price parities for 2024; it ignores taxes. Figures for states with few workers in the occupation have larger survey errors and can change sharply from one year to the next. “—” means BLS did not publish the figure. State names link to each state’s highest-paying jobs.

Best-paying metro areas for network engineers

244 metro areas with published pay

Highest median pay
Metro area	Median	Adjusted	Jobs
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$186,110	$168,543	2,730
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$172,650	$155,354	3,710
Rochester, MN	$168,910	$185,981	90
Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$168,720	$159,762	40
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$166,760	$144,240	3,350
Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$165,570	$151,313	220
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$163,010	$144,817	10,230
Bloomington, IL	$161,780	$172,958	240
Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC	$161,170	$172,818	390
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$160,650	$148,385	5,240

Most jobs
Metro area	Jobs	Median	Adjusted
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	10,260	$139,230	$131,620
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	10,230	$163,010	$144,817
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	9,370	$159,820	$146,780
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	5,900	$137,900	$133,767
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	5,880	$133,890	$133,812
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	5,400	$143,800	$138,810
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	5,240	$160,650	$148,385
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	3,710	$172,650	$155,354
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	3,500	$147,510	$129,889
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	3,350	$166,760	$144,240

BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas; adjusted with BEA metro price parities (2024).

What moves network engineer pay: employers and settings

Pay for network engineers depends mostly on the scale of the network you are responsible for and the industry you work in. Computing infrastructure and data hosting companies pay a median of $142,030 while corporate headquarters (management of companies) pay $139,820. Banks and other credit firms pay $135,660 and IT consulting firms, the largest employer, pay $133,610. Telecommunications carriers pay less, at $111,690.

Public employers pay noticeably less than the private sector: $110,250 for state government and $106,100 for local government, against $134,940 for private employers.

Washington has the highest median at $168,070, followed by New Jersey at $162,350, Maryland at $159,460, and California. South Dakota comes out ahead after cost of living ($173,154 adjusted). Mississippi ($90,990) is lowest. Pay across the occupation has a 10th percentile of $79,900, and a 90th percentile of $202,680, a wide spread. Higher pay tends to go with architect-level design work, cloud and security skills, expert certifications such as CCNP or CCIE, and responsibility for large or critical networks, not just years worked.

Where network engineers work
Industry	Share of jobs	Median pay
Computer Systems Design and Related Services	25.5%	$133,610
Management of Companies and Enterprises	9.4%	$139,820
Telecommunications	9%	$111,690
Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services	4.4%	$142,030
Employment Services	4%	$129,880
Credit Intermediation and Related Activities (5221 and 5223 only)	3.3%	$135,660

Private employers and government
Employer type	Jobs	Median pay
Private employers	171,420	$134,940
Federal government (incl. Postal Service)	40	$129,410
State government (incl. schools and hospitals)	3,610	$110,250
Local government (incl. schools and hospitals)	4,660	$106,100

BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry-specific and ownership estimates (4-digit NAICS).

Network Engineer pay over time

Median annual pay, 2019–2025

$134K $113K

2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

Nominal median (dollars of each year)In May 2025 dollars (adjusted with CPI-U)

The median rose from $112,690 in 2019 to $134,050 in 2025, up 19% in nominal dollars. After inflation, the 2019 median is worth $141,457 in May 2025 dollars, so real pay fell 5% over the period.

The series starts in 2019 because BLS changed how it defines or publishes this occupation before then, so earlier figures are not comparable.

BLS OEWS, May 2025 and earlier May releases; inflation from the CPI-U, US city average, May of each year.

What network engineers do

A network engineer designs, builds and keeps running the networks that connect an organization's computers, servers, phones and cloud services. That covers local area networks inside offices and campuses, wide area links between sites, data center switching, Wi-Fi, VPNs, and the connections into cloud platforms. BLS counts these workers as computer network architects, the senior end of the field, which plans how a network should be built, chooses equipment, and sets security and capacity standards.

In practice, network engineers configure routers, switches and firewalls, write upgrade plans, test new designs in labs, and fix outages when traffic stops moving. They work with systems administrators, security teams, cloud engineers and outside carriers and vendors. About a quarter work for IT consulting and systems design firms; others work for telecom carriers, hosting and data center companies, banks and the headquarters of large companies. Most work full time in offices or remotely, and major changes are often scheduled at night or on weekends to avoid disrupting users, with on-call duty for outages.

A typical day

Configure and update routers, switches, firewalls and wireless controllers
Draw up network designs and diagrams for new offices, data centers or cloud links
Watch traffic and performance dashboards and plan for added capacity
Track down the cause of slow or dropped connections and fix it
Apply security rules such as access lists, segmentation and VPN settings
Schedule and run maintenance windows for upgrades, often after hours
Write scripts to automate repetitive configuration changes

Also called: network architect, computer network technologist, network analyst, network consultant, network systems consultant, networking systems engineer, solutions architect, system programmer.

