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Role hub · Information Security Engineers

Information Security Engineer: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

BLS does not publish pay for information security engineers separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” (SOC 15-1299), which includes information security engineers and other jobs; it is not a figure for information security engineers alone.

Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of workers in the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$116,580
Hourly
$56.05
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Information Security Engineers develop and oversee the implementation of information security procedures and policies. The median pay is $116,580 a year ($56.05 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (47% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$116,580
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
435,370
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
47% of workers
Key facts

Information Security Engineers at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” (which includes information security engineers) in the United States earned a median annual wage of $116,580 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for information security engineers in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 435,370 people were employed as information security engineers in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Information Security Engineers

The work

What information security engineers do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Identify security system weaknesses, using penetration tests.
  2. Coordinate monitoring of networks or systems for security breaches or intrusions.
  3. Assess the quality of security controls, using performance indicators.
  4. Train staff on, and oversee the use of, information security standards, policies, and best practices.
  5. Scan networks, using vulnerability assessment tools to identify vulnerabilities.
  6. Develop response and recovery strategies for security breaches.
  7. Conduct investigations of information security breaches to identify vulnerabilities and evaluate the damage.
  8. Develop or install software, such as firewalls and data encryption programs, to protect sensitive information.
Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all information security engineer jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix). Figures cover all computer occupations, all other (SOC 15-1299), the broader occupation.

  1. Professional, scientific, and technical services26.0% of all jobs in this occupation · +12.9% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $125,890
  2. Government, excluding state and local education and hospitals22.4% of all jobs in this occupation · -4.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $124,650
  3. Management of companies and enterprises4.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.6% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $133,260
  4. Administrative and support services4.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +1.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $108,110
  5. Educational services; state, local, and private4.3% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.2% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $88,470
  6. Computing infrastructure providers, data processing, web hosting, and related services3.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +27.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $131,930

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Reading ComprehensioncoreCritical ThinkingcoreActive ListeningcoreWritingMonitoringSpeakingQuality Control AnalysisSystems AnalysisSystems Evaluation

Knowledge areas: Computers and Electronics, Engineering and Technology, English Language, Telecommunications, Customer and Personal Service.

Tools and technology

Software information security engineers use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • IBM TerraformConfiguration management softwareIn demand
  • KubernetesApplication server softwareIn demand
  • Microsoft Active DirectoryInternet directory services softwareIn demand
  • Splunk EnterpriseEnterprise system management softwareIn demand
  • Firewall softwareNetwork security and virtual private network VPN equipment softwareIn demand
  • Single sign-on SSOAuthentication server softwareIn demand
  • Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormationCloud-based management softwareHot technology
  • Ansible softwareExpert system softwareHot technology
  • Atlassian JIRAContent workflow softwareHot technology
  • Border Gateway Protocol BGPSwitch or router softwareHot technology
  • ChefConfiguration management softwareHot technology
  • DockerApplication server softwareHot technology

Also called: BISO (Business Information Security Officer), Cloud Engineer, Engineer, Information Security Auditor, Information Security System Engineer, Infrastructure Security Engineer.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.