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 22 September 2026.

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

6 months to
22 Sep 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 375 473 369
Rank change year-on-year +98 -104 +62
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 528 209 517
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.45% 0.43% 0.68%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.49% 0.48% 0.71%
Number of salaries quoted 313 118 363
10th Percentile £30,000 £26,775 £31,000
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 £53,125
90th Percentile £70,000 £70,750 £69,750
UK excluding London median annual salary £43,500 £45,000 £45,000
% change year-on-year -3.33% - +11.33%

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 108,269 43,856 72,591
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.18% 89.61% 95.29%
Number of salaries quoted 74,176 25,746 43,293
10th Percentile £30,000 £28,250 £30,000
25th Percentile £40,500 £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 £74,258 £74,100
90th Percentile £100,000 £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 22 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 22 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 +72 456 £45,000 - 105
UK excluding London +55 413 £43,500 -3.33% 73
London -4 100 £56,000 +1.82% 39
South East +12 86 £45,000 - 27
Work from Home -39 85 £55,000 +29.41% 34
South West -72 80 £35,000 -22.22% 9
North of England -9 73 £45,000 +12.50% 16
Midlands +4 67 £45,000 +26.76% 14
Scotland - 53 £43,500 - 3
East of England +1 46 £40,000 -11.11% 2
Yorkshire -11 38 £45,000 -5.26% 9
West Midlands -18 35 £55,000 +29.41% 11
East Midlands -10 32 £41,000 +36.67% 3
North West -21 26 £40,000 +48.15% 6
North East - 9 £47,500 - 1
Wales -67 8 £50,000 -

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

For the 6 months to 22 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.

1 108 (20.45%) Microsoft
2 96 (18.18%) Linux
3 78 (14.77%) Windows
4 73 (13.83%) Active Directory
5 65 (12.31%) Microsoft 365
6 61 (11.55%) Azure
6 61 (11.55%) Entra ID
7 59 (11.17%) DevOps
8 55 (10.42%) Problem-Solving
9 46 (8.71%) Firewall
10 45 (8.52%) Windows Server
11 44 (8.33%) Red Hat
12 43 (8.14%) Continuous Improvement
13 42 (7.95%) SQL
14 40 (7.58%) Ansible
14 40 (7.58%) AWS
14 40 (7.58%) Bash
14 40 (7.58%) CI/CD
15 39 (7.39%) Microsoft Exchange
16 37 (7.01%) SaaS
16 37 (7.01%) Security Cleared
17 36 (6.82%) Python
18 34 (6.44%) DNS
18 34 (6.44%) Hyper-V
19 33 (6.25%) Vulnerability Management
20 32 (6.06%) SharePoint
21 31 (5.87%) Kubernetes
22 28 (5.30%) Terraform
23 27 (5.11%) Mac OS
23 27 (5.11%) PowerShell