How to become a network engineer

Full guide

Most network engineers earn a bachelor's degree in IT, computer science or a related field, start in help desk or network administration, earn certifications such as CompTIA Network+ and Cisco CCNA, and move into engineering or architect roles after about five years of experience.

Typical time: About 9 years; Fastest: About 6 to 7 years
Minimum education: Bachelor's degree in a computer-related field is typical; some employers accept an associate degree or certifications plus experience
License: Not licensed (certifications optional but often preferred by employers)
Typical training cost: $9.4K–$40.7K; See the guide for what it includes

Read the step-by-step guide to becoming a network engineer: each step with its time and cost, education options, exams, licensing and advancement.

Is it worth it? Training cost against pay

Compare careers

Training time: About 9 years; Typical path in our guide
Training cost: $9.4K–$40.7K; Tuition and exam fees, before aid
Median pay: $134,050; $83,070 above the all-jobs median ($50,980)
Cost vs. one year's pay: 7–30%; Training cost as a share of a year at the median

Once qualified, the pay difference over the typical US job at the median ($83,070 a year before tax) would repay the training cost in less than a year after training ends (about 9 years in our guide). This is a rough guide: it ignores taxes, financial aid, interest, earnings given up while training and how pay changes over a career. How we calculate ROI.

Job outlook for network engineers

BLS Employment Projections 2025–35

Projected growth: +7.7%; All occupations +3.5%
Jobs in 2025: 181,800; 195,800 projected for 2035
Openings each year: 9,600; New jobs plus replacements
Self-employed: 0.4%; Not in the pay figures above

BLS projects network architect jobs to grow 7.7% from 2025 to 2035, from 181,800 to 195,800, more than twice the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 9,600 openings are expected each year, many from replacing people who retire or change roles. Growth comes from companies building and upgrading networks, including the infrastructure needed to run AI workloads, and from the continued move to cloud services, which needs careful network design and migration.

Related careers and their pay

Software Engineer$135,980
Computer Engineer$161,740
Cybersecurity Analyst$129,180
IT Support Specialist$61,860
Computer Network Support Specialists$76,220

Related occupations from O*NET 31.0; median annual pay from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Network Engineer salary FAQ

How much do network engineers make an hour?

The median hourly wage for network engineers was $64.45 in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $38.42 an hour and the highest-paid 10% more than $97.44. Hourly figures are BLS estimates for all workers in the occupation, full-time and part-time.

Which state pays network engineers the most?

Washington has the highest median pay for network engineers, $168,070 a year, followed by New Jersey ($162,350) and Maryland ($159,460). After adjusting for each state's price level, South Dakota comes out ahead at about $173,154 in national-average dollars.

Do network engineers make $200,000 a year?

Some do: based on the BLS percentiles, between 10% and 25% of network engineers earn more than $200,000 a year. The median is $134,050, and the top 10% earn more than $202,680. Pay generally rises with experience, specialization and location.

What is the difference between a network engineer and a network administrator?

Network administrators mostly run existing networks day to day: adding users, monitoring, patching and fixing problems. Network engineers and architects design new networks and major changes, choose equipment and set standards. The line blurs in practice, and many job ads use the titles loosely. BLS treats architects as a separate occupation that typically requires about five years of related IT experience.

Is network engineering being replaced by the cloud?

No, but the work is changing. Moving to the cloud still requires secure connections between offices, data centers and cloud providers, and cloud platforms have their own virtual networks to design. Engineers who know cloud networking and automation tools are in better position than those who only configure on-premises hardware. BLS lists cloud growth as a reason for rising demand.

Do network engineers need to know how to code?

Not like a software developer, but scripting is increasingly expected. Many teams use Python and automation tools to push configuration changes to hundreds of devices at once and to pull data from network gear. Cisco's CCNA exam includes automation and programmability among its topics, which shows how basic this skill has become.

Sources

Data updated October 28, 2026 · Text checked against its sources October 28, 2026

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, released April 30, 2026, SOC 15-1241
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035, released September 2026
O*NET 31.0 Database (15-1241.00), U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0; tasks rewritten by Careers and Salaries
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by state and metro area, 2024
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, May values
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard field-of-study and institution data, most recent cohorts, released 2026-10-15
Computer Network Architects: Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · checked October 28, 2026
CCNA certification and exam 200-301, Cisco · checked October 28, 2026
Network+ (Plus) Certification, CompTIA · checked October 28, 2026
CCNP Enterprise, Cisco · checked October 28, 2026
Certification Finder, CareerOneStop (U.S. Department of Labor) · checked October 28, 2026

Careers and Salaries is not affiliated with the Bureau of Labor Statistics or any government agency. Found an error? Tell us; corrections are listed on the editorial policy page.