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 14 June 2026.

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

6 months to
14 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 396 480 406
Rank change year-on-year +84 -74 +98
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 392 198 654
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.42% 0.45% 0.61%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.45% 0.50% 0.64%
Number of salaries quoted 274 140 537
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £35,815 £33,781 £33,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £49,000 £41,500
Median % change year-on-year -8.16% +18.07% -12.63%
75th Percentile £61,250 £57,500 £52,500
90th Percentile £70,000 £71,375 £65,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £40,000 £47,500 £40,000
% change year-on-year -15.79% +18.75% -

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 87,334 39,784 101,964
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.98% 89.45% 94.72%
Number of salaries quoted 59,870 22,508 73,554
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,822 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £39,000 £38,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £57,500 £52,500
Median % change year-on-year -4.35% +9.52% -12.50%
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £70,000
90th Percentile £95,000 £98,750 £90,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £50,000 £50,000 £50,000
% change year-on-year - - -6.54%

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 14 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Systems Administrator in the UK

Systems Administrator
Top 15 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 14 June 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 +81 356 £45,000 -10.00% 80
UK excluding London +29 273 £40,000 -15.79% 76
London +47 103 £57,500 +4.55% 10
Work from Home +25 80 £55,000 +15.79% 28
Midlands +40 70 £35,000 -5.41% 13
North of England -12 54 £42,500 +10.39% 9
East Midlands +20 50 £32,500 -8.45% 5
East of England +12 50 £40,000 -30.43% 6
South East -15 41 £60,000 +22.45% 20
South West -76 33 £39,250 -21.50% 22
Yorkshire -24 31 £45,000 -14.29% 3
Scotland +42 25 - - 4
West Midlands -4 20 £45,000 +16.88% 8
North West -6 19 £40,000 +10.78% 4
North East - 4 £47,500 - 2

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

For the 6 months to 14 June 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 89 (22.70%) Linux
2 82 (20.92%) Microsoft
3 62 (15.82%) DevOps
4 59 (15.05%) Problem-Solving
5 58 (14.80%) Microsoft 365
6 54 (13.78%) Windows
7 50 (12.76%) SQL
8 47 (11.99%) Azure
9 46 (11.73%) Active Directory
10 45 (11.48%) Red Hat
11 39 (9.95%) Entra ID
12 37 (9.44%) Bash
12 37 (9.44%) Continuous Improvement
13 36 (9.18%) Firewall
14 33 (8.42%) Python
15 32 (8.16%) VMware
16 31 (7.91%) ERP
17 30 (7.65%) AWS
18 29 (7.40%) CI/CD
19 28 (7.14%) Hyper-V
20 27 (6.89%) Vulnerability Management
21 26 (6.63%) Analytics
21 26 (6.63%) Microsoft Exchange
22 24 (6.12%) Ansible
22 24 (6.12%) Process Improvement
22 24 (6.12%) Terraform
23 23 (5.87%) Configuration Management
23 23 (5.87%) Security Cleared
23 23 (5.87%) Windows Server
24 22 (5.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux

