Side-by-side distribution
SRE
$175,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 39.2%
- Live roles
- 1,195
System Administrator
$114,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36.3%
- Live roles
- 408
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer (Site Reliability)
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability Engineering
Senior Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer
Senior Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer
Site Reliability Engineer, Frontier Systems Infrastructure
Software Engineer, Reliability
Staff Software Engineer, AI Reliability
Highest-paying jobs
Experienced/Lateral - Linux Systems Administrator
Systems Administrator 1 - Linux/IP/Docker/AWS/Crypto/STE/STN/SSP
Systems Administrator 0-3 - Linux/Ansible/SSP/AWS
Systems Administrator 0-3 - Linux/KVM/Ansible/Slat/SSP/STE/STN/Scripting/AWS
Systems Administrator 1 - Linux
Windows Systems Administrator - McLean, VA - TS/SCI
System Administrator (SF)
GTM Systems Administrator
Senior System Administrator II (Storage Engineer)
System Administrator
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
SpaceX
|
$148,750 | 22 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,000 | 21 |
Okta
|
$230,500 | 13 |
MongoDB
|
$187,500 | 12 |
Air Apps
|
$71,586 | 10 |
mthree Recruiting Portal
|
$56,000 | 9 |
Vast
|
$198,996 | 8 |
Advanced Technology Services
|
$115,127 | 8 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Saalex
|
$105,000 | 13 |
|
Air Apps
|
$62,856 | 10 |
|
Anduril Industries
|
$138,500 | 8 |
| GR GRVTY | $144,000 | 7 |
|
Accenture Federal Services
|
$156,525 | 6 |
SMX
|
$104,250 | 5 |
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 4 |
|
SpaceX
|
$107,500 | 3 |
SRE salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 65 |
| Dublin | $213,500 | 3 |
| Seattle | $210,000 | 14 |
| New York | $188,000 | 63 |
| Austin | $188,000 | 16 |
| Boston | $187,000 | 15 |
| Chicago | $180,000 | 19 |
| Denver | $180,000 | 8 |
| Atlanta | $178,500 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | $165,000 | 7 |
System Administrator salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $161,500 | 6 |
| San Francisco | $148,500 | 8 |
| Los Angeles | $96,250 | 4 |
| Dublin | $67,677 | 4 |
SRE vs System Administrator: which pays more?
The median for SRE is $175,000 per year (typically $134,225–$208,625), versus $114,000 for System Administrator ($90,000–$144,500). That puts SRE about 54% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so SRE and System Administrator 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.