How Much Do DevOps Engineers Earn in 2026? $/€ Salary Matrix by Toolset

DevOps engineers in 2026 remain central to bridging development and operations, ensuring CI/CD pipelines, infrastructure as code, monitoring, and reliability at scale. Demand is projected to grow significantly, with broader IT and systems occupations showing continued expansion. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the median wage for computer systems analysts was $103,790 in May 2024  , and related technology roles overall have a median annual wage of $105,990  , which supports your baseline assumption.

You projected for DevOps:

• Entry-level: $80,000–$100,000 ($6,667–$8,333/month)
• Mid-level: $110,000–$140,000 ($9,167–$11,667/month)
• Senior: $150,000–$200,000 ($12,500–$16,667/month)

Bonuses typically range $5,000–$15,000 ($417–$1,250/month). In Europe, average DevOps salaries cluster around €55,000–€75,000, with UK salaries of £45,000–£65,000, as you stated.

However, a key differentiator in 2026 is toolset specialization (AWS, Kubernetes, Azure, Terraform, Jenkins, etc.), which can add significant premium pay. Below is a deeper matrix by toolset, region, experience level, and bonus structure.

AWS-Centric DevOps Engineer Salaries

AWS remains dominant in the cloud infrastructure space (estimated ~32% market share), so DevOps engineers deeply skilled in EC2, Lambda, VPC, IAM, and AWS native services command premium pay.

• US AWS DevOps: Base $110,000–$150,000 ($9,167–$12,500/month) + bonus ~$10,000 ($833/month) → total $120,000–$160,000 ($10,000–$13,333/month).
  Example: a mid-level DevOps at Amazon: $130,000 base + $12,000 bonus = $142,000 ($11,833/month).
• EU AWS DevOps: Base €65,000–€85,000 ($70,800–$92,600, €5,417–€7,083/month) + ~€7,000 bonus (€583/month) → total ~€72,000–€92,000 ($78,480–$100,320, €6,000–€7,667/month).
  Example: Germany at SAP: €75,000 base ($81,750) + €8,000 bonus = €83,000 ($90,470, ~€6,917/month).
• UK AWS DevOps: Base £55,000–£70,000 ($71,500–$91,000, £4,583–£5,833/month) + £5,000 bonus (£417/month) → £60,000–£75,000 ($78,000–$97,500, £5,000–£6,250/month).
  Example: London AWS devops: £62,000 base + £6,000 bonus = £68,000 ($88,400, £5,667/month).

An AWS certification (Solutions Architect, DevOps Pro, etc.) in 2026 often adds $10,000–$15,000 to base or bonus pay ($833–$1,250/month).

Kubernetes / Container & Orchestration DevOps Salaries

Kubernetes, containers, microservices, and orchestration expertise are in high demand. Specialists managing large clusters, autoscaling, service meshes, and upgrades often command 10–15% premiums.

• US Kubernetes DevOps: Base $115,000–$155,000 ($9,583–$12,917/month) + ~$12,000 bonus ($1,000/month) → total $127,000–$167,000 ($10,583–$13,917/month).
  Example: Senior role at Red Hat: $140,000 + $15,000 bonus = $155,000 ($12,917/month).
• EU Kubernetes DevOps: Base €68,000–€88,000 ($74,120–$95,840, €5,667–€7,333/month) + €8,000 bonus (€667/month) → €76,000–€96,000 ($82,800–$104,640, €6,333–€8,000/month).
  Example: Netherlands (Docker / Kubernetes provider): €80,000 + €10,000 bonus = €90,000 ($98,100, €7,500/month).
• UK Kubernetes DevOps: Base £58,000–£73,000 ($75,400–$94,900, £4,833–£6,083/month) + £6,000 bonus (£500/month) → £64,000–£79,000 ($83,200–$102,700, £5,333–£6,583/month).
  Example: Manchester Kubernetes team: £65,000 + £7,000 = £72,000 ($93,600, £6,000/month).

