How to Become a Site Reliability Engineer

Ensure the reliability, availability, and performance of large-scale production systems through software engineering and infrastructure automation. It typically requires a bachelor's degree, with a median salary of $130,000 per year and much faster than average projected job growth.

Median pay

$130,000/yr

Typical range

$78,000 to $205,000

Job growth

25%

Openings / yr

11,000

Majors that lead here

Computer Science Software Engineering Information Technology Computer Engineering

Key skills

Linux Systems
Cloud Infrastructure
Automation
Monitoring and Observability
Incident Management

Helpful certifications

AWS Solutions Architect
Google Cloud Professional DevOps Engineer
CKA (Certified Kubernetes Administrator)

Is this career a fit?

Remote-friendly

90/100

Work-life balance

60/100

Stress level

55/100

Satisfaction

77/100

Related careers

Product Manager$145,000 median
Software Developer$132,270 median
DevOps Engineer$125,000 median
Cybersecurity Analyst$120,360 median
Data Scientist$108,020 median
Database Administrator$101,000 median

Not sure this is right for you?

Take our free 2-minute quiz to match your interests to majors and careers.

Take the major quiz

Salary and job-growth figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook (wages May 2023, projections 2022-2032) and O*NET. National figures; actual pay varies by location, employer, and experience.