Systems Administrator Job Trends

System Administrator (Sysadmin)
UK

The median System Administrator (Sysadmin) salary in the UK is £45,000 per year, according to job vacancies posted during the 6 months leading to 29 September 2026.

The table below compares current salary benchmarking and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 378 467 359
Rank change year-on-year +89 -108 +59
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 532 202 521
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.45% 0.41% 0.69%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.49% 0.46% 0.73%
Number of salaries quoted 316 114 356
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,475 £31,250
25th Percentile £35,000 £30,000 £35,375
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £45,000 £49,000
Median % change year-on-year - -8.16% +8.89%
75th Percentile £57,500 £55,625 £53,750
90th Percentile £71,250 £66,750 £70,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £43,500 £43,750 £45,000
% change year-on-year -0.57% -2.78% +11.11%

All Permanent IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of permanent jobs in our overall sample.

Permanent vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 109,377 44,042 71,502
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 92.96% 89.72% 95.29%
Number of salaries quoted 74,715 25,470 41,572
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,750
25th Percentile £41,000 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £59,000 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +7.27% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,500 £73,750 £75,000
90th Percentile £98,750 £95,000 £93,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £47,500 £50,000
% change year-on-year +15.79% -5.00% -4.76%

Systems Administrator
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of permanent IT job postings featuring 'Systems Administrator' in the job title relative to all permanent IT jobs advertised.

Systems Administrator job vacancy trend in the UK

Systems Administrator
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK.

Salary distribution trend for Systems Administrator job vacancies in the UK

Systems Administrator
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Systems Administrator over the 6 months to 29 September 2026.

Salary histogram for Systems Administrator in the UK

Systems Administrator
Top 16 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Systems Administrator within the UK over the 6 months to 29 September 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +70 459 £45,000 - 131
UK excluding London +67 415 £43,500 -0.57% 97
London +2 102 £56,000 +1.82% 39
South East +10 89 £45,000 - 31
Work from Home -34 89 £55,000 +29.41% 37
South West -74 80 £35,000 -22.22% 11
North of England -10 73 £45,000 +12.50% 18
Midlands -3 67 £45,000 +26.76% 20
Scotland - 54 £43,500 - 5
East of England -5 44 £40,000 -11.11% 9
Yorkshire +2 38 £45,000 +5.88% 11
West Midlands -12 36 £55,000 +29.41% 17
East Midlands -25 31 £40,500 +35.00% 3
North West -7 26 £40,000 +19.40% 7
North East - 9 £47,500 -
Wales -64 8 £50,000 - 3

Systems Administrator Skill Set
Top 30 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 29 September 2026, Systems Administrator job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all permanent job ads featuring Systems Administrator in the job title.

1 107 (20.11%) Microsoft
2 96 (18.05%) Linux
3 80 (15.04%) Windows
4 73 (13.72%) Active Directory
5 63 (11.84%) Microsoft 365
6 62 (11.65%) Azure
6 62 (11.65%) DevOps
7 61 (11.47%) Entra ID
8 56 (10.53%) Problem-Solving
9 49 (9.21%) Windows Server
10 47 (8.83%) Firewall
11 45 (8.46%) Continuous Improvement
12 43 (8.08%) Ansible
12 43 (8.08%) CI/CD
13 42 (7.89%) Bash
13 42 (7.89%) Red Hat
14 41 (7.71%) AWS
15 39 (7.33%) Security Cleared
15 39 (7.33%) SQL
16 38 (7.14%) Microsoft Exchange
17 36 (6.77%) DNS
17 36 (6.77%) Python
17 36 (6.77%) SaaS
18 33 (6.20%) Hyper-V
19 32 (6.02%) Vulnerability Management
20 31 (5.83%) Kubernetes
21 30 (5.64%) SharePoint
21 30 (5.64%) VPN
22 29 (5.45%) Terraform
23 27 (5.08%) DV Cleared