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 (7.39%) Microsoft Exchange
2 32 (6.06%) SharePoint
3 8 (1.52%) OpenStack
4 4 (0.76%) 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 23 (4.36%) Microsoft Excel
2 11 (2.08%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 25 (4.73%) Primavera
2 2 (0.38%) Dynamics NAV
2 2 (0.38%) 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 65 (12.31%) Microsoft 365
2 61 (11.55%) Azure
2 61 (11.55%) Entra ID
3 40 (7.58%) AWS
4 37 (7.01%) SaaS
5 25 (4.73%) OpenShift
6 24 (4.55%) Power Platform
7 22 (4.17%) Amazon CloudWatch
8 21 (3.98%) Power Automate
9 13 (2.46%) Mimecast
9 13 (2.46%) PaaS
9 13 (2.46%) PowerApps
10 12 (2.27%) GitHub
11 10 (1.89%) GCP
11 10 (1.89%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (1.70%) Amazon ECR
12 9 (1.70%) Amazon ECS
12 9 (1.70%) Azure Logic Apps
12 9 (1.70%) Dynamics 365
12 9 (1.70%) Intacct
Communications & Networking
1 46 (8.71%) Firewall
2 34 (6.44%) DNS
3 27 (5.11%) VPN
4 21 (3.98%) TCP/IP
5 19 (3.60%) DHCP
6 13 (2.46%) LAN
7 8 (1.52%) SAN
7 8 (1.52%) WAN
7 8 (1.52%) Wi-Fi
8 7 (1.33%) Network Security
9 5 (0.95%) HTTP
9 5 (0.95%) Internet
10 4 (0.76%) VLAN
10 4 (0.76%) VSAN
11 3 (0.57%) SSH
11 3 (0.57%) Wireless
12 2 (0.38%) Fibre Channel
13 1 (0.19%) DKIM
13 1 (0.19%) DMARC
13 1 (0.19%) iSCSI
Database & Business Intelligence
1 12 (2.27%) MySQL
2 10 (1.89%) Power BI
3 9 (1.70%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.57%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.57%) GIS
5 2 (0.38%) Big Data
6 1 (0.19%) Oracle Reports
6 1 (0.19%) Relational Database
6 1 (0.19%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 23 (4.36%) Git
2 14 (2.65%) 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 79 (14.96%) Finance
2 75 (14.20%) Social Skills
3 36 (6.82%) Analytical Skills
4 28 (5.30%) Retail
5 27 (5.11%) Manufacturing
6 17 (3.22%) Banking
7 14 (2.65%) Billing
8 13 (2.46%) Organisational Skills
9 11 (2.08%) Legal
10 9 (1.70%) Law
11 7 (1.33%) Automotive
12 6 (1.14%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 6 (1.14%) Public Sector
13 5 (0.95%) Pharmaceutical
13 5 (0.95%) Police
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 (5.30%) 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%) 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 (4.36%) Data Structures
2 17 (3.22%) Clustering
3 14 (2.65%) Social Media
4 13 (2.46%) Onboarding
4 13 (2.46%) Operational Technology
5 11 (2.08%) Private Cloud
6 10 (1.89%) Hybrid Cloud
6 10 (1.89%) Management Information System
7 8 (1.52%) Data Centre
8 7 (1.33%) Self-Motivation
9 5 (0.95%) Housing Association
10 4 (0.76%) Learning Management System
10 4 (0.76%) PMI
11 3 (0.57%) Embedded Systems
11 3 (0.57%) IoT
11 3 (0.57%) Replication
11 3 (0.57%) Security Posture
12 2 (0.38%) Educational Technology
12 2 (0.38%) Enterprise Software
13 1 (0.19%) VLE
Operating Systems
1 96 (18.18%) Linux
2 78 (14.77%) Windows
3 45 (8.52%) Windows Server
4 27 (5.11%) Mac OS
5 24 (4.55%) Apple iOS
6 21 (3.98%) Android
7 20 (3.79%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 14 (2.65%) CentOS
9 12 (2.27%) Ubuntu
10 10 (1.89%) Unix
11 8 (1.52%) Debian
12 6 (1.14%) Windows 10
13 5 (0.95%) Rocky
14 4 (0.76%) CoreOS
14 4 (0.76%) Windows Server 2016
14 4 (0.76%) Windows Server 2019
15 1 (0.19%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 59 (11.17%) DevOps
2 55 (10.42%) Problem-Solving
3 43 (8.14%) Continuous Improvement
4 40 (7.58%) CI/CD
5 33 (6.25%) Vulnerability Management
6 26 (4.92%) ERP
6 26 (4.92%) Infrastructure Engineering
7 20 (3.79%) Analytics
7 20 (3.79%) Customer Experience
7 20 (3.79%) ITIL
7 20 (3.79%) Release Management
7 20 (3.79%) Time Management
8 19 (3.60%) Change Management
9 18 (3.41%) Configuration Management
9 18 (3.41%) Identity Management
10 17 (3.22%) AI
10 17 (3.22%) Change Control
10 17 (3.22%) Infrastructure as Code
11 16 (3.03%) High Availability
12 15 (2.84%) Process Improvement
Programming Languages
1 42 (7.95%) SQL
2 40 (7.58%) Bash
3 36 (6.82%) Python
4 27 (5.11%) PowerShell
5 8 (1.52%) Go
6 7 (1.33%) R
7 4 (0.76%) 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 1 (0.19%) VBA
Qualifications
1 37 (7.01%) Security Cleared
2 26 (4.92%) DV Cleared
2 26 (4.92%) SC Cleared
3 15 (2.84%) Degree
4 9 (1.70%) AWS Certification
5 7 (1.33%) DBS Check
6 5 (0.95%) CIPD
6 5 (0.95%) RHCSA
7 4 (0.76%) PMI Certification
8 3 (0.57%) HND
8 3 (0.57%) 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 (4.36%) QA
2 17 (3.22%) Data Quality
3 9 (1.70%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 4 (0.76%) GDPR
5 3 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
6 1 (0.19%) Accessibility
6 1 (0.19%) ISO/IEC 20000
6 1 (0.19%) SOC 2
System Software
1 73 (13.83%) Active Directory
2 34 (6.44%) Hyper-V
3 22 (4.17%) Docker
4 14 (2.65%) VMware Infrastructure
5 8 (1.52%) Virtual Machines
6 7 (1.33%) Ceph
7 5 (0.95%) iptables
8 4 (0.76%) vSphere
9 3 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
10 2 (0.38%) Firmware
11 1 (0.19%) NFS
11 1 (0.19%) Slurm Workload Manager
11 1 (0.19%) Virtual Desktop
11 1 (0.19%) Xen
11 1 (0.19%) XenApp
11 1 (0.19%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 40 (7.58%) Ansible
2 31 (5.87%) Kubernetes
3 23 (4.36%) Grafana
4 21 (3.98%) Microsoft Intune
4 21 (3.98%) Prometheus
5 20 (3.79%) Nessus
6 15 (2.84%) Nagios
7 14 (2.65%) Proxmox
8 8 (1.52%) Podman
9 7 (1.33%) Argo
9 7 (1.33%) Check_MK
9 7 (1.33%) Istio
10 4 (0.76%) McAfee ePO
10 4 (0.76%) Puppet
10 4 (0.76%) SCCM
10 4 (0.76%) SCVMM
11 3 (0.57%) Failover Clustering
11 3 (0.57%) Microsoft Clustering
11 3 (0.57%) systemd
12 2 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
Vendors
1 108 (20.45%) Microsoft
2 44 (8.33%) Red Hat
3 25 (4.73%) VMware
4 19 (3.60%) Salesforce
5 10 (1.89%) Sage
5 10 (1.89%) Splunk
6 9 (1.70%) Rapid7
6 9 (1.70%) SAP
7 8 (1.52%) CrowdStrike
7 8 (1.52%) Dell
8 6 (1.14%) SonicWALL
8 6 (1.14%) Veeam
9 5 (0.95%) Concur
9 5 (0.95%) Databricks
9 5 (0.95%) Google
9 5 (0.95%) SolarWinds
10 4 (0.76%) Cisco
10 4 (0.76%) McAfee
10 4 (0.76%) Meraki
11 3 (0.57%) NetApp