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 16 December 2025.

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

6 months to
16 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 469 373 443
Rank change year-on-year -96 +70 +117
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 188 389 271
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.32% 0.68% 0.55%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.36% 0.72% 0.58%
Number of salaries quoted 116 253 224
10th Percentile £28,000 £31,250 £29,010
25th Percentile £30,000 £41,250 £35,438
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £42,500
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +17.65% -12.37%
75th Percentile £56,563 £55,000 £55,000
90th Percentile £69,375 £76,250 £69,100
UK excluding London median annual salary £35,000 £50,000 £42,500
% change year-on-year -30.00% +17.65% +4.94%

All Permanent IT Job Vacancies
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 52,799 53,782 46,643
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 90.16% 93.79% 95.24%
Number of salaries quoted 32,457 29,075 36,182
10th Percentile £28,500 £32,750 £31,250
25th Percentile £36,250 £43,750 £42,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £55,000 £60,000 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year -8.33% - -
75th Percentile £75,000 £77,500 £80,000
90th Percentile £92,500 £97,500 £97,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £49,000 £52,500 £52,500
% change year-on-year -6.67% - -

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 16 December 2025.

Salary histogram for Systems Administrator in the UK

Systems Administrator
Top 14 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 16 December 2025. 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 -68 174 £45,000 -10.00% 75
UK excluding London -63 135 £35,000 -30.00% 69
Work from Home -1 54 £45,000 -10.00% 42
South West -14 49 £45,000 -10.00% 15
London -9 42 £62,500 -13.79% 15
Midlands +13 34 £30,750 -31.67% 5
South East +9 30 £46,250 +2.78% 13
East Midlands -11 20 £30,000 -36.84% 5
West Midlands +22 14 £31,500 -30.00%
East of England +8 11 £60,000 +50.00% 24
North of England -20 8 £30,000 -20.00% 9
North West +8 5 £45,000 -10.00% 6
Scotland -10 3 £26,000 -42.22% 1
Yorkshire -27 3 £28,000 -13.85% 2

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

For the 6 months to 16 December 2025, 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 65 (34.57%) Linux
2 47 (25.00%) Security Cleared
3 43 (22.87%) DV Cleared
4 41 (21.81%) Cisco
5 38 (20.21%) Problem-Solving
6 37 (19.68%) Windows
7 36 (19.15%) Cisco Certification
7 36 (19.15%) SC Cleared
8 33 (17.55%) High Availability
9 32 (17.02%) CCNP
9 32 (17.02%) Innovative Thinking
10 30 (15.96%) VMware
11 29 (15.43%) CCNA
11 29 (15.43%) Unix
12 25 (13.30%) Microsoft
13 23 (12.23%) Active Directory
14 17 (9.04%) Azure
14 17 (9.04%) ERP
14 17 (9.04%) VMware Infrastructure
15 16 (8.51%) AWS
15 16 (8.51%) Change Management
15 16 (8.51%) Microsoft 365
15 16 (8.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
16 15 (7.98%) Windows Server
17 14 (7.45%) Cybersecurity
17 14 (7.45%) SQL
18 12 (6.38%) Python
19 10 (5.32%) Mentoring
19 10 (5.32%) Microsoft Certification
19 10 (5.32%) Microsoft Exchange

