Salary · IT & Cloud
AWS SysOps Administrator Associate (SOA-C02) salary: what it pays (2026)
Indicative pay ranges for roles that commonly value SOA-C02 - broken down by role and by market. These are orientation figures, not a salary survey, so use them to compare and plan, then verify for your own city and year.
Indicative ranges for orientation only - not surveyed data, and not financial or career advice.
What SOA-C02 tends to pay
US SysOps and cloud-operations staff who hold this credential commonly report indicative pay around ~$90k-125k. It is an operations-focused associate cert; pay tracks systems and cloud-ops roles rather than architect roles.
Pay by role (indicative)
| Cloud Systems Administrator | ~$85k-115k |
|---|---|
| AWS SysOps Administrator | ~$95k-125k |
| Cloud Operations Engineer | ~$105k-140k |
| DevOps Engineer | ~$110k-150k |
Bands are indicative US figures unless stated. Actual pay depends on experience, employer, city and year.
Other markets (indicative)
| United Kingdom | ~£40k-72k |
|---|---|
| Canada | ~CA$85k-125k |
Jobs that often ask for it
- AWS SysOps Administrator
- Cloud Operations Engineer
- Systems Administrator
- Cloud Engineer
- DevOps Engineer
Weigh the pay against the cost
Salary is only half the picture. Before you commit, check what SOA-C02 actually costs to sit and maintain, and where it can take you over a career.
- See the full fee breakdown in the SOA-C02 cost and overview (exam fee, retake, materials and renewal).
- Estimate your total spend, including a possible retake, with our exam cost calculator.
Where SOA-C02 leads (with a pay ladder)
These career paths show how pay typically climbs stage by stage, and where SOA-C02 fits on the way up: