While much of the talk around software development focuses on programming languages or new tools like AI, processes really make or break most projects. This is where DevOps Engineers come in. By supporting their fellow engineers, improving processes, and improving everyone’s overall efficiency, they can have an outsized impact on software projects.
Considering the importance of the role, you may be wondering how DevOps salary ranges change based on location or years of experience. Below, we’re breaking down that information. So whether you’re interested in becoming a DevOps engineer yourself or hiring one for an important project, you can use this information to make better choices.
DevOps Engineers – a profession in increasing demand
With AI and automation shaking up the software development industry globally, one thing isn’t changing: the importance of DevOps. These professionals are only becoming more important as software gets more complex and more work is done remotely. This is also being driven by the ever-rising need for tools like custom cloud applications that businesses rely on for a wide range of applications.
The efficiency DevOps brings to those complex software development projects is more valuable than ever. Their ability to shorten the development process by helping teams collaborate more effectively while releasing more frequently translates into enormous savings.
But beyond simply improving processes, DevOps helps shape entire cultures to be more effective. This often means helping to instill Agile ways of working, crafting cultures of continuous improvement. But DevOps engineers can also get into the weeds, helping other developers tackle challenges and improve how they work.
What's a DevOps engineer salary?
Overall, DevOps engineers earn very high salaries. In the US, combining salary with additional compensations, the average DevOps engineer earns nearly $150,000 per year. That’s nearly triple the average US salary of around $60,000.
That said, the average US salary for a more general software engineer is about $5,000 higher than that of the average DevOps engineer. In other words, DevOps engineer salaries are far higher than national averages but slightly below similar roles in the same industry. So the answer really depends on who you’re comparing yourself to.
Is a devops engineer a high paying job?
This question often depends on where you live. A high-paying job in a lower-income area may not feel very lucrative in an expensive city. When it comes to DevOps engineers, salaries do vary depending on location but not a great deal.
That said, even in expensive places like New York City, DevOps engineers earn nearly 150% the average salary. In other words, there are few places you’re likely to find where DevOps engineer wouldn’t be considered a high paying job.
DevOps Engineers – outsource or direct hire?
Perhaps the most fundamental question around hiring a DevOps engineer is whether to outsource the position or hire directly. Your decision can have significant implications around scalability, cost, and the extent to which you can invest in a hire for the long-term. With that said, let’s look at the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
Advantages of outsourcing devops engineers
There’s no denying that in most cases, outsourcing a DevOps engineer is going to be the more affordable option. This is because outsourcing enables you to hire on a global scale. The increased competition that results means you can often find excellent talent in less expensive countries or regions.
In some cases, a DevOps engineer with the experience and skills you need may simply not be available where you’re located. Or they may not be affordable. Here, outsourcing becomes a vital lifeline to give you access to critical talent.
Of course outsourcing can mean very different things depending on the circumstances. You may outsource a DevOps engineer as a part of an entire development team or individually. A partner may help with operations and infrastructure support or be more hands off. This can influence the cost and ease of finding the right hire. Depending on your partner, outsourcing can also make it far easier to hire such teams or to generally scale your operations up or down as needed. In today’s dynamic business environment, that flexibility can be a major asset.
Disadvantages of outsourcing develops engineers
While outsourcing has a lot of advantages, many depend on the partner you find. Outsourcing requires you to trust and rely on not just the engineers you’re working with but the outsourcing partner as well. This can also introduce greater complexity as you need to account for both your working policies and those of your partner.
Another area in which outsourcing may introduce complexity is around laws and regulations. Depending on where your partner is based, you may need to account for the laws, regulations, holidays, or time zones of that place. This is why it’s so important to be clear about such things when selecting an outsourcing partner.
Advantages of directly hiring develops engineers
One of the most important advantages of hiring a DevOps engineer directly is control. Hiring directly enables you to have greater flexibility over how they work, where they work, and what skills they develop. You can invest in your own people to ensure you have the talent you need for the long-run.
Directly hiring a devops engineer makes it easier to closely integrate them into your company culture. Considering how tightly integrated many DevOps engineers are within the development process, this can be a serious advantage.
Disadvantages of directly hiring develops engineers
While the advantages of directly hiring are substantial, they’re all predicated on your ability to find the right talent to begin with. Then there’s the question of whether that person stays on for the long-run.
But there are also moments when you may need to make a quick change yourself. Depending on the laws and regulations in your organization and country, this can be tricky. Hiring and firing can both be lengthy and expensive. As a result, scaling your team up or down can become difficult, inhibiting your ability to remain agile, responsive, and ready to take advantage of opportunities.
So before you hire directly, consider whether you’re able to spend the tens of thousands of dollars and several months of work it typically takes to hire the right person.
Average devops engineer salary range in the United Kingdom
Now that you have a solid understanding of the ways you can hire a DevOps engineer, let’s look at what that typically costs in some key areas. The first is the UK, where the overall average DevOps engineer salary is 65,000 GBP per year.
By contrast, the median is a bit less at 60,000 GBP. This indicates that the range of salaries is weighted more towards the higher end, as the bottom 10% tend to earn just 37,500 GBP compared to the top end who bring in 92,500 GBP. This is good news for prospective engineers but less for those looking to hire them, particularly if they’re looking for someone experienced.
That said, the UK is hardly a monolith and average salaries can vary widely. From the data available, the lowest salaries are in Cardiff at just 50,100 GBP per year. By contrast, in London that average is substantially higher at 72,400 GBP. Remote DevOps engineers tend to earn right around the national average. So it’s worth considering location when looking for talent in the UK.
Devops engineer salaries in the UK by years of experience
We mentioned the wide salary range you can expect for DevOps engineers in the UK, but what drives those differences? The most important factor is experience. You can roughly divide people into three categories: junior if they have less than 3 years of experience, regular if they have 3-10, and senior if they have over 10 years under their belts.
For junior DevOps engineers, the UK average is just 35,200 GBP per year. Regulars can expect about 62,200 GBP, while the most senior typically bring in 68,300 GP. What this shows is that while DevOps engineer salaries start off fairly low, after a few years they increase dramatically. That said, the numbers don’t tend to increase very much after those initial years, meaning the UK may not be the best place for someone more senior to find a great salary.
Average devops engineer salary range in the USA
As a higher income country, it’s hardly surprising that DevOps engineer salaries in the US are some of the highest in the world. The national average comes in at 134,800 USD per year, well above the annual average of 105,269 USD for software engineers in general and more than double the average salary of a standard US worker. Even the bottom 10% of DevOps engineers in the US earn an average of 91,500 USD, meaning that it’s relatively rare for them to earn anything below a 6-figure income.
But considering the size of the US and the substantial differences in living costs between the various states, how do these figures break down within the country? The highest average in the country, found in the state of Washington at 168,100 USD, is nearly 50% greater than the lowest found in Ohio at just 110,100 USD. But again, there’s nowhere in the US where the average DevOps engineer salary is below 100,000 USD.
Notably, all of these salaries are also dramatically higher than the UK average, which comes out to 82,200 USD per year at current exchange rates.
Devops engineer salaries in the US by years of experience
When looking at how experience levels impact average DevOps engineer salaries in the US, there’s a fairly consistent pattern. Junior DevOps engineers earn an average of 102,300 USD per year. Regulars earn 124,000 USD while those with senior levels of experience take home around 141,500 USD.
The consistent differences between the three numbers and the fairly high starting salary shows that the US is definitely a good place to be a DevOps engineer at all stages of your career. While salaries in some places may start very low or plateau with a few years of experience, the US sees consistent growth with greater experience. But for companies looking to hire these professionals, the country is an expensive market.
Average devops engineer salary range in Germany
If average DevOps engineer salaries in the UK seemed low compared to the US, those in Germany are some 13,000 EUR less than what you’ll find across the English Channel. Indeed, the average DevOps engineer salary in Germany is just 63,600 EUR per year. That’s higher than the German average of just under 50,000 EUR per year but not that much higher. While DevOps engineers in the US earn more than double the national average, in Germany they bring in just 27% more.
Breaking down the German average a bit, like the US the salaries are fairly evenly distributed. The bottom 10% earn 47,500 EUR while the top 10% take home 80,000 EUR. But how do these averages break down within Germany? The lowest average can be found in Münster, where DevOps engineers take home 55,600 EUR per year. The highest by contrast is in Mannheim where the average is 69,100 EUR.
Devops engineer salaries in Germany by years of experience
Interestingly, DevOps engineers in Germany can expect to start with a salary below the national average, though this tends to increase quickly before slowing its growth. That’s borne out in the data, where junior DevOps engineers take in 43,500 EUR per year, regulars earn 63,400 EUR, and the most senior just 70,200 EUR. In other words, the jump between junior and regular is fairly substantial, while the additional years of work required to become a senior engineer earns you less than 7,000 EUR per year on average.
Taking all of this data as a whole, Germany looks like a fairly affordable location for hiring a DevOps engineer compared to the UK or US. For engineers themselves, however, salaries are not very competitive relative to the UK or US.
