Lead DevOps Engineer Salary in the United States

How much does a Lead DevOps Engineer make in the United States?

As of January 01, 2026, the average salary for a Lead DevOps Engineer in the United States is $187,255 per year, which breaks down to an hourly rate of $90.

However, a Lead DevOps Engineer's salary can vary significantly. Here’s a look at the typical salary range:

  • Top Earners (90th percentile): $205,828
  • Majority Range (25th-75th percentile): $177,410 to $196,977
  • Entry-Level (10th percentile): $168,447
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View as table View as graph 25% $177,410 10% $168,447 90% $205,828 75% $196,977 $187,255 50%(Median) Didn’t find job title? Click

Lead DevOps Engineer Salaries by Percentile

Annual
Salary
Monthly
Pay
Weekly
Pay
Hourly
Wage
75th Percentile $196,977 $16,415 $3,788 $95
Average $187,255 $15,605 $3,601 $90
25th Percentile $177,410 $14,784 $3,412 $85
Check out Lead DevOps Engineer Job Openings in the United States
Lead R&D Engineer

Powell Industries - HOUSTON, TX

Lead DevOps SDLC Integration Engineer - Wellington Management Company, LLP

Wellington Management Company, LLP - BOSTON, MA

Lead C++ Core Infrastructure Engineer - eFinancialCareers

eFinancialCareers - NEW YORK, NY

Lead Platform Engineer, Python & AWS - Wellington Management Company, LLP

Wellington Management Company, LLP - BOSTON, MA

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Key Factors That Influence Lead DevOps Engineer Salaries

A Lead DevOps Engineer's salary isn't a fixed number. It's shaped by several important factors. Below, we'll explore how your years of experience, geographic location and company size can directly affect your earning potential.

How Experience Level Affects Lead DevOps Engineer Salaries?

Experience is a primary driver of a Lead DevOps Engineer's salary. As you build your skills and take on more complex tasks, your compensation generally increases. Here's how the average salary grows at different career stages:

  • Entry-Level (less than 1 year): $182,798
  • Early Career (1-2 years): $183,247
  • Mid-Level (2-4 years): $184,295
  • Senior-Level (5-8 years): $185,492
  • Expert (over 8 years): $186,826
Levels Salary
Entry Level Lead DevOps Engineer$182,798
Intermediate Level Lead DevOps Engineer$183,247
Senior Level Lead DevOps Engineer$184,295
Specialist Level Lead DevOps Engineer$185,492
Expert Level Lead DevOps Engineer$186,826
$182,798 0 yr
$183,247 < 2 yrs
$184,295 2-4 yrs
$185,492 5-8 yrs
$186,826 > 8 yrs
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What Am I Worth?

Top Paying Cities for Lead DevOps Engineers

Salaries can also vary between different cities. Major metropolitan areas or cities with a high demand for technicians often offer more competitive pay. Here are a few examples of average annual salaries in different U.S. cities:

  • San Jose: $236,185
  • San Francisco: $233,863
  • Oakland: $228,676

What Skills Can Increase a Lead DevOps Engineer's Salary?

Demanded Skills for the Role:

  • Leadership (Mentioned in 3.14% Job Postings): Knowledge of and ability to employ effective strategies that motivate and guide other members within our business to achieve optimum results.
  • Software Development (Mentioned in 2.16% Job Postings): Software development is the process of conceiving, specifying, designing, programming, documenting, testing, and bug fixing involved in creating and maintaining applications, frameworks, or other software components. Software development is a process of writing and maintaining the source code, but in a broader sense, it includes all that is involved between the conception of the desired software through to the final manifestation of the software, sometimes in a planned and structured process. Therefore, software development may include research, new development, prototyping, modification, reuse, re-engineering, maintenance, or any other activities that result in software products. Software can be developed for a variety of purposes, the three most common being to meet specific needs of a specific client/business (the case with custom software), to meet a perceived need of some set of potential users (the case with commercial and open source software), or for personal use (e.g. a scientist may write software to automate a mundane task). Embedded software development, that is, the development of embedded software, such as used for controlling consumer products, requires the development process to be integrated with the development of the controlled physical product. System software underlies applications and the programming process itself, and is often developed separately.
  • Ansible (Mentioned in 1.59% Job Postings): Ansible is a suite of software tools that enables infrastructure as code. It is open-source and the suite includes software provisioning, configuration management, and application deployment functionality.
See More Skills
Skills Demand Percentage
Leadership 3.14%
Software Development 2.16%
Ansible 1.59%
What skills can make your compensation higher?
Mastering certain specialized skills can lead to a significant increase in pay. Here are examples of skills and the potential impact they can have on a Lead DevOps Engineer's salary.
  • Team Building: Can increase your salary by up to 10%.
  • Analysis: Can increase your salary by up to 6%.
  • Microservices: Can increase your salary by up to 6%.
Skill Salary Salary % Increase
Team Building
$205,981
10%
Analysis
$198,490
6%
Microservices
$198,490
6%
Accountability
$196,618
5%
Communication Skills
$196,618
5%
Leadership
$196,618
5%
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Lead DevOps Engineer Salary: Hourly Rate, Weekly Pay, and Monthly Pay

Understanding how a Lead DevOps Engineer's annual salary breaks down can help with budgeting. Below, you can see the average hourly rate, weekly pay, and monthly pay for this role. Use the buttons to switch between different pay periods.

Last Updated on January 01, 2026

Salary Trends for Lead DevOps Engineer

Salaries for a Lead DevOps Engineer can change over time, reflecting shifts in market demand and the overall economy. The median salary decreased from $164,071 in 2023 to around $160,966 in 2025, reflecting changes in demand, location, experience, and the wider economy. For a detailed analysis of Lead DevOps Engineer salary trends, .

Average Annual Salary of Lead DevOps Engineer Over Time

2022
$???
2023
$164,071
2024
$162,585
2025
$160,966
2026
$???
2027
$???
Year Average Annual Salary
2022
View More
2023 $164,071
2024 $162,585
2025 $160,966
2026
View More
2027
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Most common benefits for Lead DevOps Engineer

Social Security
401(k)
Disability
Healthcare
Pension
Time Off (days)
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Common company salaries for Lead DevOps Engineer

Here are companies hiring for Lead DevOps Engineer and their salaries, click below for more details.

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Where Does Our Salary Data Come From?

Salary.com provides salary estimates, histograms, trends, and comparisons using data from employer job postings and third-party sources.

We offer detailed salary information across multiple percentiles for your reference. (Click here to learn Why the Salary Midpoint Formula Is Crucial for Achieving Pay Equity.)

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