LA IT Salary Benchmarks
What happened
New 2026 benchmarks show Los Angeles pays premiums for specialized IT roles: Network Engineers with CCNA average $95K–$120K, cloud engineers $110K–$145K, and cloud/security specialists can hit $155K+. Employers are spending more on stacked certifications and automation skills to secure and optimize cloud estates. (qz.com) (petronellatech.com)
Why it matters
The mean Network Engineer salary in Los Angeles is $129,457, with entry-level earners averaging $90,609 and senior engineers around $147,975, per SalaryExpert’s March 22, 2026 update. (salaryexpert.com) (salaryexpert.com) Salary.com’s February 1, 2026 snapshot lists an average Network Engineer pay of $105,544 in Los Angeles with a typical range from $95,665 to $112,601, while ZipRecruiter reported a regional average of $125,951 in February 2026. (salary.com) (salary.com; ziprecruiter.com) California-wide data show AWS/cloud-focused engineers averaging $139,661 per year in ZipRecruiter’s March 2026 dataset, and Built In’s Los Angeles-specific profile lists a $172,500 average for Cloud Engineers in the city. (ziprecruiter.com) (ziprecruiter.com; builtin.com) Cloud-security specialist pay is clustered in six figures: ZipRecruiter’s January 2026 California average for Cloud Security Engineers was $150,773, PayScale’s national median sat near $136,485 in early March 2026, and Glassdoor’s LA total-pay model estimates top-area Cloud Security Engineers can reach roughly $174,231. (ziprecruiter.com) (ziprecruiter.com; payscale.com; glassdoor.com) Recruiters and salary guides say employers are explicitly paying premiums for stacked credentials plus automation/IaC skills—Robert Half reports firms offer higher pay for advanced cloud and security skills, Foote Partners’ IT Skills & Certifications Pay Index tracks cash premiums for specific certs, and cloud job trackers show Terraform-skilled roles commanding median pay near $165,000 with 700+ live listings. (roberthalf.com) (roberthalf.com; footepartners.com; cloudjobs.io) CompTIA’s stackable-cert pathways and bootcamp/academy data show measurable ROI for Help Desk-to-engineering moves—CompTIA maps multi-cert tracks (A+, Network+, Security+, Cloud+) as formal transition routes, and Cloud Engineer Academy’s dataset quantifies AWS certification uplifts of roughly $15,000–$25,000 to base pay for cloud-role entrants. (netcomlearning.com) (netcomlearning.com; cloudengineeracademy.io)
Key numbers
- New 2026 benchmarks show Los Angeles pays premiums for specialized IT roles: Network Engineers with CCNA average $95K–$120K, cloud engineers $110K–$145K, and cloud/security specialists can hit $155K+.
- (qz.com) (petronellatech.com) The mean Network Engineer salary in Los Angeles is $129,457, with entry-level earners averaging $90,609 and senior engineers around $147,975, per SalaryExpert’s March 22, 2026 update.
Quick answers
What happened in LA IT Salary Benchmarks?
New 2026 benchmarks show Los Angeles pays premiums for specialized IT roles: Network Engineers with CCNA average $95K–$120K, cloud engineers $110K–$145K, and cloud/security specialists can hit $155K+. Employers are spending more on stacked certifications and automation skills to secure and optimize cloud estates. (qz.com) (petronellatech.com)
Why does LA IT Salary Benchmarks matter?
The mean Network Engineer salary in Los Angeles is $129,457, with entry-level earners averaging $90,609 and senior engineers around $147,975, per SalaryExpert’s March 22, 2026 update. (salaryexpert.com) (salaryexpert.com) Salary.com’s February 1, 2026 snapshot lists an average Network Engineer pay of $105,544 in Los Angeles with a typical range from $95,665 to $112,601, while ZipRecruiter reported a regional average of $125,951 in February 2026. (salary.com) (salary.com; ziprecruiter.com) California-wide data show AWS/cloud-focused engineers averaging $139,661 per year in ZipRecruiter’s March 2026 dataset, and Built In’s Los Angeles-specific profile lists a $172,500 average for Cloud Engineers in the city. (ziprecruiter.com) (ziprecruiter.com; builtin.com) Cloud-security specialist pay is clustered in six figures: ZipRecruiter’s January 2026 California average for Cloud Security Engineers was $150,773, PayScale’s national median sat near $136,485 in early March 2026, and Glassdoor’s LA total-pay model estimates top-area Cloud Security Engineers can reach roughly $174,231. (ziprecruiter.com) (ziprecruiter.com; payscale.com; glassdoor.com) Recruiters and salary guides say employers are explicitly paying premiums for stacked credentials plus automation/IaC skills—Robert Half reports firms offer higher pay for advanced cloud and security skills, Foote Partners’ IT Skills & Certifications Pay Index tracks cash premiums for specific certs, and cloud job trackers show Terraform-skilled roles commanding median pay near $165,000 with 700+ live listings. (roberthalf.com) (roberthalf.com; footepartners.com; cloudjobs.io) CompTIA’s stackable-cert pathways and bootcamp/academy data show measurable ROI for Help Desk-to-engineering moves—CompTIA maps multi-cert tracks (A+, Network+, Security+, Cloud+) as formal transition routes, and Cloud Engineer Academy’s dataset quantifies AWS certification uplifts of roughly $15,000–$25,000 to base pay for cloud-role entrants. (netcomlearning.com) (netcomlearning.com; cloudengineeracademy.io)
