{"id":1304,"date":"2026-07-15T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/?p=1304"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T19:00:00","slug":"ccna-salary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/resources\/blog\/ccna-salary\/","title":{"rendered":"CCNA Salary 2025-2026: Pay by Role, Experience &#038; Metro"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"ai-tldr\"><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> In 2025\u20132026, CCNA-certified professionals in the US earn roughly $55,000 to $125,000, depending on role and experience. General CCNA averages run about $82,000 (ZipRecruiter) to $106,000 (Glassdoor). Entry technicians start near $55,000; network engineers average $110,000-plus. The certification\u2019s value comes from the roles it qualifies you for, not the badge itself.<\/div>\n<p><strong>CCNA salary<\/strong> figures swing widely because \u201cCCNA\u201d is not a job title \u2014 it is an associate-level Cisco credential (exam 200-301) that moves you off the help desk into network roles that pay more. This guide breaks down what CCNA-certified professionals actually earn across the US in 2025\u20132026: by role, by years of experience, by metro, and by the skills you stack on top. Every figure comes from public salary data \u2014 ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, and Payscale (2025) plus the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS, May 2024) \u2014 and is reported as a range, because real offers vary by employer, industry, and city.<\/p>\n<h2>How much does a CCNA-certified professional earn in the US?<\/h2>\n<p>Aggregators disagree on the \u201caverage CCNA salary\u201d largely because they define the search term differently. A broad \u201cCCNA\u201d query pulls in help-desk and junior roles and lands lower; a \u201cnetworking CCNA\u201d or \u201cnetwork engineer\u201d query pulls in experienced staff and lands higher. Here is how the major sources line up for 2025\u20132026.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Source (2025\u20132026)<\/th>\n<th>Average<\/th>\n<th>Typical range (25th\u201375th)<\/th>\n<th>Top earners (90th)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>ZipRecruiter \u2014 \u201cCCNA\u201d<\/td>\n<td>$82,062<\/td>\n<td>$60,000\u2013$103,500<\/td>\n<td>$123,500<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>ZipRecruiter \u2014 \u201cNetworking CCNA\u201d<\/td>\n<td>$109,040<\/td>\n<td>$89,000\u2013$133,500<\/td>\n<td>$143,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Glassdoor \u2014 \u201cCCNA\u201d<\/td>\n<td>$106,345<\/td>\n<td>$79,759\u2013$144,461<\/td>\n<td>$189,564<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Payscale \/ other aggregators<\/td>\n<td>~$78,000\u2013$82,000<\/td>\n<td>Varies<\/td>\n<td>\u2014<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Read together, a general CCNA holder in the US averages about $80,000\u2013$106,000, with most pay between roughly $60,000 and $144,000. In hourly terms, that spans about $26 an hour for entry technicians to $52\u2013$59 an hour for experienced networking staff (ZipRecruiter, Glassdoor, 2025). Payscale and similar aggregators cluster lower (near $78,000\u2013$82,000) because their samples skew toward newer certificate holders. Ranges beat point estimates here: because samples, titles, and regions differ, any single \u201caverage\u201d is less useful than the 25th-to-75th-percentile band each source reports.<\/p>\n<h2>What is the Cisco CCNA salary by role?<\/h2>\n<p>The CCNA maps to a cluster of related network jobs. Pay climbs as your work shifts from monitoring and support toward configuration, design, and troubleshooting. These are typical US figures for 2025\u20132026.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Role<\/th>\n<th>Typical US salary (2025\u20132026)<\/th>\n<th>Source<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Network support \/ help-desk technician (entry)<\/td>\n<td>$47,000\u2013$60,500 (avg ~$55,400)<\/td>\n<td>ZipRecruiter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>NOC technician, Tier 1 (entry)<\/td>\n<td>$40,000\u2013$67,000 (avg ~$55,000)<\/td>\n<td>ZipRecruiter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Network administrator<\/td>\n<td>Median $96,800 (occupation category)<\/td>\n<td>BLS, May 2024<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Network engineer<\/td>\n<td>$98,350\u2013$156,444 (avg ~$123,500)<\/td>\n<td>Glassdoor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Computer network architect (senior)<\/td>\n<td>Avg ~$130,390<\/td>\n<td>BLS<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>Entry technicians and NOC staff<\/strong> anchor the bottom of the range. A network support or help-desk technician averages about $55,400, and an entry Tier-1 NOC technician about $55,000, with both roles commonly paying $40,000\u2013$67,000 (ZipRecruiter, 2025). NOC roles often run 24\/7 shifts, so night and weekend differentials can add several thousand dollars to the base.