JobAfterNext

Penetration Testers

Evaluate network system security by conducting simulated internal and external cyberattacks using adversary tools and techniques. Attempt to breach and exploit critical systems and gain access to sensitive information to assess system security.

Wages

BLS doesn't publish wages for Penetration Testers separately. These are the figures for Computer Occupations, All Other (15-1299), its parent occupation.

Median annual wage, U.S.$116,580
Employment, U.S.435,370
Median hourly wage$56.05
Annual wage percentiles, U.S., May 2025
10th25thMedian75th90th
$55,940$79,370$116,580$157,500$188,470
By state (51)
StateEmploymentMedian annualLocation quotient
Alabama2,630$106,3300.44
Alaska710$105,9600.78
Arizona5,510$105,2400.61
Arkansas1,120$86,9400.31
California80,150$134,4401.57
Colorado11,800$139,5801.47
Connecticut3,100$127,7200.65
Delaware860$137,4700.63
District of Columbia17,200$156,5908.75
Florida13,710$105,3700.49
Georgia20,630$104,6101.51
Hawaii2,080$120,1001.18
Idaho1,040$98,7000.43
Illinois11,160$99,3600.65
Indiana3,340$93,5400.37
Iowa3,850$107,3400.88
Kansas1,340$103,3800.33
Kentucky1,850$89,4200.33
Louisiana5,020$77,0000.93
Maine900$107,9900.50
Maryland19,060$144,6802.46
Massachusetts6,170$109,5900.61
Michigan7,440$105,6800.60
Minnesota4,180$91,7500.51
Mississippi1,450$86,9400.45
Missouri14,340$101,0401.74
Montana540$81,9700.38
Nebraska2,280$92,4800.79
Nevada2,610$100,2200.60
New Hampshire970$91,7200.51
New Jersey12,010$108,3101.00
New Mexico1,650$127,0900.67
New York11,460$116,9900.42
North Carolina15,090$104,8501.09
North Dakota730$78,3300.60
Ohio6,150$109,7800.40
Oklahoma3,320$102,5200.69
Oregon2,450$97,3500.45
Pennsylvania14,580$107,2300.86
Rhode Island830$102,2100.59
South Carolina4,300$112,2600.67
South Dakota240$105,3700.18
Tennessee10,930$76,4701.19
Texas57,020$111,5301.45
Utah6,680$97,4701.37
Vermont1,320$111,5301.56
Virginia17,000$139,0301.48
Washington14,360$128,9401.44
West Virginia3,380$107,1401.72
Wisconsin4,680$88,1300.57
Wyoming170$94,5200.22

Similar occupations

Similarity is our measure: the cosine of importance x level over all 120 O*NET skills, knowledge areas and abilities. It is not an O*NET finding. More.

#OccupationJob ZoneSimilarity
1Information Security Analysts40.973
2Database Administrators40.965
3Information Security Engineers40.963
4Computer Network Architects40.962
5Blockchain Engineers40.959
6Computer Systems Engineers/Architects30.959
7Digital Forensics Analysts40.959
8Web Administrators40.949
9Database Architects40.944
10Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers40.943

One skill away

Among the 50 occupations most similar to Penetration Testers, those at the same Job Zone or lower, where exactly one skill rated at least 3 in importance needs a level more than 0.75 points higher (on O*NET's 0-7 level scale). Our definition. Change the thresholds.

OccupationSkill to buildLevel gapSimilarity
Information Security AnalystsOperations Monitoring1.000.973
Blockchain EngineersOperations Analysis3.000.959
Web AdministratorsInstructing1.000.949
Software Quality Assurance Analysts and TestersOperations Analysis3.380.943
Computer Network Support SpecialistsOperations Monitoring1.000.937
Radio Frequency Identification Device SpecialistsInstructing0.880.933
Software DevelopersTechnology Design2.500.932
Web DevelopersOperations Analysis4.000.932
Business Intelligence AnalystsMathematics1.130.929
Telecommunications Engineering SpecialistsOperations Monitoring0.880.918

All 12

Software to learn next

Software used by at least 3 of the 20 occupations most similar to Penetration Testers, excluding software Penetration Testers already lists and any you named. Ranked by how many of them use it, weighted by how much more common it is among them than across all occupations (lift). Our ranking.