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 26 (6.63%) Microsoft Exchange
2 22 (5.61%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.02%) WordPress
4 3 (0.77%) Apache
4 3 (0.77%) CMS
5 2 (0.51%) nginx
5 2 (0.51%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.26%) Confluence
6 1 (0.26%) Moodle
6 1 (0.26%) Site Server
Applications
1 14 (3.57%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.79%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 19 (4.85%) iTrent
2 8 (2.04%) Primavera
3 3 (0.77%) Elite 3E
4 2 (0.51%) Shopify
5 1 (0.26%) HFM
5 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 58 (14.80%) Microsoft 365
2 47 (11.99%) Azure
3 39 (9.95%) Entra ID
4 30 (7.65%) AWS
5 20 (5.10%) Power Platform
6 18 (4.59%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 15 (3.83%) Power Automate
8 14 (3.57%) SaaS
9 12 (3.06%) PowerApps
10 11 (2.81%) GCP
11 10 (2.55%) Intacct
12 9 (2.30%) Azure Logic Apps
12 9 (2.30%) GitHub
12 9 (2.30%) Mimecast
13 8 (2.04%) Amazon EKS
13 8 (2.04%) GitHub Actions
14 7 (1.79%) Amazon ECR
14 7 (1.79%) Amazon ECS
14 7 (1.79%) Dynamics 365
15 4 (1.02%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 36 (9.18%) Firewall
2 21 (5.36%) DNS
3 15 (3.83%) LAN
4 14 (3.57%) TCP/IP
4 14 (3.57%) VPN
5 10 (2.55%) HTTP
6 9 (2.30%) Network Security
6 9 (2.30%) SAN
7 8 (2.04%) Wi-Fi
8 7 (1.79%) Internet
9 5 (1.28%) WAN
10 3 (0.77%) DHCP
10 3 (0.77%) NAS
10 3 (0.77%) SSH
10 3 (0.77%) VLAN
10 3 (0.77%) Wireless
11 2 (0.51%) Multicast
11 2 (0.51%) VoIP
12 1 (0.26%) DKIM
12 1 (0.26%) DMARC
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (3.06%) MySQL
2 8 (2.04%) Power BI
3 7 (1.79%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.77%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.77%) GIS
5 1 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.26%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.26%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 16 (4.08%) Git
2 12 (3.06%) GitLab
3 5 (1.28%) JIRA
General
1 82 (20.92%) Finance
2 60 (15.31%) Social Skills
3 25 (6.38%) Analytical Skills
4 22 (5.61%) Banking
5 19 (4.85%) Retail
6 18 (4.59%) Manufacturing
7 13 (3.32%) Billing
8 11 (2.81%) Law
9 9 (2.30%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 9 (2.30%) Legal
10 6 (1.53%) Organisational Skills
11 4 (1.02%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (0.77%) Games
12 3 (0.77%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.77%) Public Sector
13 1 (0.26%) Digital Health
13 1 (0.26%) Local Government
13 1 (0.26%) Police
13 1 (0.26%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 10 (2.55%) WebSockets
2 7 (1.79%) Middleware
3 3 (0.77%) LAMP
4 2 (0.51%) LEMP Stack
4 2 (0.51%) Node.js
5 1 (0.26%) Boost C++ Libraries
5 1 (0.26%) HTML
5 1 (0.26%) OpenID
5 1 (0.26%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 20 (5.10%) Data Structures
2 15 (3.83%) Clustering
3 13 (3.32%) Data Centre
4 9 (2.30%) Hybrid Cloud
4 9 (2.30%) Management Information System
5 8 (2.04%) Private Cloud
6 6 (1.53%) Onboarding
7 4 (1.02%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (0.77%) Replication
8 3 (0.77%) Security Posture
9 2 (0.51%) Enterprise Software
9 2 (0.51%) Operational Technology
10 1 (0.26%) Distributed Computing
10 1 (0.26%) Educational Technology
10 1 (0.26%) IoT
