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 9 September 2026.

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

6 months to
9 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 378 462 378
Rank change year-on-year +84 -84 +51
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 526 221 524
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.47% 0.45% 0.67%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.50% 0.50% 0.70%
Number of salaries quoted 327 134 379
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,475 £30,000
25th Percentile £35,000 £30,000 £35,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £45,000 £45,000
75th Percentile £57,500 £57,188 £52,500
90th Percentile £70,000 £70,000 £65,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £43,500 £43,750 £45,000
% change year-on-year -0.57% -2.78% +11.54%

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 105,368 44,470 74,632
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.69% 89.68% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 72,550 26,183 45,719
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,000 £36,250 £40,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £57,500 £55,000 £55,000
Median % change year-on-year +4.55% - -8.33%
75th Percentile £77,424 £75,000 £73,750
90th Percentile £97,500 £95,000 £92,500
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 9 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 9 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 +70 456 £45,000 - 80
UK excluding London +60 407 £43,500 -0.57% 62
London +9 104 £56,000 +1.82% 24
Work from Home -37 87 £55,000 +29.41% 27
South East +17 81 £45,000 - 26
South West -70 76 £35,000 -22.22% 13
Midlands +3 71 £45,000 +26.76% 5
North of England -9 71 £45,000 +16.88% 13
Scotland - 51 £43,500 - 3
East of England -6 49 £40,000 -11.11% 2
Yorkshire -15 37 £45,000 -14.29% 8
East Midlands -11 36 £41,750 +39.17% 3
West Midlands -4 35 £55,000 +29.41% 2
North West -1 27 £40,000 +3.90% 4
Wales -65 8 £50,000 +5.26%
North East - 7 £47,500 - 3

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

For the 6 months to 9 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.