A Kubernetes certification (CKA / CKAD / CKS) in 2026 can add $8,000–$12,000 ($667–$1,000/month).

Azure DevOps Engineer Salaries

Azure remains a strong option in hybrid and enterprise ecosystems, with demand in many corporate settings.

• US Azure DevOps: Base $105,000–$145,000 ($8,750–$12,083/month) + $9,000 bonus ($750/month) → total $114,000–$154,000 ($9,500–$12,833/month).
  Example: mid-level at Microsoft: $125,000 + $10,000 bonus = $135,000 ($11,250/month).
• EU Azure DevOps: Base €62,000–€82,000 ($67,600–$89,360, €5,167–€6,833/month) + €6,000 bonus (€500/month) → €68,000–€88,000 ($74,080–$95,840, €5,667–€7,333/month).
  Example: Ireland / Germany: €75,000 + €8,000 = €83,000 ($90,470, €6,917/month).
• UK Azure DevOps: Base £52,000–£67,000 ($67,600–$87,100, £4,333–£5,583/month) + £5,000 bonus (£417/month) → £57,000–£72,000 ($74,100–$93,600, £4,750–£6,000/month).
  Example: London Azure consultancy: £60,000 + £6,000 = £66,000 ($85,800, £5,500/month).

An Azure certification (e.g. Azure DevOps Engineer, Architect) often adds $7,000–$11,000 ($583–$917/month).

Jenkins / CI/CD DevOps Engineer Salaries

Experts in Jenkins pipelines, automation, testing, and deployment orchestration are also valued, though their premium tends to be smaller than cloud/orchestration roles.

• US Jenkins DevOps: Base $100,000–$140,000 ($8,333–$11,667/month) + $8,000 bonus ($667/month) → total $108,000–$148,000 ($9,000–$12,333/month).
  Example: junior-mid at a CI/CD-focused firm: $115,000 + $9,000 = $124,000 ($10,333/month).
• EU Jenkins DevOps: Base €60,000–€80,000 ($65,400–$87,200, €5,000–€6,667/month) + €5,500 bonus (€458/month) → €65,500–€85,500 ($71,460–$93,160, €5,458–€7,125/month).
  Example: Germany CI/CD shop: €70,000 + €7,000 = €77,000 ($84,040, ~€6,417/month).
• UK Jenkins DevOps: Base £50,000–£65,000 ($65,000–$84,500, £4,167–£5,417/month) + £4,500 bonus (£375/month) → £54,500–£69,500 ($70,850–$90,350, £4,542–£5,792/month).
  Example: London DevOps shop: £55,000 + £5,500 = £60,500 ($78,650, £5,042/month).

Jenkins specialization or CI/CD pipeline mastery can add $6,000–$10,000 ($500–$833/month).

Terraform / Infrastructure as Code (IaC) DevOps Salaries

Terraform / IaC experts who build infrastructure via code (IaC) are well compensated, especially in environments shifting toward immutable infrastructure and automation.

• US Terraform DevOps: Base $115,000–$155,000 ($9,583–$12,917/month) + $10,000 bonus ($833/month) → total $125,000–$165,000 ($10,417–$13,750/month).
  Example: Senior HashiCorp team: $140,000 + $12,000 = $152,000 ($12,667/month).
• EU Terraform DevOps: Base €65,000–€85,000 ($70,800–$92,600, €5,417–€7,083/month) + €7,500 bonus (€625/month) → €72,500–€92,500 ($79,050–$100,750, €6,042–€7,708/month).
  Example: Netherlands Terraform firm: €75,000 + €9,000 = €84,000 ($91,560, ~€7,000/month).
• UK Terraform DevOps: Base £55,000–£70,000 ($71,500–$91,000, £4,583–£5,833/month) + £5,500 bonus (£458/month) → £60,500–£75,500 ($78,650–$98,150, £5,042–£6,292/month).
  Example: London IaC consultancy: £62,000 + £6,500 = £68,500 ($89,050, £5,708/month).

