Linux administration salary: $154K median
The median advertised Linux administration salary is $154K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $133K to $188K: counted from 185 open roles that publish a yearly US-dollar range: about $74 an hour or $12,792 a month. A tenth of the postings offer $206K or more. Advertised ranges, not verified pay.
Check an offer against these figuresAll Linux administration jobs
$154Kmedian advertised salary
$133K – $188Kmiddle half of roles
$159Kaverage advertised salary
185roles counted
Linux administration salary by location
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸San Francisco Bay Area | $196K | 28 |
| 🇺🇸New York, NY | $175K | 19 |
| 🇺🇸California | $162K | 74 |
| 🇺🇸United States | $154K | 174 |
| 🇺🇸Boston, MA | $144K | 15 |
Skills that pay more for Linux administration roles
| Skill | Median with it | Above the median | Postings |
|---|---|---|---|
| CI/CD | $179K | +$25K | 40 |
| Ansible | $172K | +$18K | 51 |
| Terraform | $169K | +$15K | 36 |
| C++ | $168K | +$14K | 21 |
| Kubernetes | $165K | +$12K | 62 |
Top-paying companies
| Name | Median salary | Roles counted |
|---|---|---|
| Pure Storage | $207K | 7 |
| Captivation Software | $200K | 6 |
| RapidFort, Inc. | $165K | 3 |
| True Anomaly | $160K | 3 |
| Applied | $160K | 8 |
| Anduril Industries | $154K | 35 |
| RAND | $152K | 3 |
| Hi Marley | $140K | 11 |
| SpaceX | $138K | 3 |
| Mizuho | $136K | 3 |
| Lambda | $126K | 7 |
| CoreWeave | $121K | 8 |
| Delaware Nation Industries | $112K | 3 |
| Lightning AI | $85K | 4 |
Highest-paying open Linux administration roles
All Linux administration jobs- Software Engineer, Compute Foundations SystemsOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$230K - $490KLinuxLinux administrationFirmware
- Member of Technical Staff, Vulnerability ManagementInferact · 🇺🇸San Francisco$200K - $400KvLLMLinux administrationApplication security
- Principal Software EngineerAstronomer · 🇺🇸New York City$277K - $390KHybridLead and aboveGoPythonTypeScript
- Infrastructure LeadIntelligence Security Laboratories · 🇺🇸Washington, D.C.$205K - $375KHybridLead and aboveDockerLinuxCI/CD
- Cloud Native Architect, Portworx - North CentralPure Storage · 🇺🇸Chicago, Illinois; Cincinnati, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Detr…$126K - $338KDockerTerraformGCP
- Principal Technical Product Manager, Hyperscale Line of BusinessPure Storage · 🇺🇸Santa Clara, California$269K - $329KLead and abovePythonLinuxBash
- IT Systems Engineer, Client Platform Engineer, macOSAnthropic · 🇺🇸Boston, MA; Remote-Friendly (Travel-Required) | San Franc…$285K - $325KRemotePythonLLMLinux
- Hardware Operations EngineerOpenAI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$157K - $302KHybridLinuxCompTIA A+Network engineering
- Manufacturing Software Test EngineerFigure · 🇺🇸San Jose, CA$130K - $300KPythonC++Linux
- Software Engineer, Windows AI AutomationSola · Remote$160K - $300KRemotePythonTypeScriptC#
- Senior Network EngineerTogether AI · 🇺🇸San Francisco$190K - $280KSeniorPythonGCPAzure
- Senior Specialist Field Engineer - Compute InfrastructureCoreWeave · 🇺🇸Sunnyvale, CA / San Francisco, CA / Bellevue, WA$188K - $275KSeniorPythonLinuxKubernetes
- Platform Engineer (Hybrid) - DevOps/Full-StackCaptivation Software · 🇺🇸Annapolis Junction, MD$130K - $270KPythonReactJava
- Software Engineer 3 - Linux/Bash/Python/Java/IaC/Docker/CI/CDCaptivation Software · 🇺🇸Annapolis Junction, MD$130K - $270KPythonJavaDocker
- Senior Mission Software Engineer, Mission SystemsAnduril Industries · 🇺🇸Costa Mesa, California, United States$191K - $254KSeniorRustC++Linux
- Sr Designated Support EngineerDatabricks · 🇺🇸New York; Plano, Texas; San Francisco, California; Seattl…$142K - $251KSeniorPythonJavaScala
- Staff Mission Security Engineer, BuildTrue Anomaly · 🇺🇸Colorado Springs, CO; Denver, CO; Long Beach, CA$170K - $250KLead and abovePythonTerraformAzure
- Staff HiL SW Infrastructure EngineerAgility Robotics · 🇺🇸Hybrid- Fremont, CA$191K - $249KHybridLead and abovePythonDockerLinux
- Principal Embedded Firmware EngineerRe:Build Manufacturing · 🇺🇸Wilmington, MA$165K - $248KLead and aboveC++LinuxJira
- Senior Security EngineerDeepgram · 🇺🇸USA - Remote$150K - $245KRemoteSeniorGoPythonDocker
Questions about Linux administration pay
- What is the average Linux administration salary?
- $159K a year on average and $154K at the median, across 185 open Linux administration postings at companies that state pay (November 2026). The median is the better guide: a few very high offers pull the average up.
- What is the typical range?
- The middle half of the postings offer $133K to $188K a year. A quarter offer less and a quarter offer more.
- Which companies advertise the highest Linux administration pay?
- Pure Storage ($207K), Captivation Software ($200K), RapidFort, Inc. ($165K), by the median of their open postings that state pay (three postings or more).
- Is a linux administration a high-paying job?
- The median Linux administration posting advertises $154K a year, less than the median of all 55,899 job postings with pay on Jobs Every Hour ($174K). That is 12% below the middle of the market.
- How much can you earn as a linux administration?
- A tenth of the postings offer $206K a year or more; the highest open Linux administration role advertises up to $490K. Pay rises with level: see the table by level.
- What is the Linux administration salary per hour and per month?
- The median of $154K a year is about $74 an hour (2,080 working hours) and $12,792 a month before tax. The middle half of postings: $64 to $90 an hour.
- Which skills pay more for Linux administration roles?
- Postings that ask for CI/CD (+$25K, 40 postings), Ansible (+$18K, 51 postings), Terraform (+$15K, 36 postings) advertise more than the $154K median of all Linux administration postings with pay.
- Where do these figures come from?
- From the pay ranges employers print in their own job postings, read from their careers pages every hour. The midpoint of each range is counted. These are advertised ranges for open roles, mostly in the United States and in US dollars, not what people are actually paid.
Writing about this? A sentence you can quote
The median advertised salary for Linux administration roles at companies is $154K a year, and the middle half of postings offer $133K to $188K. Counted from 185 open job postings that state pay, November 2026. Source: Jobs Every Hour, https://jobseveryhour.com/salaries/linux-administration/
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