1 105 (19.96%) Microsoft
2 99 (18.82%) Linux
3 77 (14.64%) Windows
4 71 (13.50%) Active Directory
5 67 (12.74%) Microsoft 365
6 65 (12.36%) Azure
7 61 (11.60%) DevOps
8 59 (11.22%) Entra ID
9 49 (9.32%) Problem-Solving
10 48 (9.13%) Red Hat
11 45 (8.56%) SQL
12 43 (8.17%) Windows Server
13 42 (7.98%) Continuous Improvement
14 41 (7.79%) Bash
14 41 (7.79%) Firewall
15 40 (7.60%) AWS
15 40 (7.60%) CI/CD
16 39 (7.41%) Ansible
16 39 (7.41%) Microsoft Exchange
17 37 (7.03%) Python
17 37 (7.03%) SaaS
18 36 (6.84%) Security Cleared
19 35 (6.65%) Hyper-V
20 34 (6.46%) DNS
21 33 (6.27%) SharePoint
21 33 (6.27%) Vulnerability Management
22 31 (5.89%) Kubernetes
23 28 (5.32%) ERP
23 28 (5.32%) Terraform
24 27 (5.13%) 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 39 (7.41%) Microsoft Exchange
2 33 (6.27%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.52%) OpenStack
4 4 (0.76%) IIS
5 2 (0.38%) nginx
6 1 (0.19%) Apache
6 1 (0.19%) Confluence
6 1 (0.19%) JBoss
6 1 (0.19%) Moodle
6 1 (0.19%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.19%) WordPress
Applications
1 18 (3.42%) Microsoft Excel
2 12 (2.28%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 22 (4.18%) Primavera
2 2 (0.38%) Dynamics NAV
2 2 (0.38%) Elite 3E
2 2 (0.38%) iTrent
3 1 (0.19%) HFM
3 1 (0.19%) Shopify
Cloud Services
1 67 (12.74%) Microsoft 365
2 65 (12.36%) Azure
3 59 (11.22%) Entra ID
4 40 (7.60%) AWS
5 37 (7.03%) SaaS
6 25 (4.75%) OpenShift
7 23 (4.37%) Power Platform
8 21 (3.99%) Amazon CloudWatch
9 20 (3.80%) Power Automate
10 13 (2.47%) GCP
10 13 (2.47%) Mimecast
10 13 (2.47%) PaaS
10 13 (2.47%) PowerApps
11 11 (2.09%) Amazon ECR
11 11 (2.09%) Amazon ECS
11 11 (2.09%) Intacct
12 9 (1.71%) Azure Logic Apps
12 9 (1.71%) Dynamics 365
12 9 (1.71%) GitHub
13 7 (1.33%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 41 (7.79%) Firewall
2 34 (6.46%) DNS
3 22 (4.18%) VPN
4 20 (3.80%) TCP/IP
5 18 (3.42%) DHCP
6 14 (2.66%) LAN
7 9 (1.71%) SAN
7 9 (1.71%) WAN
8 8 (1.52%) Wi-Fi
9 6 (1.14%) Network Security
10 5 (0.95%) HTTP
10 5 (0.95%) Internet
10 5 (0.95%) VLAN
11 4 (0.76%) VSAN
12 3 (0.57%) SSH
12 3 (0.57%) Wireless
13 1 (0.19%) FTP
13 1 (0.19%) SSL
13 1 (0.19%) VoIP
13 1 (0.19%) WireGuard
Database & Business Intelligence
1 15 (2.85%) MySQL
2 11 (2.09%) Elasticsearch
3 9 (1.71%) Power BI
4 3 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.57%) GIS
5 2 (0.38%) Big Data
6 1 (0.19%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 26 (4.94%) Git
2 16 (3.04%) GitLab
3 8 (1.52%) 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 88 (16.73%) Finance
2 75 (14.26%) Social Skills
3 35 (6.65%) Analytical Skills
4 26 (4.94%) Manufacturing
5 25 (4.75%) Retail
6 20 (3.80%) Banking
7 16 (3.04%) Billing
8 11 (2.09%) Legal
9 10 (1.90%) Law
10 9 (1.71%) Organisational Skills
11 8 (1.52%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 5 (0.95%) Automotive
12 5 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
12 5 (0.95%) Police
13 4 (0.76%) Public Sector
14 3 (0.57%) Documentation Skills
14 3 (0.57%) Games
15 2 (0.38%) German Language
15 2 (0.38%) Marketing
15 2 (0.38%) Polish Language
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 28 (5.32%) Terraform
2 5 (0.95%) Middleware
2 5 (0.95%) WebSockets
3 3 (0.57%) 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%) LEMP Stack
5 1 (0.19%) Node.js
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 24 (4.56%) Data Structures
2 19 (3.61%) Clustering
3 14 (2.66%) Social Media
4 11 (2.09%) Onboarding
4 11 (2.09%) Operational Technology
5 9 (1.71%) Data Centre
5 9 (1.71%) Management Information System
