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 11 June 2026.

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

6 months to
11 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 392 489 401
Rank change year-on-year +97 -88 +110
Permanent jobs requiring a Systems Administrator 385 197 640
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.42% 0.45% 0.60%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.44% 0.50% 0.63%
Number of salaries quoted 270 140 525
10th Percentile £30,000 £27,000 £28,000
25th Percentile £35,750 £34,000 £33,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £48,750 £41,500
Median % change year-on-year -7.69% +17.47% -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 86,830 39,579 100,813
% of permanent jobs with a recognized job title 93.99% 89.52% 94.70%
Number of salaries quoted 59,401 22,377 72,921
10th Percentile £30,000 £29,000 £28,500
25th Percentile £40,000 £39,878 £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 11 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 11 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 +73 350 £45,000 -10.00% 76
UK excluding London +55 267 £40,000 -15.79% 72
London +49 102 £57,500 +4.55% 13
Work from Home +27 77 £55,000 +15.79% 35
Midlands +40 67 £35,000 -1.41% 13
North of England -1 54 £42,500 +10.39% 10
East of England +17 50 £40,000 -30.43% 7
East Midlands +23 48 £32,500 -8.45% 5
South East -14 39 £62,500 +27.55% 19
South West -77 33 £38,500 -23.00% 18
Yorkshire -21 31 £45,000 -14.29% 3
Scotland +36 24 - - 4
North West +12 19 £40,000 +3.90% 5
West Midlands -7 19 £45,000 +16.88% 8
North East - 4 £47,500 - 2

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

For the 6 months to 11 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 88 (22.86%) Linux
2 79 (20.52%) Microsoft
3 60 (15.58%) DevOps
4 58 (15.06%) Problem-Solving
5 55 (14.29%) Microsoft 365
6 54 (14.03%) Windows
7 50 (12.99%) SQL
8 45 (11.69%) Azure
8 45 (11.69%) Red Hat
9 44 (11.43%) Active Directory
10 37 (9.61%) Entra ID
11 36 (9.35%) Continuous Improvement
11 36 (9.35%) Firewall
12 35 (9.09%) Bash
13 32 (8.31%) ERP
13 32 (8.31%) VMware
14 30 (7.79%) Python
15 29 (7.53%) AWS
16 28 (7.27%) CI/CD
17 27 (7.01%) Hyper-V
17 27 (7.01%) Vulnerability Management
18 26 (6.75%) Analytics
19 24 (6.23%) Microsoft Exchange
19 24 (6.23%) Process Improvement
20 23 (5.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
20 23 (5.97%) Security Cleared
20 23 (5.97%) Terraform
20 23 (5.97%) Windows Server
21 22 (5.71%) Ansible
21 22 (5.71%) Configuration Management