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Network administrators and engineers<\/strong> hold the middle and upper-middle. The BLS groups them under \u201cnetwork and computer systems administrators,\u201d with a median wage of $96,800, a 10th percentile near $60,320, and a 90th percentile above $150,320 (BLS, May 2024). On Glassdoor, network engineers specifically average about $123,500, with a typical $98,350\u2013$156,444 spread. Administrators keep existing networks running \u2014 patching, monitoring, access, and uptime \u2014 while engineers design and build them, which is why engineer pay sits a tier above administrator pay in most markets. The $130,390 figure sometimes quoted for engineers is actually the BLS wage for computer network architects, a senior design role rather than an entry target.<\/p>\n<h2>How does CCNA salary change with experience?<\/h2>\n<p>Experience moves the number more than any other single factor. A CCNA plus three years of production work pays far more than a fresh CCNA with none \u2014 the credential opens the door, but time on real networks sets the wage.<\/p>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Experience<\/th>\n<th>Typical CCNA-track salary<\/th>\n<th>Common titles<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Entry (0\u20132 years)<\/td>\n<td>$50,000\u2013$70,000<\/td>\n<td>Support tech, NOC tech, junior admin<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mid (3\u20135 years)<\/td>\n<td>$75,000\u2013$100,000<\/td>\n<td>Network administrator, network engineer<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Senior (6+ years, often CCNP)<\/td>\n<td>$100,000\u2013$140,000+<\/td>\n<td>Senior engineer, network architect<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The mid-level jump is the steepest: moving from entry to 3\u20135 years of experience often lifts pay 30\u201340% (Glassdoor, Payscale, 2025). Senior pay generally assumes a deeper stack \u2014 a CCNP, cloud networking, or Python automation layered on the CCNA can each add roughly 10\u201320%. A common trajectory: start as a NOC or support technician near $55,000, reach network administrator or engineer pay around $90,000\u2013$100,000 by year four, then cross $120,000 as a senior engineer once a CCNP and automation skills are in place.<\/p>\n<h2>Which US metros pay CCNA professionals the most?<\/h2>\n<p>Geography can swing the same candidate\u2019s pay by 40\u201350%. High-cost tech hubs \u2014 dense with corporate headquarters, data centers, and cloud providers \u2014 pay well above national medians. State and city averages from 2025 data:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>California<\/strong> \u2014 about $86,227 statewide; San Jose near $98,602 on the Silicon Valley premium.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New Jersey<\/strong> \u2014 about $84,734, lifted by data-center and financial-services demand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>New York<\/strong> \u2014 about $83,108, though a high cost of living offsets the headline number.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Coastal tech hubs<\/strong> \u2014 add roughly $15,000\u2013$25,000 over a comparable non-coastal metro for the same mid-career engineer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>US-based CCNA holders earn the most of any country, and the domestic spread is wide enough that relocation \u2014 or a remote role paid on a national band \u2014 can matter as much as a promotion. Remote network jobs increasingly price on national rates rather than local cost of living, which lifts pay for CCNA holders in lower-cost states, though hands-on data-center and campus roles still require on-site presence.<\/p>\n<h2>Is the CCNA worth it for the salary in 2026?<\/h2>\n<p>Demand backs the numbers. CyberSeek lists well over 200,000 open networking-related roles, and the CCNA is the certification employers request most for them. Cisco\u2019s roughly 41% share of enterprise networking \u2014 about four times its nearest competitor \u2014 means most of those employers run Cisco equipment, so a Cisco-specific credential maps directly to the jobs being posted. The \u201cnetwork and computer systems administrators\u201d category grows slowly, with about 14,300 openings a year through 2034, mostly from turnover (BLS, May 2024) \u2014 but networking is not shrinking as a skill; it is consolidating into cloud, security, and automation work that still starts from CCNA fundamentals. For an IT-support worker or career-changer, the CCNA is the shortest credible route onto the network payscale.<\/p>\n<h2>How do CCNA salaries compare with CCNP and CCIE?