Technology

DevOps Engineer

🇺🇸 US 🇬🇧 UK 🇦🇺 AU 🇨🇦 CA

Live job postings

14,993

as of 15 Aug 2026

Demand index

0.25%

% of all job postings

Median salary

$140k

$140,000

Salary range

$120k – $140k

$120,000 – $140,000

Trend analysis & outlook

The DevOps engineer role in the United States currently commands a median annual salary of ~$140,000, with approximately 12,633 active job postings as of July 2026. Over the past 12 months, total monthly postings for DevOps-related roles consistently ranged between 150,000 and 161,000 (from August 2025 to May 2026), but there was a sharp drop to roughly 12,000 in June and July 2026—likely due to a recalibration in how job boards categorize or index these positions, not a real decline in demand. The hot index, which measures relative demand velocity, climbed from a low of 39 in September 2025 to a peak of 97 in January 2026, then settled to the mid-60s to low-80s, indicating sustained employer urgency even as overall volume normalized. Recent industry reports from CIO.com, DevOps.com, and Coursera reiterate that DevOps is a top-10 in-demand tech skill for 2026, with hiring managers specifically seeking security-integrated automation skills. The near-term outlook (next 6–12 months) remains positive: companies continue to invest in cloud-native infrastructure and DevSecOps, so engineers who deepen their Kubernetes, Terraform, and AIOps knowledge will find strong opportunities, though salary growth may moderate as AI-driven tooling reduces entry-level barriers.

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Salary distribution

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Core skills employers ask for

AWS/Azure/GCPContainerization (Docker, Kubernetes)CI/CD (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions)Infrastructure as Code (Terraform, Ansible, CloudFormation)Monitoring & Logging (Prometheus, Grafana, ELK)Scripting (Python, Bash)Security & DevSecOps AutomationLinux AdministrationGit & Version ControlNetworking (TCP/IP, DNS, Load Balancing)Artifact Repositories (Nexus, Harbor)Service Mesh (Istio, Linkerd)

AI impact on this career

AI is automating routine DevOps tasks like log analysis, anomaly detection in monitoring data, and infrastructure provisioning via AIOps platforms. Tools such as GitHub Copilot and AI-assisted incident response systems are reducing manual intervention in CI/CD pipeline debugging and incident triage. However, AI currently lacks the deep system-level reasoning needed for complex multi-cloud migrations, security policy customization, and incident root cause analysis—areas where senior DevOps engineers remain essential. Engineers who upskill in AI/ML model deployment (MLOps) and AI-driven automation frameworks will be in higher demand, as companies seek to integrate AI agents into their delivery pipelines without sacrificing reliability.

What's happening in the market

Industry coverage in early 2026 continues to spotlight DevOps as one of the most in-demand tech roles, with multiple articles emphasizing that security-focused skills (DevSecOps) and container orchestration expertise are now baseline expectations. Job listing aggregators and employer guides from Wiz, Built In, and Dice confirm a healthy volume of openings, but also note that employers are prioritizing candidates who can demonstrate both cloud automation and security integration skills.

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