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 10 (5.32%) Microsoft Exchange
2 4 (2.13%) SharePoint
3 1 (0.53%) Confluence
3 1 (0.53%) IIS
3 1 (0.53%) OpenStack
Applications
1 6 (3.19%) Microsoft Office
2 2 (1.06%) AutoCAD
2 2 (1.06%) Microsoft PowerPoint
2 2 (1.06%) Spreadsheet
3 1 (0.53%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 7 (3.72%) iTrent
2 4 (2.13%) Oracle EBS
2 4 (2.13%) Oracle EBS R12
3 2 (1.06%) Dynamics CRM
3 2 (1.06%) SAP Business One
3 2 (1.06%) Unit4 Business World
4 1 (0.53%) Dynamics NAV
4 1 (0.53%) Oracle 11i
4 1 (0.53%) Oracle ERP
4 1 (0.53%) Teamcenter
4 1 (0.53%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 17 (9.04%) Azure
2 16 (8.51%) AWS
2 16 (8.51%) Microsoft 365
3 7 (3.72%) Power Platform
4 6 (3.19%) Dynamics 365
4 6 (3.19%) Entra ID
5 5 (2.66%) Amazon EC2
5 5 (2.66%) Power Automate
5 5 (2.66%) SaaS
6 3 (1.60%) Mimecast
6 3 (1.60%) OCI
7 2 (1.06%) PowerApps
8 1 (0.53%) Canva
8 1 (0.53%) GCP
8 1 (0.53%) Slack
8 1 (0.53%) SuccessFactors
8 1 (0.53%) Veeva
Communications & Networking
1 7 (3.72%) DNS
1 7 (3.72%) Firewall
1 7 (3.72%) Network Security
2 4 (2.13%) Cisco IOS
2 4 (2.13%) LAN
2 4 (2.13%) TCP/IP
3 3 (1.60%) Cisco ISE
3 3 (1.60%) HTTP
3 3 (1.60%) VPN
4 2 (1.06%) Asterisk PBX
4 2 (1.06%) DHCP
4 2 (1.06%) Multicast
4 2 (1.06%) Wireless
5 1 (0.53%) Internet
5 1 (0.53%) Intranet
5 1 (0.53%) iSCSI
5 1 (0.53%) SAN
5 1 (0.53%) VLAN
5 1 (0.53%) WAN
5 1 (0.53%) Wi-Fi
Database & Business Intelligence
1 7 (3.72%) SQL Server
2 5 (2.66%) Power BI
3 3 (1.60%) SQL Server Integration Services
4 2 (1.06%) Crystal Reports
4 2 (1.06%) PostgreSQL
5 1 (0.53%) Oracle Database
5 1 (0.53%) Oracle Database 12c
5 1 (0.53%) Oracle Reports
5 1 (0.53%) RDBMS
5 1 (0.53%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 7 (3.72%) GitLab
2 5 (2.66%) JIRA
3 2 (1.06%) TeamCity
4 1 (0.53%) Bitbucket
4 1 (0.53%) Git
General
1 57 (30.32%) Finance
2 33 (17.55%) Social Skills
3 16 (8.51%) Analytical Skills
4 10 (5.32%) Organisational Skills
5 7 (3.72%) General Ledger
5 7 (3.72%) Public Sector
6 6 (3.19%) Banking
7 5 (2.66%) Law
8 4 (2.13%) Manufacturing
8 4 (2.13%) Retail
9 2 (1.06%) Automotive
9 2 (1.06%) Military
10 1 (0.53%) Back Office
10 1 (0.53%) Greek Language
10 1 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 1 (0.53%) Italian Language
10 1 (0.53%) Local Government
10 1 (0.53%) Mandarin Language
10 1 (0.53%) Spanish Language
10 1 (0.53%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 4 (2.13%) XML
2 2 (1.06%) .NET
2 2 (1.06%) JSON
2 2 (1.06%) XMPP
3 1 (0.53%) LDAP
3 1 (0.53%) Lightning Web Components
3 1 (0.53%) ODBC
3 1 (0.53%) Oracle Fusion
3 1 (0.53%) TAPI
3 1 (0.53%) WebSockets
Miscellaneous
1 32 (17.02%) e-Learning
2 9 (4.79%) FMCG
3 7 (3.72%) Driving Licence
4 6 (3.19%) Management Information System
5 5 (2.66%) Hybrid Cloud
5 5 (2.66%) Learning Management System
5 5 (2.66%) PKI
5 5 (2.66%) Virtual Team
6 3 (1.60%) Data Centre
6 3 (1.60%) iSeries
7 2 (1.06%) Data Protection Act
7 2 (1.06%) Self-Motivation
8 1 (0.53%) Enterprise Storage
8 1 (0.53%) Legacy Systems
8 1 (0.53%) Onboarding
