CCNP Salary in 2025–2026: What Cisco CCNP Pros Earn

A CCNP salary reflects one of networking’s clearest pay bumps. Cisco’s Certified Network Professional credential sits a rung above the CCNA and tells employers you can design, deploy, secure, and troubleshoot enterprise networks without supervision — work that reliably pays six figures. This guide pulls real 2025–2026 numbers from ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, Payscale, and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS): average pay, the CCNA→CCNP→CCIE ladder, salary by experience and metro, the roles that pay most, and the skills that push offers higher.

What is the average CCNP salary in 2025–2026?

Estimates cluster in the low-to-mid $100,000s, though each database measures a different slice of the market. ZipRecruiter listed the average CCNP network engineer salary at about $109,040 as of October 2025, with the middle 50% of postings between $89,000 and $133,500 and top earners near $143,000; its broader “CCNP” listing averaged roughly $111,081. Glassdoor, which folds in bonuses and skews toward larger employers, reported about $125,600 for CCNP Enterprise network engineers. Payscale, whose respondents lean earlier-career and smaller-company, showed a $107,000–$156,000 band for CCNP Enterprise holders and a wider $72,000–$153,000 across all CCNP tracks. Averaged together, the CCNP certified salary for a mid-career professional in 2025–2026 realistically targets $100,000–$130,000 base.

Treat any single average as a baseline, not a promise. The spread is a sampling artifact: sources differ on whether they count base pay or total compensation, and on whether their data leans toward large enterprises or small shops. Match the source to your situation — Payscale for a first CCNP role at a regional firm, Glassdoor total-comp for a big-tech target.

How big is the CCNP salary jump over CCNA?

Adding CCNP on top of CCNA typically raises pay by $20,000–$40,000 a year, according to multiple Cisco-training salary analyses. CCNA-level roles average roughly $78,000–$92,000; CCNP roles average $109,000–$125,600. The credential marks a shift from executing tickets to owning design and escalations, and employers price that autonomy accordingly. The next step, CCIE, roughly doubles entry-level pay — ZipRecruiter put the CCIE average near $129,700 while Glassdoor reported about $180,100 for expert-level roles, and veteran CCIEs with 10-plus years clear $150,000–$220,000.

Read the ladder as a trajectory, not a guarantee: CCNP is where most network engineers cross into stable six-figure territory, and passing the core exam qualifies you to sit the CCIE Enterprise lab later without repeating it.

What is the CCNP Enterprise salary by experience level?

Experience moves the number more than any other single factor. Newly certified CCNPs start around $70,000–$85,000; professionals with a decade or more reach $130,000 and up, per Cisco-training salary data. The bands below map ZipRecruiter’s percentile spread onto career stage so you can locate yourself.

Two levers accelerate the climb: taking on design and change-management ownership, and adding automation. Both push you from the 50th percentile toward the 90th faster than tenure alone.

Which cities and states pay CCNP professionals the most?

Location adds a large premium — often larger than a full experience tier. San Francisco tops the list: Glassdoor put the average network engineer salary there at about $153,000, with the 75th percentile near $194,000 and top earners past $238,000. At the state level, Salary.com ranked the District of Columbia, California, Massachusetts, Washington State, New Jersey, and New York highest for CCNP engineers, all near $105,000–$109,000. Those nominal figures track cost of living closely, so a $153,000 Bay Area offer and a $109,000 Dallas offer can leave similar money in your pocket. Remote roles increasingly pay against a national band rather than your ZIP code, which favors engineers outside expensive metros.

What jobs push Cisco CCNP pay toward the top?

CCNP Enterprise opens the roles where senior networking pay lives:

• Senior network engineer — the core CCNP job, averaging $109,000–$125,600 and reaching $143,000-plus at the 90th percentile (ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor).
• Computer network architect — the highest-paid networking track. BLS reported a median of $130,390 in May 2024, with the top 10% above $198,030 and the best-paid quarter above $164,440. BLS projects 12% growth from 2024–2034 and about 11,200 openings a year.
• Network automation engineer — ZipRecruiter listed averages well into the $160,000s for roles pairing networking with Python and infrastructure-as-code.

Which skills raise Cisco CCNP pay the most?

The credential sets a floor; adjacent skills lift the ceiling.

• Network automation — Python plus Ansible or Terraform is adding an estimated $15,000–$30,000 to offers, per staffing-firm data.
• Cloud networking — AWS and Azure networking experience commands a premium as enterprises shift workloads off-prem.
• Security depth — layering CCNP Security concepts or a security specialization widens your role range and pay band.
• Employer size — Fortune 500 firms pay an estimated 10–30% above small-business base rates for the same title.
• CCIE progression — starting the expert track signals architect-level capability and pulls pay toward $150,000-plus.

Is a CCNP worth it for the salary in 2026?

For most working network engineers, yes. The typical $20,000–$40,000 raise over a CCNA usually recovers course and exam costs inside the first year, and the credential is the gateway to architect and CCIE tracks where pay runs $130,000–$200,000-plus. The case is strongest if you are stuck at a CCNA-level ceiling, targeting a larger employer, or planning to pair the cert with automation skills. It is weakest if you already hold an expert credential or work in a market with thin enterprise-networking demand. For everyone in between, CCNP Enterprise is the highest-leverage step on the Cisco ladder.

How do you earn the CCNP Enterprise certification?

CCNP Enterprise requires two exams: the 350-401 ENCOR core — covering enterprise infrastructure, virtualization, assurance, security, and automation — plus one concentration exam of your choice. The core exam is the anchor, and it doubles as the qualifier for the CCIE Enterprise lab. Boost eLearning’s Cisco CCNP Enterprise course pairs Certified Partner instructors with hands-on Live Labs, so you configure real gear instead of watching slides, and every enrollment is backed by a money-back Pass Guarantee. Choose online self-paced, live virtual, or on-site delivery to match your schedule, and put the $20,000–$40,000 CCNP pay bump within reach.