IT Salary Tracker: Network security professionals

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So far, IT news in the year 2000 has been marked by an unprecedented attention to security issues in the business sector. March’s denial-of-service attacks and the much vaunted security features in Microsoft’s millennium OS are prominent examples. However, the media exposure they have garnered is only the most public manifestation of a new global concern over data protection and network stability, especially now that the transmission of information over networks has become all but mandatory to business success. So we figured our readers might appreciate a glimpse of the job demand for network security professionals, where the jobs are and what they’re paying, to see for themselves what the hoopla means for the IT pro.

Over the past six months, dice.com, our sister site and an Internet-based job board for IT pros, has shown a more than 200% increase in the number of job openings for network security pros, from 139 in September 1999 to 440 in March 2000. Nationwide, the average overall salary is now $85,000 per year, up $4,000 from last September’s numbers; and the average contract rate is $69 per hour, an increase of $4 hourly in the same six-month period. Silicon Valley contains more demand than other regions, with 118 current openings.

Data came from available jobs listed during Mar. 2000 at dice.com. Results are based on averages or totals from the following information on dice.com: salary, job type, job skills, and location. —Zach Rodgers

Highest salary by city (average):
New York, $91,000 yearly salary

Highest hourly contract rate by city (average):
Trenton, N.J., $93 per hour

City with the most demand:
Silicon Valley, 118 available jobs

Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker
Network security professionals: salaries by city

Source: Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker/March 2000

Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker
Network security professionals: contract rates by city

Source: Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker/March 2000

Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker
Network security professionals: job openings per city

Source: Datamation/dice.com IT Salary Tracker/March 2000