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 24 (6.23%) Microsoft Exchange
2 21 (5.45%) SharePoint
3 4 (1.04%) WordPress
4 3 (0.78%) Apache
4 3 (0.78%) CMS
5 2 (0.52%) Confluence
5 2 (0.52%) nginx
5 2 (0.52%) Tomcat
6 1 (0.26%) Moodle
6 1 (0.26%) Site Server
Applications
1 14 (3.64%) Microsoft Excel
2 7 (1.82%) Microsoft Office
Business Applications
1 19 (4.94%) iTrent
2 8 (2.08%) Primavera
3 3 (0.78%) Elite 3E
4 2 (0.52%) Shopify
5 1 (0.26%) HFM
5 1 (0.26%) Oracle 11i
5 1 (0.26%) Oracle EBS
5 1 (0.26%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.26%) Teamcenter
5 1 (0.26%) Workday HCM
Cloud Services
1 55 (14.29%) Microsoft 365
2 45 (11.69%) Azure
3 37 (9.61%) Entra ID
4 29 (7.53%) AWS
5 20 (5.19%) Power Platform
6 17 (4.42%) Amazon CloudWatch
7 14 (3.64%) Power Automate
8 12 (3.12%) SaaS
9 11 (2.86%) PowerApps
10 10 (2.60%) GCP
10 10 (2.60%) Intacct
11 9 (2.34%) Azure Logic Apps
11 9 (2.34%) GitHub
12 8 (2.08%) Amazon EKS
12 8 (2.08%) GitHub Actions
12 8 (2.08%) Mimecast
13 6 (1.56%) Amazon ECR
13 6 (1.56%) Amazon ECS
13 6 (1.56%) Dynamics 365
14 4 (1.04%) Azure DevOps
Communications & Networking
1 36 (9.35%) Firewall
2 21 (5.45%) DNS
3 15 (3.90%) LAN
4 14 (3.64%) VPN
5 13 (3.38%) TCP/IP
6 10 (2.60%) HTTP
7 9 (2.34%) Network Security
7 9 (2.34%) SAN
8 8 (2.08%) Wi-Fi
9 7 (1.82%) Internet
10 5 (1.30%) WAN
11 3 (0.78%) DHCP
11 3 (0.78%) NAS
11 3 (0.78%) SSH
11 3 (0.78%) VLAN
11 3 (0.78%) Wireless
12 2 (0.52%) Multicast
12 2 (0.52%) VoIP
13 1 (0.26%) DKIM
13 1 (0.26%) DMARC
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (2.86%) MySQL
2 9 (2.34%) Power BI
3 6 (1.56%) Elasticsearch
4 3 (0.78%) Amazon RDS
4 3 (0.78%) GIS
5 2 (0.52%) Relational Database
5 2 (0.52%) SQL Server
6 1 (0.26%) Data Warehouse
6 1 (0.26%) Oracle Database
6 1 (0.26%) Oracle Database 12c
6 1 (0.26%) RDBMS
6 1 (0.26%) SQL Server Integration Services
Development Applications
1 15 (3.90%) Git
2 11 (2.86%) GitLab
3 5 (1.30%) JIRA
4 1 (0.26%) Bitbucket
General
1 81 (21.04%) Finance
2 58 (15.06%) Social Skills
3 26 (6.75%) Analytical Skills
4 21 (5.45%) Banking
5 19 (4.94%) Retail
6 17 (4.42%) Manufacturing
7 13 (3.38%) Billing
8 11 (2.86%) Law
9 10 (2.60%) Inclusion and Diversity
10 8 (2.08%) Legal
11 6 (1.56%) Organisational Skills
12 3 (0.78%) Documentation Skills
12 3 (0.78%) Games
12 3 (0.78%) Pharmaceutical
12 3 (0.78%) 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 (2.60%) WebSockets
2 7 (1.82%) Middleware
3 3 (0.78%) LAMP
4 2 (0.52%) LEMP Stack
4 2 (0.52%) Node.js
5 1 (0.26%) HTML
5 1 (0.26%) OpenID
5 1 (0.26%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 19 (4.94%) Data Structures
2 14 (3.64%) Clustering
3 13 (3.38%) Data Centre
4 10 (2.60%) Management Information System
5 9 (2.34%) Hybrid Cloud
6 8 (2.08%) Private Cloud
7 5 (1.30%) Onboarding
8 4 (1.04%) Replication
8 4 (1.04%) Self-Motivation
9 3 (0.78%) Security Posture
10 2 (0.52%) Enterprise Software
10 2 (0.52%) Operational Technology
11 1 (0.26%) Cloud Native
11 1 (0.26%) Distributed Computing
11 1 (0.26%) Driving Licence
11 1 (0.26%) Educational Technology
11 1 (0.26%) Legacy Applications
11 1 (0.26%) Life Science
11 1 (0.26%) Product Ownership