SoftwareSimilar jobs using itLift
Apache Tomcat13 of 2026.1x
Unified modeling language UML13 of 2024.0x
Red Hat Enterprise Linux13 of 2023.1x
Amazon Web Services AWS CloudFormation12 of 2029.1x
Microsoft Windows Server13 of 2022.2x
MongoDB13 of 2022.2x
Oracle Solaris13 of 2021.4x
KornShell12 of 2026.4x
LAMP Stack12 of 2026.4x
NoSQL13 of 2020.0x

Skills

From O*NET data. Importance is rated 1 to 5 and level 0 to 7.

SkillTypeImportanceLevel
Critical ThinkingEssential skill 4.38 4.38
Reading ComprehensionEssential skill 4.00 4.50
WritingEssential skill 4.00 4.12
ProgrammingTransferable skill 3.88 4.12
Active ListeningEssential skill 3.88 4.00
Complex Problem SolvingTransferable skill 3.88 3.88
Active LearningEssential skill 3.62 4.12
Systems EvaluationTransferable skill 3.62 4.12
Judgment and Decision MakingTransferable skill 3.50 4.12
MonitoringEssential skill 3.50 3.88
Systems AnalysisTransferable skill 3.50 3.75
SpeakingEssential skill 3.38 3.88
Quality Control AnalysisTransferable skill 3.12 3.38
Time ManagementTransferable skill 3.00 3.00
Learning StrategiesEssential skill 2.88 3.38
CoordinationTransferable skill 2.88 3.00
PersuasionTransferable skill 2.75 3.00
Social PerceptivenessTransferable skill 2.75 3.00
InstructingTransferable skill 2.62 2.62
Service OrientationTransferable skill 2.62 2.62
MathematicsEssential skill 2.50 2.75
TroubleshootingTransferable skill 2.38 2.38
Operations MonitoringTransferable skill 2.38 2.12
NegotiationTransferable skill 2.25 2.38
Operations AnalysisTransferable skill 2.12not rated
Management of Personnel ResourcesTransferable skill 2.00 2.00
Technology DesignTransferable skill 1.88 1.12
Equipment MaintenanceTransferable skill 1.75 1.00
RepairingTransferable skill 1.62 1.00
Equipment SelectionTransferable skill 1.62 0.75
ScienceEssential skill 1.50not rated
Management of Financial ResourcesTransferable skill 1.38 0.50
Management of Material ResourcesTransferable skill 1.25not rated
Operation and ControlTransferable skill 1.25not rated
InstallationTransferable skill 1.00not rated
Knowledge (33) and abilities (52)
Knowledge
NameImportanceLevel
Computers and Electronics 4.95 6.55
Telecommunications 4.15 5.20
Engineering and Technology 3.95 5.10
English Language 3.80 4.20
Customer and Personal Service 3.75 4.25
Law and Government 3.40 3.60
Education and Training 3.20 4.35
Administration and Management 3.15 3.85
Public Safety and Security 3.11 3.60
Communications and Media 3.10 3.25
Administrative 3.05 4.40
Mathematics 3.05 3.95
Psychology 2.85 3.60
Design 2.70 3.60
Sales and Marketing 2.05 2.15
Production and Processing 2.05 2.10
Sociology and Anthropology 2.05 1.85
Personnel and Human Resources 2.05 1.80
Economics and Accounting 1.85 1.30
Foreign Language 1.75 1.35
Mechanical 1.75 1.10
Philosophy and Theology 1.50not rated
Geography 1.50 1.25
Physics 1.45 0.85
History and Archeology 1.35 0.55
Transportation 1.30 0.60
Building and Construction 1.20not rated
Biology 1.15not rated
Chemistry 1.15not rated
Medicine and Dentistry 1.10not rated
Therapy and Counseling 1.10not rated
Fine Arts 1.00not rated
Food Production 1.00not rated
Abilities
NameImportanceLevel
Inductive Reasoning 4.38 4.50
Written Expression 4.25 4.38
Deductive Reasoning 4.12 4.62
Problem Sensitivity 4.12 4.38
Oral Comprehension 4.00 4.62
Written Comprehension 4.00 4.50
Oral Expression 3.88 4.50
Fluency of Ideas 3.88 4.12
Information Ordering 3.88 4.00
Near Vision 3.75 3.75
Originality 3.62 4.00
Category Flexibility 3.62 3.75
Speech Clarity 3.38 3.12
Selective Attention 3.12 3.12
Speech Recognition 3.00 3.00
Speed of Closure 2.88 3.25
Flexibility of Closure 2.88 3.00
Perceptual Speed 2.88 2.88
Mathematical Reasoning 2.62 3.00
Number Facility 2.50 2.75
Far Vision 2.38 2.38
Visualization 2.38 2.38
Memorization 2.12 2.12
Time Sharing 2.12 2.12
Trunk Strength 2.12 1.62
Wrist-Finger Speed 2.12 1.50
Auditory Attention 2.00 1.50
Finger Dexterity 1.88 1.25
Arm-Hand Steadiness 1.88 1.12
Visual Color Discrimination 1.75 1.50
Manual Dexterity 1.75 1.12
Control Precision 1.75 1.00
Hearing Sensitivity 1.62 1.25
Depth Perception 1.62 0.88
Dynamic Strength 1.50 0.50
Peripheral Vision 1.38not rated
Extent Flexibility 1.38 0.50
Dynamic Flexibility 1.25not rated
Night Vision 1.25not rated
Sound Localization 1.25not rated
Spatial Orientation 1.25not rated
Explosive Strength 1.00not rated
Glare Sensitivity 1.00not rated
Gross Body Coordination 1.00not rated
Gross Body Equilibrium 1.00not rated
Multilimb Coordination 1.00not rated
Rate Control 1.00not rated
Reaction Time 1.00not rated
Response Orientation 1.00not rated
Speed of Limb Movement 1.00not rated
Stamina 1.00not rated
Static Strength 1.00not rated