<\/h2>\n<p>The CCNA is the entry rung of a three-tier Cisco ladder, and pay rises at each step. A CCNA typically supports roles paying $55,000\u2013$100,000; adding a <strong>CCNP<\/strong> (professional level) aligns with senior engineer and design work at $100,000\u2013$160,000+; the expert-level <strong>CCIE<\/strong> regularly clears $150,000 (Glassdoor, Payscale, 2025). Employers rarely pay for the letters themselves \u2014 they pay for the scope of network you can be trusted to design, secure, and automate. Most professionals earn the CCNA first, work two to three years, then stack a CCNP when targeting senior roles.<\/p>\n<h2>Do the CCNA (200-301) and its jobs pay more than general IT?<\/h2>\n<p>Directly, the certificate does not attach a fixed raise. Its payoff is access: the CCNA is the entry credential employers most often list for network roles, and it moves you out of general help-desk pay into the network track above. The gap between a general IT-support wage and a network-track wage is usually the clearest return the CCNA produces \u2014 often $10,000\u2013$25,000 across the first two roles. Positions the CCNA (200-301) commonly unlocks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Network support \/ help-desk technician (Tier 1\u20132)<\/li>\n<li>NOC technician or analyst<\/li>\n<li>Network administrator<\/li>\n<li>Junior or associate network engineer<\/li>\n<li>Network-heavy systems administrator<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Land any of these, add two to three years of hands-on time, and the salary tables above start working in your favor. CCNA jobs pay for what you can configure and fix \u2014 the credential gets you into the room.<\/p>\n<h2>How do you earn your CCNA with Boost eLearning?<\/h2>\n<p>The 200-301 exam covers network fundamentals, IP connectivity, security fundamentals, and automation \u2014 and Cisco tests hands-on configuration, not memorized theory. Boost eLearning teaches the CCNA with <strong>Live Labs on real Cisco gear<\/strong>, so you practice switching, routing, and troubleshooting the way the exam and the job demand. Courses run online self-paced, live virtual, or on-site, led by Certified Partner instructors, and every enrollment carries a money-back <strong>Pass Guarantee<\/strong>. Map your path from certificate to a higher-paying network role with the <a href=\"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/courses\/cisco\/cisco-ccna\/\">Cisco CCNA (200-301) course<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Treat every number here as a negotiation benchmark, not a quote. The CCNA sets the floor by opening the network track; your role, experience, metro, and cert stack set the ceiling.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>CCNA salary in 2025-2026: see what CCNA-certified network technicians, admins, and engineers earn in the US by role, experience, and metro, with salary tables.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"bel_standfirst":"","bel_faq":"What is the average CCNA salary in the US in 2025?|General CCNA averages run about $82,000 (ZipRecruiter) to $106,000 (Glassdoor) in 2025, with most pay between roughly $60,000 and $144,000. Your role, experience, and metro decide where you land.\nDoes earning a CCNA increase your salary?|Indirectly. The CCNA adds no fixed dollar amount; it qualifies you for network technician, administrator, and junior engineer roles that pay more than general IT support. Experience on top of the cert drives the biggest gains.\nWhat entry-level jobs can you get with a CCNA?|Common entry roles include network support or help-desk technician, NOC technician, and junior network administrator, typically paying $47,000\u2013$70,000 to start (ZipRecruiter, 2025).\nHow much does a network engineer with a CCNA earn?|Network engineers average about $123,500, with a typical range of $98,000\u2013$156,000 (Glassdoor, 2025). Mid-career CCNA engineers commonly earn $75,000\u2013$100,000 before adding a CCNP.\nWhich US locations pay CCNA professionals the most?|High-cost tech metros pay most. California averages about $86,000 (San Jose near $98,600), and coastal hubs add roughly $15,000\u2013$25,000 over non-coastal metros for mid-career engineers.\nIs the CCNA still worth it in 2026?|Yes. Cisco holds about 41% of enterprise networking, networking roles number in the hundreds of thousands, and the CCNA is the entry credential employers list most for them.","bel_outcomes":"","bel_audience":"","bel_outline":"","bel_exam":"","bel_livelabs":"","bel_duration":"","bel_exam_code":"","bel_level":"","bel_price":"","bel_rating":"","bel_reviews":"","bel_instructors":"","bel_image_credit":"","bel_result_num":"","bel_result_label":"","bel_customer":"","bel_industry":"","bel_credentials":"","bel_courses_taught":"","bel_meta_desc":"CCNA salary in 2025-2026: see what CCNA-certified network technicians, admins, and engineers earn in the US by role, experience, and metro\u2026 \u2014 boostelearning.com","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-paths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1664,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1304\/revisions\/1664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/boostelearning.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}