Penetration Tester Salary Trends in the US (2026 - 2022)
Penetration Tester compensation varies widely by experience, specialty, employer, location, consulting responsibility, clearance requirements, and whether the role focuses on web and API testing, networks, Active Directory, cloud, containers, exploit validation, or red-team operations.
Category (Experience)
Year
Min - Max (USD)
Salary Range (Min - Max in USD)
Penetration Tester Intern(internship)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$16-$22/hr
$16-$22/hr
$15-$21/hr
$14-$20/hr
$14-$19/hr
Junior Penetration Tester(0 to 2 years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$51K - $80K
$50K - $78K
$49K - $76K
$47K - $74K
$45K - $70K
Entry Level Penetration Tester(0 to 2 years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$70K - $141K
$68K - $136K
$65K - $132K
$63K - $127K
$60K - $122K
Associate Penetration Tester(2 to 4 years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$85K - $155K
$82K - $150K
$80K - $146K
$77K - $141K
$74K - $136K
Mid Level Penetration Tester(3 to 5 years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$96K - $175K
$93K - $170K
$90K - $165K
$87K - $160K
$84K - $155K
Senior Penetration Tester(5 to 8 years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$117K - $210K
$114K - $205K
$110K - $200K
$106K - $195K
$102K - $190K
Lead Penetration Tester(8 or more years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$108K - $220K
$105K - $214K
$102K - $208K
$99K - $202K
$96K - $196K
Security Architect(10 or more years)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$118K - $190K
$115K - $185K
$112K - $180K
$108K - $174K
$104K - $168K
VP of Security Engineering(executive security leadership)
2026
2025
2024
2023
2022
$178K - $232K
$170K - $225K
$164K - $217K
$158K - $210K
$151K - $202K
Penetration Tester Resume Examples
Explore the resume examples below to find the one that best matches your target Penetration Tester role.
Penetration Tester InternInternship
Junior Penetration Tester0-1 years
Entry-Level Penetration Tester1-2 years
Associate Penetration Tester2-3 years
Senior Penetration Tester5-8 years
Lead Penetration Tester8-10 years
Penetration Tester Architect10-15 years
VP of Engineering18+ years