6 8 (1.52%) Private Cloud
7 7 (1.33%) Hybrid Cloud
8 6 (1.14%) Self-Motivation
9 4 (0.76%) PMI
10 3 (0.57%) Embedded Systems
10 3 (0.57%) Housing Association
10 3 (0.57%) IoT
10 3 (0.57%) Replication
10 3 (0.57%) Security Posture
11 2 (0.38%) Educational Technology
11 2 (0.38%) Enterprise Software
11 2 (0.38%) Learning Management System
12 1 (0.19%) VLE
Operating Systems
1 99 (18.82%) Linux
2 77 (14.64%) Windows
3 43 (8.17%) Windows Server
4 27 (5.13%) Mac OS
5 24 (4.56%) Apple iOS
6 21 (3.99%) Android
7 20 (3.80%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 17 (3.23%) CentOS
9 12 (2.28%) Ubuntu
10 10 (1.90%) Unix
11 8 (1.52%) Debian
12 6 (1.14%) Rocky
12 6 (1.14%) Windows 10
13 4 (0.76%) CoreOS
13 4 (0.76%) Windows Server 2016
13 4 (0.76%) Windows Server 2019
14 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (11.60%) DevOps
2 49 (9.32%) Problem-Solving
3 42 (7.98%) Continuous Improvement
4 40 (7.60%) CI/CD
5 33 (6.27%) Vulnerability Management
6 28 (5.32%) ERP
7 26 (4.94%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 21 (3.99%) Configuration Management
9 19 (3.61%) Analytics
9 19 (3.61%) Change Management
9 19 (3.61%) Identity Management
9 19 (3.61%) Release Management
10 18 (3.42%) Change Control
10 18 (3.42%) Customer Experience
10 18 (3.42%) Time Management
11 17 (3.23%) Infrastructure as Code
11 17 (3.23%) ITIL
12 16 (3.04%) Capacity Planning
12 16 (3.04%) CRM
12 16 (3.04%) High Availability
Programming Languages
1 45 (8.56%) SQL
2 41 (7.79%) Bash
3 37 (7.03%) Python
4 26 (4.94%) PowerShell
5 7 (1.33%) R
6 6 (1.14%) Go
7 5 (0.95%) JavaScript
8 3 (0.57%) C
8 3 (0.57%) C++
8 3 (0.57%) PHP
8 3 (0.57%) Ruby
8 3 (0.57%) Shell Script
9 2 (0.38%) VBA
Qualifications
1 36 (6.84%) Security Cleared
2 27 (5.13%) DV Cleared
3 26 (4.94%) SC Cleared
4 15 (2.85%) Degree
5 7 (1.33%) AWS Certification
6 5 (0.95%) DBS Check
6 5 (0.95%) RHCSA
7 4 (0.76%) CIPD
7 4 (0.76%) PMI Certification
8 3 (0.57%) HND
9 2 (0.38%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 26 (4.94%) QA
2 15 (2.85%) Data Quality
3 8 (1.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 3 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
5 2 (0.38%) GDPR
6 1 (0.19%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 71 (13.50%) Active Directory
2 35 (6.65%) Hyper-V
3 24 (4.56%) Docker
4 12 (2.28%) VMware Infrastructure
5 7 (1.33%) Ceph
5 7 (1.33%) Virtual Machines
6 5 (0.95%) iptables
7 2 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
7 2 (0.38%) vSphere
8 1 (0.19%) Firmware
8 1 (0.19%) NFS
8 1 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
8 1 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
8 1 (0.19%) Xen
Systems Management
1 39 (7.41%) Ansible
2 31 (5.89%) Kubernetes
3 22 (4.18%) Grafana
4 20 (3.80%) Microsoft Intune
4 20 (3.80%) Nessus
5 18 (3.42%) Nagios
5 18 (3.42%) Prometheus
6 14 (2.66%) Proxmox
7 8 (1.52%) Podman
8 7 (1.33%) Argo
8 7 (1.33%) Check_MK
8 7 (1.33%) Istio
9 4 (0.76%) McAfee ePO
9 4 (0.76%) Puppet
9 4 (0.76%) SCCM
9 4 (0.76%) SCVMM
10 3 (0.57%) Failover Clustering
10 3 (0.57%) Microsoft Clustering
10 3 (0.57%) systemd
11 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 105 (19.96%) Microsoft
2 48 (9.13%) Red Hat
3 22 (4.18%) VMware
4 21 (3.99%) Salesforce
5 12 (2.28%) Sage
5 12 (2.28%) Splunk
6 11 (2.09%) Rapid7
7 9 (1.71%) SAP
8 8 (1.52%) CrowdStrike
9 7 (1.33%) Dell
9 7 (1.33%) Veeam
10 6 (1.14%) SolarWinds
10 6 (1.14%) SonicWALL
11 5 (0.95%) Concur
11 5 (0.95%) Databricks
11 5 (0.95%) Google
12 4 (0.76%) McAfee
12 4 (0.76%) Meraki
13 3 (0.57%) Cisco
14 2 (0.38%) Sophos