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 23 June 2026.

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

6 months to
23 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 385 477 390
Rank change year-on-year +92 -87 +126
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 417 198 679
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.44% 0.44% 0.62%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.47% 0.49% 0.66%
Number of salaries quoted 285 140 556
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £36,011 £32,082 £33,966
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £48,000 £41,500
Median % change year-on-year -6.25% +15.66% -12.63%
75th Percentile £61,250 £57,500 £52,500
90th Percentile £70,000 £71,375 £64,375
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 89,062 40,399 103,075
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 94.02% 89.44% 94.75%
Number of salaries quoted 61,111 23,040 74,444
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,750 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £38,750 £38,567
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 £98,474 £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 23 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 23 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 +102 376 £45,000 -8.16% 70
UK excluding London +52 298 £40,000 -15.79% 63
London +39 103 £60,000 +9.09% 11
Work from Home +36 84 £55,000 +15.79% 22
Midlands +24 72 £37,720 +6.25% 8
North of England +1 55 £45,000 +16.88% 12
East of England +17 52 £40,000 -30.43% 7
East Midlands +21 51 £32,500 -8.45% 4
South East -12 47 £57,500 +17.35% 17
South West -71 43 £39,250 -21.50% 17
Yorkshire -11 31 £45,000 -14.29% 8
Scotland +41 29 - - 2
West Midlands -6 21 £45,000 +16.88% 4
North West +14 19 £40,000 +18.64% 4
North East - 5 £47,500 - 1

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

For the 6 months to 23 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 (21.34%) Linux
2 88 (21.10%) Microsoft
3 64 (15.35%) Microsoft 365
4 61 (14.63%) DevOps
5 59 (14.15%) Problem-Solving
6 56 (13.43%) Windows
7 51 (12.23%) Active Directory
7 51 (12.23%) Azure
7 51 (12.23%) SQL
8 44 (10.55%) Entra ID
8 44 (10.55%) Red Hat
9 40 (9.59%) Firewall
10 38 (9.11%) Continuous Improvement
11 37 (8.87%) Bash
12 34 (8.15%) ERP
12 34 (8.15%) Python
13 31 (7.43%) AWS
13 31 (7.43%) Microsoft Exchange
13 31 (7.43%) VMware
14 30 (7.19%) Hyper-V
15 29 (6.95%) CI/CD
16 27 (6.47%) SharePoint
16 27 (6.47%) Vulnerability Management
17 26 (6.24%) Security Cleared
18 25 (6.00%) Analytics
18 25 (6.00%) Ansible
18 25 (6.00%) Windows Server
19 23 (5.52%) Terraform
20 22 (5.28%) Configuration Management
20 22 (5.28%) DNS