Average devops engineer salary range in Switzerland
While average DevOps engineer salaries in Germany were quite low, Switzerland more than doubles that average at 109,500 CHF (114,000 EUR) per year. While that doesn’t quite reach the average boasted by the US, it’s substantially more than Germany or the UK. Even the lowest 10% of Swiss DevOps Engineers earn 85,000 CHF, greater than the national average salary of just under 80,000 CHF. By comparison, the top 10% in Switzerland earn an average of 132,500 CHF per year.
Within Switzerland, the lowest average DevOps engineer salaries can be found in Lausanne at just 89,800 CHF. The highest are in Zug, where salaries of 117,300 CHF are the norm. So even within a relatively small country like Switzerland, location has a substantial difference on average salaries for such professionals.
Devops engineer salaries in Switzerland by years of experience
While the average salary of a junior DevOps engineer in Switzerland is a respectable 85,000 CHF, digging deeper into the data produces some surprising findings. The Bottom 25% of this group earn just 37,500 CHF on average while the top 25% bring in 97,500 CHF. In other words, the range within the junior category is staggering, so depending on your abilities that average may be deceiving.
For both regular and senior DevOps engineers in Switzerland the salary data is far more uniform and predictable. Those with 3-10 years of experience tend to bring in 108,500 CHF while those with over 10 take home 118,500 CHF. So if you’re looking for junior talent in Switzerland, you may be able to find a good deal, but hiring someone more experienced is going to cost you.
Average devops engineer salary range in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is one of the most popular locations for business to both outsource software development talent or hire directly through local offices. The reasons are a powerful combination of lower labor costs and an abundance of high-quality technical talent. In addition, many countries in the region are in the European Union (EU), making the cost of compliance, doing business, etc. much lower in many cases.
While it would take too long to run through the average DevOps salaries in the entire region, we can look at two illustrative examples. One, Bulgaria, provides a quality option within the EU that’s still quite affordable. Ukraine, by contrast, is not in the EU and despite the active conflict there still provides an excellent option for outsourcing of direct hires.
Average devops engineer salary in Bulgaria
The average DevOps engineer salary in Bulgaria varies substantially depending on your source. Some place it at 62,313 BGN, or about 31,800 EUR. This is almost exactly half the German average. Others place it slightly higher at 71,900 BGN per year.
Within that average, entry level DevOps engineers in Bulgaria typically earn around 51,325 BGN per year. With a few years of experience, regulars earn about the average while more senior talent brings in 90,955 BGN per year. In other words, salaries start somewhat low but can rise quickly.
While data for specific cities isn’t available, there is a substantial difference in the cost of living throughout the country so this is worth considering. That said, the vast majority of tech talent in Bulgaria is concentrated in its major cities like Sofia, Plovdiv, and Burgas.
For companies looking to hire here, even the higher cost of senior talent is a fraction of what you can expect to pay elsewhere in the EU, making Bulgaria quite a bargain. Those working in the country may want to consider working remotely within the EU to obtain a higher salary if possible.
Average devops engineer salary range in Ukraine
Compared to the other countries on this list, Ukraine has by far the lowest average DevOps engineer salary at 807,000 UAH or 18,580 EUR. For junior DevOps engineers the average is just 574,895 UAH while those with 10+ years of experience typically earn 1,018,792 UAH.
Like with Bulgaria, data isn’t available for specific locations within Ukraine, but you can likely expect higher salaries in major cities farther from the conflict like Lviv or Kiev. However, many Ukrainian DevOps engineers currently work remotely either from within Ukraine or from abroad as a result of the conflict there, so local differences may not be as pronounced.
Average devops engineer salary
Taking a step back to look at all this data as a whole, a few takeaways are clear. The first is that the country you choose makes an enormous difference in what it will cost to hire a DevOps engineer. The difference between the average in Ukraine and the US is a whopping 677%! So you could hire nearly 7 Ukrainian DevOps engineers for the annual salary of one American.
That said, it also pays to look beyond the simple averages. Location, years of experience, etc. all can have a significant impact on salaries. Those averages can also be heavily skewed by some very highly paid individuals or some with abnormally low salaries. So if you’re looking to hire in a country, consider the location, experience level, etc. when estimating your costs.
Overall though, it should be clear that if you’re willing to consider outsourcing, the potential benefits are enormous. By hiring equally qualified professionals in less expensive regions, you can get unbeatable ROI on your most important projects. The key is finding the right location and the right partner for such an endeavor.