8 1 (0.53%) Public Cloud
8 1 (0.53%) Replication
Operating Systems
1 65 (34.57%) Linux
2 37 (19.68%) Windows
3 29 (15.43%) Unix
4 16 (8.51%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 15 (7.98%) Windows Server
6 5 (2.66%) Windows 10
7 3 (1.60%) Debian
8 2 (1.06%) CentOS
8 2 (1.06%) Ubuntu
8 2 (1.06%) Windows Server 2012
9 1 (0.53%) AIX
9 1 (0.53%) Solaris
9 1 (0.53%) VMS
9 1 (0.53%) Windows Server 2016
Processes & Methodologies
1 38 (20.21%) Problem-Solving
2 33 (17.55%) High Availability
3 32 (17.02%) Innovative Thinking
4 17 (9.04%) ERP
5 16 (8.51%) Change Management
6 14 (7.45%) Cybersecurity
7 10 (5.32%) Mentoring
7 10 (5.32%) Migration
8 9 (4.79%) Continuous Improvement
8 9 (4.79%) Time Management
9 8 (4.26%) ITIL
10 7 (3.72%) Accounts Payable
10 7 (3.72%) Analytics
10 7 (3.72%) Containerisation
10 7 (3.72%) DevOps
10 7 (3.72%) Logistics
10 7 (3.72%) Process Improvement
10 7 (3.72%) Service Management
11 6 (3.19%) Incident Response
11 6 (3.19%) Resource Allocation
Programming Languages
1 14 (7.45%) SQL
2 12 (6.38%) Python
3 9 (4.79%) Bash
4 7 (3.72%) PowerShell
5 2 (1.06%) Perl
5 2 (1.06%) PHP
6 1 (0.53%) Shell Script
6 1 (0.53%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 47 (25.00%) Security Cleared
2 43 (22.87%) DV Cleared
3 36 (19.15%) Cisco Certification
3 36 (19.15%) SC Cleared
4 32 (17.02%) CCNP
5 29 (15.43%) CCNA
6 10 (5.32%) Microsoft Certification
7 9 (4.79%) Degree
8 8 (4.26%) RHCSA
9 7 (3.72%) MCSE
10 4 (2.13%) CIPD
10 4 (2.13%) MCSA
10 4 (2.13%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
11 3 (1.60%) Azure Certification
11 3 (1.60%) MCP
12 2 (1.06%) AAT
13 1 (0.53%) A+ Certification
13 1 (0.53%) AWS Certification
13 1 (0.53%) BPSS Clearance
13 1 (0.53%) DBS Check
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 8 (4.26%) QA
2 6 (3.19%) GDPR
3 1 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials
3 1 (0.53%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
3 1 (0.53%) Data Quality
3 1 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 1 (0.53%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 1 (0.53%) PCI DSS
System Software
1 23 (12.23%) Active Directory
2 17 (9.04%) VMware Infrastructure
3 4 (2.13%) Hyper-V
3 4 (2.13%) vSphere
4 2 (1.06%) Docker
5 1 (0.53%) KVM
5 1 (0.53%) Virtual Machines
5 1 (0.53%) Virtual Servers
5 1 (0.53%) VMware ESXi
Systems Management
1 8 (4.26%) Ansible
2 7 (3.72%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (1.60%) Nessus
3 3 (1.60%) Terraform
3 3 (1.60%) WSUS
4 2 (1.06%) Kubernetes
4 2 (1.06%) Puppet
5 1 (0.53%) Nagios
5 1 (0.53%) Podman
5 1 (0.53%) Progress Chef
5 1 (0.53%) Salt
5 1 (0.53%) SCCM
5 1 (0.53%) VxRail
Vendors
1 41 (21.81%) Cisco
2 30 (15.96%) VMware
3 25 (13.30%) Microsoft
4 10 (5.32%) Red Hat
5 8 (4.26%) Oracle
6 4 (2.13%) LogicMonitor
6 4 (2.13%) Okta
6 4 (2.13%) Workday
6 4 (2.13%) Zscaler
7 3 (1.60%) Bloomberg
7 3 (1.60%) IBM
7 3 (1.60%) Reuters
7 3 (1.60%) SAP
7 3 (1.60%) Sophos
8 2 (1.06%) Salesforce
9 1 (0.53%) Citrix
9 1 (0.53%) Civica
9 1 (0.53%) Kronos
9 1 (0.53%) Sage
9 1 (0.53%) Siemens