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 31 (7.43%) Microsoft Exchange
2 27 (6.47%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.96%) WordPress
4 3 (0.72%) Apache
4 3 (0.72%) CMS
5 2 (0.48%) nginx
5 2 (0.48%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.24%) Confluence
6 1 (0.24%) Moodle
6 1 (0.24%) Site Server
Applications
1 14 (3.36%) Microsoft Excel
2 8 (1.92%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 17 (4.08%) iTrent
2 10 (2.40%) Primavera
3 3 (0.72%) Elite 3E
4 2 (0.48%) Shopify
5 1 (0.24%) HFM
5 1 (0.24%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 64 (15.35%) Microsoft 365
2 51 (12.23%) Azure
3 44 (10.55%) Entra ID
4 31 (7.43%) AWS
5 22 (5.28%) Power Platform
6 19 (4.56%) SaaS
7 18 (4.32%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 17 (4.08%) Power Automate
9 13 (3.12%) PowerApps
10 12 (2.88%) Mimecast
11 11 (2.64%) GCP
11 11 (2.64%) Intacct
12 10 (2.40%) GitHub
13 9 (2.16%) Azure Logic Apps
14 8 (1.92%) Amazon EKS
14 8 (1.92%) Dynamics 365
14 8 (1.92%) GitHub Actions
15 7 (1.68%) Amazon ECR
15 7 (1.68%) Amazon ECS
16 4 (0.96%) Microsoft Purview
Communications & Networking
1 40 (9.59%) Firewall
2 22 (5.28%) DNS
3 16 (3.84%) VPN
4 14 (3.36%) LAN
4 14 (3.36%) TCP/IP
5 10 (2.40%) SAN
6 9 (2.16%) HTTP
6 9 (2.16%) Network Security
6 9 (2.16%) Wi-Fi
7 7 (1.68%) Internet
8 5 (1.20%) DHCP
8 5 (1.20%) WAN
9 4 (0.96%) Wireless
10 3 (0.72%) NAS
10 3 (0.72%) SSH
10 3 (0.72%) VLAN
11 2 (0.48%) Multicast
11 2 (0.48%) VoIP
12 1 (0.24%) iSCSI
12 1 (0.24%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (2.88%) MySQL
2 9 (2.16%) Power BI
3 7 (1.68%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.72%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.72%) GIS
5 1 (0.24%) Data Warehouse
5 1 (0.24%) Relational Database
5 1 (0.24%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 16 (3.84%) Git
2 12 (2.88%) GitLab
3 7 (1.68%) JIRA
General
1 87 (20.86%) Finance
2 64 (15.35%) Social Skills
3 24 (5.76%) Analytical Skills
4 22 (5.28%) Manufacturing
5 21 (5.04%) Banking
5 21 (5.04%) Retail
6 16 (3.84%) Billing
7 11 (2.64%) Law
7 11 (2.64%) Legal
8 9 (2.16%) Inclusion and Diversity
9 7 (1.68%) Organisational Skills
10 5 (1.20%) Documentation Skills
11 4 (0.96%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.72%) Games
12 3 (0.72%) Public Sector
13 1 (0.24%) Digital Health
13 1 (0.24%) Electronics
13 1 (0.24%) Local Government
13 1 (0.24%) Police
13 1 (0.24%) Presentation Skills
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 9 (2.16%) Middleware
1 9 (2.16%) WebSockets
2 2 (0.48%) Boost C++ Libraries
2 2 (0.48%) LEMP Stack
2 2 (0.48%) Node.js
3 1 (0.24%) HTML
3 1 (0.24%) LAMP
3 1 (0.24%) OpenID
3 1 (0.24%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 23 (5.52%) Data Structures
2 17 (4.08%) Clustering
3 12 (2.88%) Data Centre
4 9 (2.16%) Hybrid Cloud
5 8 (1.92%) Management Information System
5 8 (1.92%) Onboarding
5 8 (1.92%) Private Cloud
6 5 (1.20%) Self-Motivation
7 3 (0.72%) Replication
7 3 (0.72%) Security Posture
8 2 (0.48%) Educational Technology
8 2 (0.48%) Embedded Systems
8 2 (0.48%) Enterprise Software
8 2 (0.48%) IoT
8 2 (0.48%) Operational Technology
9 1 (0.24%) Cloud Native
9 1 (0.24%) Distributed Computing
9 1 (0.24%) Driving Licence
9 1 (0.24%) Legacy Applications
9 1 (0.24%) Product Ownership
Operating Systems
1 89 (21.34%) Linux
2 56 (13.43%) Windows
3 25 (6.00%) Windows Server
4 21 (5.04%) Mac OS
5 20 (4.80%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 18 (4.32%) Android
6 18 (4.32%) Apple iOS
7 12 (2.88%) CentOS
7 12 (2.88%) Ubuntu
8 7 (1.68%) Debian
9 4 (0.96%) Rocky
9 4 (0.96%) Unix
10 3 (0.72%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.24%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 61 (14.63%) DevOps
2 59 (14.15%) Problem-Solving
3 38 (9.11%) Continuous Improvement
4 34 (8.15%) ERP
5 29 (6.95%) CI/CD
6 27 (6.47%) Vulnerability Management
7 25 (6.00%) Analytics
8 22 (5.28%) Configuration Management
8 22 (5.28%) Process Improvement
9 21 (5.04%) Infrastructure as Code
10 19 (4.56%) Infrastructure Engineering
11 17 (4.08%) Release Management
12 16 (3.84%) Change Control
12 16 (3.84%) Change Management
12 16 (3.84%) Identity Management
13 14 (3.36%) CRM
13 14 (3.36%) High Availability
13 14 (3.36%) Service Delivery
14 13 (3.12%) Disaster Recovery
14 13 (3.12%) Patch Management
Programming Languages
1 51 (12.23%) SQL
2 37 (8.87%) Bash
3 34 (8.15%) Python
4 18 (4.32%) PowerShell
5 8 (1.92%) Go
6 6 (1.44%) PHP
7 5 (1.20%) JavaScript
8 4 (0.96%) R
9 3 (0.72%) Ruby
9 3 (0.72%) Shell Script
10 2 (0.48%) C
10 2 (0.48%) C++
10 2 (0.48%) VBA
Qualifications
1 26 (6.24%) Security Cleared
2 18 (4.32%) DV Cleared
3 15 (3.60%) SC Cleared
4 12 (2.88%) Degree
5 10 (2.40%) CIPD
5 10 (2.40%) RHCSA
6 8 (1.92%) AWS Certification
7 2 (0.48%) HND
7 2 (0.48%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.24%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.24%) CCNA
8 1 (0.24%) CCNP
8 1 (0.24%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.24%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.24%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (0.24%) Linux+ Certification
8 1 (0.24%) MCSE
8 1 (0.24%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (5.28%) QA
2 15 (3.60%) Data Quality
3 11 (2.64%) GDPR
4 5 (1.20%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 2 (0.48%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.24%) SOC 2
System Software
1 51 (12.23%) Active Directory
2 30 (7.19%) Hyper-V
3 20 (4.80%) VMware Infrastructure
4 15 (3.60%) Docker
5 5 (1.20%) iptables
6 3 (0.72%) Firmware
7 2 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
8 1 (0.24%) KVM
Systems Management
1 25 (6.00%) Ansible
2 23 (5.52%) Terraform
3 21 (5.04%) Kubernetes
3 21 (5.04%) Microsoft Intune
4 19 (4.56%) Nagios
5 18 (4.32%) Grafana
5 18 (4.32%) Proxmox
6 17 (4.08%) Nessus
7 12 (2.88%) Prometheus
8 8 (1.92%) Puppet
9 3 (0.72%) SCCM
9 3 (0.72%) systemd
10 2 (0.48%) Progress Chef
10 2 (0.48%) Red Hat Satellite
11 1 (0.24%) Failover Clustering
11 1 (0.24%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.24%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.24%) Microsoft Clustering
11 1 (0.24%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.24%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 88 (21.10%) Microsoft
2 44 (10.55%) Red Hat
3 31 (7.43%) VMware
4 20 (4.80%) Salesforce
5 12 (2.88%) Sage
5 12 (2.88%) SolarWinds
6 11 (2.64%) Veeam
7 8 (1.92%) SAP
7 8 (1.92%) SonicWALL
7 8 (1.92%) Splunk
8 7 (1.68%) Rapid7
9 6 (1.44%) Cisco
9 6 (1.44%) ServiceNow
10 5 (1.20%) Concur
10 5 (1.20%) CrowdStrike
10 5 (1.20%) Databricks
10 5 (1.20%) Meraki
11 4 (0.96%) Google
12 3 (0.72%) Dell
12 3 (0.72%) Palo Alto