---
title: "Information Security Engineer"
description: "Develop and oversee the implementation of information security procedures and policies. Build, maintain and upgrade security technology, such as…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-engineer"
last-updated: "2026-10-09T10:57:55.138Z"
---

# Information Security Engineer

**Category:** Computer and Mathematical · **SOC code:** 15-1299 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 15-1299.05

Develop and oversee the implementation of information security procedures and policies. Build, maintain and upgrade security technology, such as firewalls, for the safe use of computer networks and the transmission and retrieval of information. Design and implement appropriate security controls to identify vulnerabilities and protect digital files and electronic infrastructures. Monitor and respond to computer security breaches, viruses, and intrusions, and perform forensic investigation. May oversee the assessment of information security systems.

Also advertised as: BISO (Business Information Security Officer); Cloud Engineer; Engineer; Information Security Auditor; Information Security System Engineer; Infrastructure Security Engineer; Security Analyst; Security Data Scientist.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $116,580 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $56.05/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $55,940 to $188,470, with the middle half between $79,370 and $157,500
- **Total US employment:** 435,370
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +5.1% over 2025–2035 (BLS EP, 2025–2035)
- **Annual job openings:** 27,000 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 15/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 435,370 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $55,940 |
| 25th | $79,370 |
| 50th (median) | $116,580 |
| 75th | $157,500 |
| 90th | $188,470 |
| Mean (average) | $122,230 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DC | $156,590 | $142,483 | 17,200 |
| MD | $144,680 | $137,844 | 19,060 |
| CO | $139,580 | $135,446 | 11,800 |
| VA | $139,030 | $137,512 | 17,000 |
| DE | $137,470 | $137,734 | 860 |
| CA | $134,440 | $121,423 | 80,150 |
| WA | $128,940 | $120,490 | 14,360 |
| CT | $127,720 | $123,270 | 3,100 |
| NM | $127,090 | $137,824 | 1,650 |
| HI | $120,100 | $109,230 | 2,080 |
| NY | $116,990 | $108,403 | 11,460 |
| SC | $112,260 | $119,745 | 4,300 |
| TX | $111,530 | $114,912 | 57,020 |
| VT | $111,530 | $113,855 | 1,320 |
| OH | $109,780 | $118,331 | 6,150 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-engineer/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/information-security-engineer.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 471,200 in the 2025–2035 base year to 495,300 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 24,200 jobs, or +5.1%. Faster than average: 5.1% against 3.5% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 27,000 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 47.4% |
| Post-Secondary Certificate | 15.8% |
| Some College Courses | 10.5% |
| Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree | 10.5% |
| Less than a High School Diploma | 5.3% |
| High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) | 5.3% |

## What the work involves

- Coordinate monitoring of networks or systems for security breaches or intrusions.
- Recommend information security enhancements to management.
- Troubleshoot security and network problems.
- Train staff on, and oversee the use of, information security standards, policies, and best practices.
- Scan networks, using vulnerability assessment tools to identify vulnerabilities.
- Conduct investigations of information security breaches to identify vulnerabilities and evaluate the damage.
- Develop or install software, such as firewalls and data encryption programs, to protect sensitive information.
- Oversee development of plans to safeguard computer files against accidental or unauthorized modification, destruction, or disclosure or to meet emergency data processing needs.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Learning Strategies — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Quality Control Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Instructing — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Programming — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Operations Monitoring — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- Computers and Electronics — importance 4.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Engineering and Technology — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- English Language — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Telecommunications — importance 3.4 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Design — importance 2.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Deductive Reasoning — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Information Ordering — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speech Recognition — importance 3.8 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Conventional (C), Investigative (I), Realistic (R).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| C — Conventional | 6.06 |
| I — Investigative | 5.54 |
| R — Realistic | 4.30 |
| E — Enterprising | 2.66 |
| S — Social | 1.83 |
| A — Artistic | 1.33 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ISTJ | 91.9 |
| INTJ | 78.5 |
| ISTP | 76.0 |
| ESTJ | 74.0 |
| ISFJ | 68.6 |

Best-fitting types: ISTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Penetration Tester](https://nuecareer.com/careers/penetration-tester) — median $116,580
- [Information Security Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/information-security-analyst) — median $129,180
- [Security Management Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-management-specialist) — median $83,050
- [Network and Computer Systems Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/network-and-computer-systems-administrator) — median $99,130
- [Computer Systems Engineers/Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-engineers-architect) — median $116,580
- [Security Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/security-manager) — median $106,660
- [Computer Network Support Specialist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-support-specialist) — median $76,220
- [Computer Systems Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-systems-analyst) — median $105,850
- [Computer Network Architect](https://nuecareer.com/careers/computer-network-architect) — median $134,050
- [Database Administrator](https://nuecareer.com/careers/database-administrator) — median $104,620

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 31.0 Database, August 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2025–2035. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

JSON representation of this page: https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/information-security-engineer