Side-by-side distribution
CISO
$283,375
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.4%
- Live roles
- 108
Penetration Tester
$183,600
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 30.9%
- Live roles
- 94
Highest-paying jobs
Head of National Security Sales (DoW/IC)
Head of Vulnerability Disclosure & Security Community
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), US
Member of Technical Staff, Head of Security
Deputy Chief Information Security Officer - Bank
Head of Security
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Field CISO
Highest-paying jobs
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
Offensive Security Agent Engineer
Offensive Hardware Security Engineer, Platform Security
Member of Technical Staff (Offensive Security Engineer)
Principal Offensive Security Engineer
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Staff Offensive Security Engineer
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Senior Information Security Engineer, Offensive Security
Senior Offensive Security Engineer
Planet
Cohere
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Fortreum
|
$145,000 | 4 |
| GR GRVTY | $212,500 | 3 |
|
OpenAI
|
$418,500 | 2 |
|
Robinhood
|
$193,114 | 2 |
Accenture Federal Services
|
$174,200 | 2 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$106,000 | 2 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 1 |
|
Perplexity
|
$312,500 | 1 |
CISO salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Austin | $313,750 | 3 |
| New York | $305,913 | 12 |
| San Francisco | $280,000 | 11 |
| Seattle | $280,000 | 3 |
Penetration Tester salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $337,500 | 6 |
| New York | $312,500 | 7 |
| Seattle | $268,750 | 6 |
CISO vs Penetration Tester: which pays more?
The median for CISO is $283,375 per year (typically $246,875–$300,000), versus $183,600 for Penetration Tester ($148,921–$219,255). That puts CISO about 54% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so CISO and Penetration Tester are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.