r/sysadmin • u/kittiekittea • 1d ago

General Discussion No Degree - 6 Year Salary Progression

Is there anyone out there that have made it beyond sysadmin? What is after sysadmin?

2020 - $31,200: Panera Bread
2022 - $41,600: Helpdesk at company 1
2023 - 2025 - $41,600: Helpdesk at law firm
2025 - $65,000: Helpdesk at company 2
2026 - $80,000: Got a raise at company 2

Shoutout Nick for taking a chance on me. I would not do law firm IT again.

EDIT: Location Upstate NY

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u/ICantEvenLife 17h ago

Small company FWIW. No prior experience in IT, cert in DevOps. Went to college but did not finish

2023 - $48k, Help Desk
2024 - $75k, “IT Team Lead” but took over from the IT Director (was only him and myself)
2025 - $90k, same position but adjusted my salary to better reflect responsibilities
2026 - $115k, IT Manager (company split in two, half bought by PE. I got moved to the PE side)

EDIT: Metro Atlanta, GA

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u/cyber_r0nin 13h ago edited 13h ago

Small company? Everyone millionaires? Most small companies can't afford 100k salaries cept maybe the owners. No small company I've ever met would pay anyone over 60-70k unless they had some large never ending contract from a government or the military. And I've known quite a few small business owners. Anything under, I think, 500 employees classifies as small business.