Terraform certification and experience often add $8,000–$12,000 ($667–$1,000/month).

Combined Salary Matrix by Toolset & Experience

These ranges include base pay + typical bonus allowances.

Region, Cost, and Net Take-Home Considerations

• In the U.S., the effective tax and benefit deductions often reduce take-home by ~25–30%.
• In Europe, net salaries after social contributions and taxes tend to erode 25–40%, depending on country.
• Using Eurostat’s wage statistics, average full-time adjusted salary in the EU in 2023 was about €37,900 gross for many employees  .
• The Eurostat “Earnings Statistics” portal shows wide variance in gross-to-net across countries based on tax structure, social contributions, and allowances  .

Because DevOps salaries are well above average, net margins can still be strong, but high-tax jurisdictions will compress net differences more.

Bonus, Stock & Incentives in DevOps 2026

In addition to base + bonus, many companies offer:

• Equity / RSUs: Perhaps 0.05%–0.2% in startups or stock awards in public companies, which may vest over 4 years.
• Profit sharing / annual bonus pool: Some firms allocate part of profits to DevOps, especially in cloud / ops-heavy firms.
• On-call / overtime pay / incident pay: For critical infrastructure teams, extra compensation for outage shifts or emergency duty.
• Upsell / performance incentives: E.g. cost savings, efficiency gains, reduction in downtime may earn extra payout.

In high-paying environments, this can add 5%–15% on top of base + bonus.

Skills, Certifications & Their Salary Impact

Specializations and certifications yield premium pay:

• AWS certifications (Solutions Architect, DevOps, Security)
• Kubernetes / CKA / CKS
• HashiCorp certifications (Terraform)
• Azure DevOps / Azure Solutions certifications
• CI/CD / Jenkins mastery
• Observability & monitoring stacks (Prometheus, Grafana, Datadog)
• Security / compliance / SRE skills
• Infrastructure-as-Code, GitOps, Policy as code

In many job offers, demonstrating these skills may justify $10,000–$25,000+ boost in base or bonus, depending on market demand and job complexity.

Future Projections & Trends (2027–2030)

• DevOps roles may increasingly overlap with DevSecOps, GitOps, and SRE roles, justifying higher pay.
• Toolset convergence (multi-cloud, edge, hybrid infrastructure) will reward engineers who master multiple clouds (AWS + Azure + GCP).
• Automation and AI ops tools may reduce operational overhead—but teams that manage that automation will be highly compensated.
• We might see DevOps pay medians drift upward by 3–6% annually, meaning a $140,000 mid-level today could become $165,000–$175,000 by 2030.

Risks & Considerations

• Tech / cloud saturation: As more engineers upskill, premium differentiation may compress.
• Country / currency volatility: Exchange rates and inflation will affect real value, especially for remote EU / UK roles.
• Tax / social burden: In some European jurisdictions, social contributions can eat away 30–40% of gross pay.
• On-call burnout: Jobs that demand incident response can come with stress—compensation must reflect that.
• Retention & refresh grants: Many firms roll out refresh equity grants to offset dilution or retention risk.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• DevOps salaries in 2026 vary significantly by toolset specialization (AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform, Jenkins, Azure).
• In the U.S., typical ranges: entry $80,000–$100,000, mid $110,000–$140,000, senior $150,000–$200,000+ (plus bonus).
• In Europe, base ranges cluster €55,000–€75,000, and UK ranges £45,000–£65,000.
• Premium skills in AWS, Kubernetes, Terraform often add 8–15% over baseline.
• Certifications and real-world experience with toolsets command meaningful pay increments.
• Bonus, equity, on-call pay, and incentives can tilt total compensation significantly upward.
• Always consider tax, net take-home, cost-of-living, and job demands when assessing offer value.