Systems Administrator Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 38 (7.14%) Microsoft Exchange
2 30 (5.64%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.50%) OpenStack
4 4 (0.75%) IIS
5 1 (0.19%) Apache
5 1 (0.19%) Confluence
5 1 (0.19%) JBoss
5 1 (0.19%) Moodle
5 1 (0.19%) nginx
Applications
1 21 (3.95%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (2.07%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 25 (4.70%) Primavera
2 2 (0.38%) Dynamics NAV
3 1 (0.19%) Elite 3E
3 1 (0.19%) HFM
3 1 (0.19%) Infor CloudSuite
3 1 (0.19%) iTrent
3 1 (0.19%) SAP HR
3 1 (0.19%) Shopify
3 1 (0.19%) Unit4 Business World
Cloud Services
1 63 (11.84%) Microsoft 365
2 62 (11.65%) Azure
3 61 (11.47%) Entra ID
4 41 (7.71%) AWS
5 36 (6.77%) SaaS
6 25 (4.70%) OpenShift
7 23 (4.32%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 23 (4.32%) Power Platform
8 21 (3.95%) Power Automate
9 13 (2.44%) GitHub
9 13 (2.44%) PaaS
9 13 (2.44%) PowerApps
10 11 (2.07%) GitHub Actions
10 11 (2.07%) Mimecast
11 10 (1.88%) GCP
12 9 (1.69%) Amazon ECR
12 9 (1.69%) Amazon ECS
12 9 (1.69%) Azure Logic Apps
12 9 (1.69%) Dynamics 365
12 9 (1.69%) Intacct
Communications & Networking
1 47 (8.83%) Firewall
2 36 (6.77%) DNS
3 30 (5.64%) VPN
4 22 (4.14%) TCP/IP
5 21 (3.95%) DHCP
6 13 (2.44%) LAN
7 8 (1.50%) WAN
8 7 (1.32%) SAN
8 7 (1.32%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (1.13%) Network Security
10 5 (0.94%) HTTP
11 4 (0.75%) Internet
11 4 (0.75%) VLAN
11 4 (0.75%) VSAN
12 3 (0.56%) SSH
12 3 (0.56%) Wireless
13 2 (0.38%) Fibre Channel
14 1 (0.19%) DKIM
14 1 (0.19%) DMARC
14 1 (0.19%) iSCSI
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (2.26%) MySQL
2 9 (1.69%) Elasticsearch
2 9 (1.69%) Power BI
3 4 (0.75%) Big Data
4 3 (0.56%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.56%) GIS
5 1 (0.19%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.19%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.19%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 23 (4.32%) Git
2 14 (2.63%) GitLab
3 7 (1.32%) JIRA
4 2 (0.38%) Jenkins
5 1 (0.19%) Artifactory
5 1 (0.19%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.19%) Robot Framework
5 1 (0.19%) Selenium
5 1 (0.19%) TeamCity
General
1 78 (14.66%) Finance
2 77 (14.47%) Social Skills
3 35 (6.58%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (5.26%) Retail
5 25 (4.70%) Manufacturing
6 17 (3.20%) Banking
7 14 (2.63%) Billing
8 12 (2.26%) Organisational Skills
9 10 (1.88%) Legal
10 9 (1.69%) Law
11 8 (1.50%) Automotive
12 6 (1.13%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 5 (0.94%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.94%) Police
13 5 (0.94%) Public Sector
14 3 (0.56%) Documentation Skills
14 3 (0.56%) Games
15 2 (0.38%) Aerospace
15 2 (0.38%) German Language
15 2 (0.38%) Marketing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (5.45%) Terraform
2 5 (0.94%) Middleware
2 5 (0.94%) WebSockets
3 3 (0.56%) Boost C++ Libraries
4 2 (0.38%) OpenID
5 1 (0.19%) CSS
5 1 (0.19%) CSS3
5 1 (0.19%) HTML
5 1 (0.19%) HTML5
5 1 (0.19%) Keycloak
5 1 (0.19%) OAuth
5 1 (0.19%) OAuth2
5 1 (0.19%) OpenTofu
5 1 (0.19%) React
5 1 (0.19%) Redfish
5 1 (0.19%) SAML
5 1 (0.19%) Software Packaging
Miscellaneous
1 23 (4.32%) Data Structures
2 16 (3.01%) Clustering
3 14 (2.63%) Onboarding
3 14 (2.63%) Operational Technology
3 14 (2.63%) Social Media
4 12 (2.26%) Private Cloud
5 11 (2.07%) Hybrid Cloud
6 10 (1.88%) Management Information System
7 8 (1.50%) Data Centre
8 7 (1.32%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (0.94%) Housing Association
9 5 (0.94%) Learning Management System
9 5 (0.94%) PMI
10 3 (0.56%) Embedded Systems
10 3 (0.56%) IoT
10 3 (0.56%) Replication
10 3 (0.56%) Security Posture
11 2 (0.38%) Educational Technology
11 2 (0.38%) Enterprise Software
11 2 (0.38%) Wiki
Operating Systems
1 96 (18.05%) Linux
2 80 (15.04%) Windows
3 49 (9.21%) Windows Server
4 26 (4.89%) Mac OS
5 23 (4.32%) Apple iOS
6 22 (4.14%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 20 (3.76%) Android
8 14 (2.63%) CentOS
9 12 (2.26%) Ubuntu
10 10 (1.88%) Unix
11 8 (1.50%) Debian
12 7 (1.32%) Rocky
13 6 (1.13%) Windows 10
14 4 (0.75%) CoreOS
14 4 (0.75%) Windows Server 2016
14 4 (0.75%) Windows Server 2019
15 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (11.65%) DevOps
2 56 (10.53%) Problem-Solving
3 45 (8.46%) Continuous Improvement
4 43 (8.08%) CI/CD
5 32 (6.02%) Vulnerability Management
6 25 (4.70%) ERP
6 25 (4.70%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 20 (3.76%) Analytics
7 20 (3.76%) Customer Experience
7 20 (3.76%) ITIL
7 20 (3.76%) Release Management
7 20 (3.76%) Time Management
8 19 (3.57%) Change Management
9 18 (3.38%) AI
9 18 (3.38%) Configuration Management
9 18 (3.38%) Infrastructure as Code
10 17 (3.20%) Change Control
10 17 (3.20%) Identity Management
10 17 (3.20%) Infrastructure Automation
11 16 (3.01%) High Availability
Programming Languages
1 42 (7.89%) Bash
2 39 (7.33%) SQL
3 36 (6.77%) Python
4 26 (4.89%) PowerShell
5 8 (1.50%) Go
6 6 (1.13%) R
7 5 (0.94%) Shell Script
8 4 (0.75%) JavaScript
9 3 (0.56%) C
9 3 (0.56%) C++
9 3 (0.56%) PHP
9 3 (0.56%) Ruby
Qualifications
1 39 (7.33%) Security Cleared
2 27 (5.08%) DV Cleared
3 26 (4.89%) SC Cleared
4 15 (2.82%) Degree
5 9 (1.69%) AWS Certification
6 7 (1.32%) DBS Check
7 5 (0.94%) CIPD
7 5 (0.94%) PMI Certification
7 5 (0.94%) RHCSA
8 3 (0.56%) HND
8 3 (0.56%) Microsoft Certification
9 1 (0.19%) CompTIA Security+
9 1 (0.19%) Network+ Certification
9 1 (0.19%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 23 (4.32%) QA
2 17 (3.20%) Data Quality
3 8 (1.50%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.75%) GDPR
5 3 (0.56%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.19%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 73 (13.72%) Active Directory
2 33 (6.20%) Hyper-V
3 21 (3.95%) Docker
4 16 (3.01%) VMware Infrastructure
5 10 (1.88%) Virtual Machines
6 7 (1.32%) Ceph
7 6 (1.13%) vSphere
8 5 (0.94%) iptables
8 5 (0.94%) VMware ESXi
9 2 (0.38%) Firmware
10 1 (0.19%) NFS
10 1 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
10 1 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
10 1 (0.19%) Xen
10 1 (0.19%) XenApp
10 1 (0.19%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 43 (8.08%) Ansible
2 31 (5.83%) Kubernetes
3 24 (4.51%) Grafana
4 22 (4.14%) Prometheus
5 19 (3.57%) Microsoft Intune
5 19 (3.57%) Nessus
6 15 (2.82%) Nagios
7 14 (2.63%) Proxmox
8 8 (1.50%) Podman
9 7 (1.32%) Argo
9 7 (1.32%) Check_MK
9 7 (1.32%) Istio
10 4 (0.75%) McAfee ePO
10 4 (0.75%) Puppet
10 4 (0.75%) SCCM
10 4 (0.75%) SCVMM
11 3 (0.56%) Failover Clustering
11 3 (0.56%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.56%) systemd
12 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 107 (20.11%) Microsoft
2 42 (7.89%) Red Hat
3 27 (5.08%) VMware
4 19 (3.57%) Salesforce
5 10 (1.88%) Sage
5 10 (1.88%) Splunk
6 9 (1.69%) Rapid7
7 8 (1.50%) Dell
7 8 (1.50%) SAP
8 7 (1.32%) CrowdStrike
9 5 (0.94%) Concur
9 5 (0.94%) Databricks
9 5 (0.94%) Google
9 5 (0.94%) SolarWinds
9 5 (0.94%) SonicWALL
9 5 (0.94%) Veeam
10 4 (0.75%) Cisco
10 4 (0.75%) McAfee
10 4 (0.75%) Meraki
11 3 (0.56%) NetApp