Software used

Examples from O*NET data. "Hot" and "in demand" are O*NET flags for technologies often listed in job postings.

All 67
  • Kubernetes hot
  • Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP hot
  • Microsoft Excel hot
  • Microsoft Office software hot
  • Microsoft SQL Server hot
  • Oracle Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition J2EE hot
  • PHP hot
  • Perl hot
  • Ruby hot
  • ServiceNow hot
  • Shell script hot
  • Structured query language SQL hot
  • Database management systems
  • Ghidra
  • Google Cloud software
  • HP WebInspect
  • Hex-Rays IDA Pro
  • IBM Middleware
  • IBM QRadar SIEM
  • Invicti Acunetix
  • Magellan Firmware
  • Management information systems MIS
  • Microsoft Azure DevOps Services
  • Microsoft Visual Basic Scripting Edition VBScript
  • Objective C
  • RESTful API
  • Rapid7 Nexpose
  • Rapid7 software
  • Rust programming language
  • Security assertion markup language SAML
  • Software development tools
  • Software libraries
  • System testing software
  • Vector 35 Binary Ninja
  • Web application software
  • Web server software
  • Wireshark

Where it concentrates

BLS doesn't publish wages for Penetration Testers separately. These are the figures for Computer Occupations, All Other (15-1299), its parent occupation.

Metro areas ranked by BLS location quotient: the occupation's share of the area's jobs divided by its share of all US jobs. Above 1 means more concentrated than the nation. Metros employing fewer than 100 are left out.

Metro areaEmploymentLocation quotientMedian annual
Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ5005.29$118,120
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA16,6805.25$184,430
Lexington Park, MD1,0005.05$144,680
Parkersburg-Vienna, WV3503.46$106,330
Warner Robins, GA6903.26$100,260
Elizabethtown, KY4503.14$106,330
Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX10,1002.79$129,470
Fayetteville, NC9702.65$101,800
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA16,9302.55$161,700
Burlington-South Burlington, VT8402.51$121,850

More metros, other thresholds