Cloud Engineer Salary in the US

The article will discuss the salaries offered to cloud engineers in the United States. However, before getting started with the salary, let us understand the role of a cloud engineer.

Cloud Engineer

The cloud engineer is a technical professional in IT that assists in the technological duties in cloud computing. The professional is required to plan, design, manage, maintain and support the cloud computing system.

The term cloud engineer refers to various roles such as:

1. Cloud architects

 They are mainly responsible for managing the cloud infrastructure.

2. Cloud security engineer

 The main role of these professionals is to provide security in cloud-based platforms. They do so by building and maintaining the features that are required in the security process.

3. Cloud software engineer/Developers

These professionals are responsible for building and maintaining the software’s features and functions. Along with the software, they are also responsible for maintaining the databases and functions of the applications used in the cloud technologies.

4. Cloud automation engineer

These professionals almost do the same role as that of the cloud developer. However, much emphasis is focused on the process of automation, orchestration, and integration.

5. Cloud network engineers

These professionals are required to support and manage the entire infrastructure related to networking. They are also required for managing connections between the service providers and the clients.

Skills Required

Some specific skills are required by the candidate to get hired into the role of a cloud engineer. These skills include:

1. Linux

There should be a strong understanding of the operating system of Linux. This is because, in cloud computing, the companies most widely use the Linux operating system. Therefore, the cloud engineers must know the operating system of Linux, including its architecture, servers administered in the system, and the maintenance of the system.

2. Database skills

Along with the knowledge and experience of the operating system of Linux, the professionals are required to have the skills related to database management. This will also include the skills of Hadoop and MySQL.

3. Programming

Programming is one of the essential skills required by a cloud engineer. They should have the knowledge and skills of programming languages like Ruby, SQL, .NET, Python, Java, PHP, and Golang.

4. Networking

The professionals under this domain should understand the concept of virtual networks and also should be able to generate the functions for network management.

5. Virtualization

Another most required skill of the cloud engineer is running and deploying application software on virtual machines.

6. Understanding the cloud providers

The knowledge of different cloud providers is essential. This is mainly because, as a cloud engineer, it is required to practice engineering skillsets on different cloud providers. Therefore if he/she understands the cloud providers, it will act as a bonus for the cloud engineer.

7. Recovery and security

As the cloud system has been growing widely, it is quite important to know about cyber security.

The domain of cloud computing has become the most demandable skill as per various job sites. Although there is a demand for cloud engineers, the companies are always searching for individuals with experience levels of around 3-5 years in cloud services. In addition, they are also required to have the background knowledge of designing services of the web in the cloud.

Salaries of Cloud Engineers Working in Top Cloud Companies

The top three cloud companies are Azure, AWS, and Google. Other companies are on the top list, including IBM, Adobe, Accenture, JPMorgan Chase, Atlassian, Chewy, and VMware. The various salaries offered by these companies to their cloud engineers are:

• A professional working as a Cloud Application Architect earns a salary between $140,000 – $150,00 in AWS.
• A professional working as a Cloud Solution earns a salary between $89,149 – $183,116 in Microsoft.
• Professionals working in various cloud-based roles such as program managers or sales engineers earn around $134,000 – $174,000 in Google.
• A professional working as Cloud Native Architect earns a salary of around $279,600 at IBM.
• A professional working as an AI Platform Senior Cloud Engineer earns around $210,000 at JPMorgan Chase.
• Cloud Engineers earn a salary of around $187,300 at Cisco.
• Cloud Ops Engineers earn a salary of approximately $150,000 at Citrix.
• Cloud Developers earn a salary of approximately $202,982 at VMware.
• Cloud Engineers earn a salary of around $163,645 at Lenovo.

The Average Salary of a Cloud Engineer

The average salary of a cloud engineer has been reported through various sources. The average salary for a professional cloud engineer has been reported to be around $160,000. This is a report as per from one source. However, it has been mentioned that with the additional cloud certifications, the professionals can prepare to work in some of the biggest companies in the United States. Also, the average cloud security engineer salary in the United States is $136,641 annually.

As per another survey, it was found out that the average salary for a cloud engineer professional turns out to be $120,370. They also get an additional bonus amount of $10,000 per year. This survey was based on the salaries collected from around 4000 different salaries. It is reported that the cloud engineer earns a salary of $131,409 in the companies in the United States.

This was the average salary reported from different sources. However, the professionals can expect a pay which is higher than this average amount. Sources have mentioned that the highest salary for a cloud architect in the United States can go to $210,000. On the other hand, it reported that the average salary for a cloud engineer professional is $153,000 in the United States.

The decision still remains open as the average salaries are reported by different sources and different groups of salaries. It can be mentioned that, on average, a cloud engineer professional earns a salary that ranges from an amount of $104k to an amount of $145k. This mentioned salary can further increase and reach a peak amount of $250k. This was the average salary earned by the cloud engineer. However, there are a lot of statistics associated with the salary of a cloud engineer.

Certain reports showed the importance of the cloud in this era. The amount a company spends on the cloud has seen an increase of around 60-70% by the year 2020. This shows how much cloud computing technologies have overpowered traditional enterprises. Several reports mention the amount spent on the cloud.

It has been reported that more than $6 million a year is spent on cloud systems by around 26% of the enterprises. 52% of the remaining enterprises spend more than $1.2 million per year.

Companies Hiring Cloud Engineers

We have discussed a few companies that offer a respectful amount of money to cloud engineers. Now there are other companies too that hire cloud engineers. Below is a list of a few companies and the average salary paid to the professionals annually as per different reports.

• The professionals are paid an amount of $170,000 by Resolute Technologies, LLC, per year.
• The average salary of an Accenture Cloud Engineer is $127,329 per year annually.

Apart from the companies that hire cloud engineers, the professionals are paid differently as per their roles. In the United States, top cloud-based companies are located across different locations. Therefore, the salary of individuals working in the companies across different locations varies too. Below is a list of the average salaries that an individual earns across different locations.

• The average annual salary of a Cloud engineer is $139,440 in New York.
• The average annual salary of a Cloud engineer is $124,803 in Boston, MA.
• The average annual salary of a Cloud engineer is $118,758 in Chicago.
• The average salary of a Cloud engineer is $113,709 in Atlanta, GA.
• The average salary of a Cloud engineer is $115,084 in Austin.

Different companies across the United States are always in need of cloud engineers and professionals under any cloud domain. Several job vacancies have been posted by the enterprises mentioning different requirements. The role of the job varies among the companies, which are listed below:

• The cloud engineers are required to work in an investigation process of government security. They should know and fulfill the eligibility criteria for accessing the classified information.
• The cloud engineers must understand the architecture of some important clouds such as VP, EC2, fundamentals of networking, identity, and storage.
• Cloud engineers are required to have the knowledge of different cloud architectures as required in other business needs.

Conclusion

The article discussed the various salaries that are provided to a cloud engineer in the United States. Different reports suggest different salaries earned by the individuals across different locations and also different domains. Still, wondering what a cloud engineer salary is? As of September for the year 2022, the average salary for a cloud engineer in the United States is $125,219. However, even if this is the calculated average salary falls within the range of $115,625 – $137,050. This variation can be due to many factors such as education, the experience level of the cloud engineers, additional skills shown by the professional, etc.

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