Side-by-side distribution
Penetration Tester
$184,700
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 31.5%
- Live roles
- 73
SOC Analyst
$125,750
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 27.8%
- Live roles
- 72
Highest-paying jobs
Offensive Security Engineer, Agent Products
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
Penetration Tester
WebApp Offensive Security Software Engineer
Offensive Security Engineer
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Cyber-Security Operations Analyst, Product AppSec
Security Operations Analyst
Cyber-Security Operations Analyst III, Product AppSec
Senior Security Operations Analyst
SOC Security Analyst - FedRAMP
SOC Analyst
Sr. SOC Analyst II (6641)
Cybersecurity SOC Analyst II
Cybersecurity SOC Analyst II
Cybersecurity SOC Analyst II
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| GR GRVTY | $215,000 | 2 |
|
Robinhood
|
$191,444 | 2 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$174,200 | 2 |
M9 Solutions
|
$120,000 | 2 |
TP-Link Systems Inc.
|
$106,000 | 2 |
|
OpenAI
|
$418,500 | 1 |
|
Anthropic
|
$362,500 | 1 |
|
Perplexity
|
$312,500 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
CHAOS Industries
|
$135,000 | 3 |
|
Veeam Software
|
$213,500 | 2 |
| BL Blumira | $101,250 | 2 |
|
GoCardless
|
$270,400 | 1 |
| CR Crexi | $174,500 | 1 |
|
Rubrik Job Board
|
$155,200 | 1 |
|
MetroStar
|
$145,000 | 1 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$134,800 | 1 |
Penetration Tester salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $362,500 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $312,500 | 5 |
| New York | $236,000 | 7 |
SOC Analyst salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $135,000 | 3 |
| Los Angeles | $135,000 | 3 |
Penetration Tester vs SOC Analyst: which pays more?
The median for Penetration Tester is $184,700 per year (typically $136,250–$218,250), versus $125,750 for SOC Analyst ($106,038–$152,650). That puts Penetration Tester about 47% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Penetration Tester and SOC Analyst 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.