10 1 (0.26%) Legacy Applications
10 1 (0.26%) Life Science
10 1 (0.26%) Product Ownership
10 1 (0.26%) Video Conferencing
10 1 (0.26%) VLE
Operating Systems
1 89 (22.70%) Linux
2 54 (13.78%) Windows
3 23 (5.87%) Windows Server
4 22 (5.61%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 21 (5.36%) Mac OS
6 18 (4.59%) Android
6 18 (4.59%) Apple iOS
7 13 (3.32%) CentOS
8 11 (2.81%) Ubuntu
9 6 (1.53%) Debian
10 4 (1.02%) Rocky
11 2 (0.51%) Unix
11 2 (0.51%) Windows 10
12 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 62 (15.82%) DevOps
2 59 (15.05%) Problem-Solving
3 37 (9.44%) Continuous Improvement
4 31 (7.91%) ERP
5 29 (7.40%) CI/CD
6 27 (6.89%) Vulnerability Management
7 26 (6.63%) Analytics
8 24 (6.12%) Process Improvement
9 23 (5.87%) Configuration Management
10 21 (5.36%) Infrastructure as Code
11 16 (4.08%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 16 (4.08%) Release Management
12 15 (3.83%) Change Control
13 14 (3.57%) High Availability
13 14 (3.57%) Identity Management
13 14 (3.57%) Service Delivery
14 13 (3.32%) Disaster Recovery
15 12 (3.06%) Change Management
15 12 (3.06%) CRM
15 12 (3.06%) Mobile Device Management
Programming Languages
1 50 (12.76%) SQL
2 37 (9.44%) Bash
3 33 (8.42%) Python
4 15 (3.83%) PowerShell
5 8 (2.04%) Go
6 5 (1.28%) PHP
7 4 (1.02%) JavaScript
8 3 (0.77%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.51%) R
9 2 (0.51%) Ruby
9 2 (0.51%) VBA
10 1 (0.26%) C
10 1 (0.26%) C++
10 1 (0.26%) Perl
Qualifications
1 23 (5.87%) Security Cleared
2 15 (3.83%) DV Cleared
3 12 (3.06%) CIPD
4 11 (2.81%) Degree
4 11 (2.81%) RHCSA
4 11 (2.81%) SC Cleared
5 8 (2.04%) AWS Certification
6 2 (0.51%) Microsoft Certification
7 1 (0.26%) Azure Certification
7 1 (0.26%) CCNA
7 1 (0.26%) CCNP
7 1 (0.26%) Cisco Certification
7 1 (0.26%) Computer Science Degree
7 1 (0.26%) DBS Check
7 1 (0.26%) HND
7 1 (0.26%) ITIL Certification
7 1 (0.26%) Linux+ Certification
7 1 (0.26%) MCSE
7 1 (0.26%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 21 (5.36%) QA
2 14 (3.57%) Data Quality
3 13 (3.32%) GDPR
4 3 (0.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.26%) SOC 2
System Software
1 46 (11.73%) Active Directory
2 28 (7.14%) Hyper-V
3 21 (5.36%) VMware Infrastructure
4 14 (3.57%) Docker
5 4 (1.02%) iptables
6 3 (0.77%) Firmware
6 3 (0.77%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.26%) KVM
Systems Management
1 24 (6.12%) Ansible
1 24 (6.12%) Terraform
2 20 (5.10%) Kubernetes
2 20 (5.10%) Nagios
3 18 (4.59%) Grafana
3 18 (4.59%) Proxmox
4 17 (4.34%) Microsoft Intune
4 17 (4.34%) Nessus
5 12 (3.06%) Prometheus
6 7 (1.79%) Puppet
7 3 (0.77%) SCCM
7 3 (0.77%) systemd
8 2 (0.51%) Progress Chef
8 2 (0.51%) Red Hat Satellite
9 1 (0.26%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
9 1 (0.26%) Podman
9 1 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
9 1 (0.26%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 82 (20.92%) Microsoft
2 45 (11.48%) Red Hat
3 32 (8.16%) VMware
4 17 (4.34%) Salesforce
5 13 (3.32%) SolarWinds
6 11 (2.81%) Sage
7 10 (2.55%) Veeam
8 8 (2.04%) SonicWALL
8 8 (2.04%) Splunk
9 7 (1.79%) Rapid7
9 7 (1.79%) SAP
10 6 (1.53%) Cisco
10 6 (1.53%) ServiceNow
11 5 (1.28%) Meraki
12 4 (1.02%) Concur
12 4 (1.02%) Databricks
13 3 (0.77%) CrowdStrike
13 3 (0.77%) Dell
13 3 (0.77%) Google
13 3 (0.77%) Palo Alto