11 1 (0.26%) VLE
Operating Systems
1 88 (22.86%) Linux
2 54 (14.03%) Windows
3 23 (5.97%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
3 23 (5.97%) Windows Server
4 21 (5.45%) Mac OS
5 18 (4.68%) Android
5 18 (4.68%) Apple iOS
6 12 (3.12%) CentOS
7 10 (2.60%) Ubuntu
8 5 (1.30%) Debian
9 4 (1.04%) Rocky
10 2 (0.52%) Unix
10 2 (0.52%) Windows 10
11 1 (0.26%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 60 (15.58%) DevOps
2 58 (15.06%) Problem-Solving
3 36 (9.35%) Continuous Improvement
4 32 (8.31%) ERP
5 28 (7.27%) CI/CD
6 27 (7.01%) Vulnerability Management
7 26 (6.75%) Analytics
8 24 (6.23%) Process Improvement
9 22 (5.71%) Configuration Management
10 20 (5.19%) Infrastructure as Code
11 16 (4.16%) Release Management
12 15 (3.90%) Change Control
12 15 (3.90%) Infrastructure Engineering
12 15 (3.90%) Service Delivery
13 14 (3.64%) Disaster Recovery
13 14 (3.64%) High Availability
14 13 (3.38%) CRM
14 13 (3.38%) Identity Management
15 12 (3.12%) Mobile Device Management
15 12 (3.12%) Patch Management
Programming Languages
1 50 (12.99%) SQL
2 35 (9.09%) Bash
3 30 (7.79%) Python
4 13 (3.38%) PowerShell
5 8 (2.08%) Go
6 4 (1.04%) PHP
7 3 (0.78%) JavaScript
7 3 (0.78%) Shell Script
8 2 (0.52%) VBA
9 1 (0.26%) Perl
9 1 (0.26%) R
9 1 (0.26%) Ruby
9 1 (0.26%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 23 (5.97%) Security Cleared
2 15 (3.90%) DV Cleared
3 12 (3.12%) CIPD
4 11 (2.86%) RHCSA
4 11 (2.86%) SC Cleared
5 10 (2.60%) Degree
6 8 (2.08%) AWS Certification
7 2 (0.52%) Microsoft Certification
8 1 (0.26%) Azure Certification
8 1 (0.26%) BPSS Clearance
8 1 (0.26%) CCNA
8 1 (0.26%) CCNP
8 1 (0.26%) Cisco Certification
8 1 (0.26%) Computer Science Degree
8 1 (0.26%) DBS Check
8 1 (0.26%) ITIL Certification
8 1 (0.26%) Linux+ Certification
8 1 (0.26%) MCSE
8 1 (0.26%) RHCE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 20 (5.19%) QA
2 14 (3.64%) Data Quality
3 13 (3.38%) GDPR
4 2 (0.52%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 1 (0.26%) Cyber Essentials
5 1 (0.26%) SOC 2
System Software
1 44 (11.43%) Active Directory
2 27 (7.01%) Hyper-V
3 21 (5.45%) VMware Infrastructure
4 13 (3.38%) Docker
5 4 (1.04%) iptables
6 3 (0.78%) Firmware
6 3 (0.78%) Virtual Machines
7 1 (0.26%) KVM
Systems Management
1 23 (5.97%) Terraform
2 22 (5.71%) Ansible
3 19 (4.94%) Kubernetes
3 19 (4.94%) Nagios
4 18 (4.68%) Proxmox
5 17 (4.42%) Grafana
5 17 (4.42%) Nessus
6 16 (4.16%) Microsoft Intune
7 12 (3.12%) Prometheus
8 7 (1.82%) Puppet
9 3 (0.78%) SCCM
9 3 (0.78%) systemd
10 2 (0.52%) Progress Chef
10 2 (0.52%) Red Hat Satellite
11 1 (0.26%) FortiGate
11 1 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
11 1 (0.26%) Podman
11 1 (0.26%) Single Sign-On
11 1 (0.26%) ZABBIX
Vendors
1 79 (20.52%) Microsoft
2 45 (11.69%) Red Hat
3 32 (8.31%) VMware
4 17 (4.42%) Salesforce
5 13 (3.38%) SolarWinds
6 11 (2.86%) Sage
7 10 (2.60%) Veeam
8 8 (2.08%) SonicWALL
9 7 (1.82%) SAP
9 7 (1.82%) Splunk
10 6 (1.56%) Cisco
10 6 (1.56%) Rapid7
10 6 (1.56%) ServiceNow
11 5 (1.30%) Meraki
12 4 (1.04%) Concur
12 4 (1.04%) Databricks
13 3 (0.78%) Dell
13 3 (0.78%) Google
13 3 (0.78%) Palo Alto
14 2 (0.52%) Oracle