DevOps Engineer Salary in New York 2026: $130K-$280K Complete Guide

New York City is one of the most demanding - and most lucrative - markets for DevOps engineers in the United States. The city's unique combination of global financial institutions, Big Tech engineering hubs, and a fast-growing startup ecosystem creates intense competition for cloud infrastructure talent that pushes salaries well above the national average.

This guide breaks down exactly what DevOps engineers earn in NYC in 2026 - by experience level, by employer, and after New York's combined state and city tax - plus the skills that move you into the top quartile of earners.

See current NYC DevOps engineer salary data →

The NYC DevOps Market in 2026

New York's DevOps landscape is shaped by two dominant forces: the concentration of global financial institutions that require mission-critical infrastructure, and the growing presence of Big Tech companies that have built substantial engineering operations in Midtown and Hudson Yards.

Unlike Seattle - where cloud providers set the tone - NYC's market is anchored by financial services, where uptime requirements are measured in milliseconds and compliance automation adds a premium layer of complexity that commands higher salaries for experienced engineers.

Goldman Sachs runs one of the most sophisticated internal platform engineering operations in the world. Their Marquee developer platform and internal cloud infrastructure teams employ hundreds of DevOps and SRE engineers in NYC. The complexity - trading systems, real-time risk, regulatory reporting - means Goldman pays at the top of the market. JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States and has made a visible push into becoming a technology company. Their JPMC public cloud, Kubernetes-based platform engineering teams, and developer experience initiatives have created substantial DevOps hiring demand across all levels. Bloomberg LP employs thousands of engineers in its Midtown headquarters. Bloomberg's terminal infrastructure and financial data systems are some of the most high-stakes in the industry. DevOps engineers here work on distributed systems that power global financial markets, and the pay reflects that responsibility. Amazon, Google, and Meta all maintain significant engineering presence in NYC, competing directly with financial firms for infrastructure talent. Amazon's NYC offices handle advertising tech and Alexa engineering; Google's 12,000-employee Chelsea office works on Search, Cloud, and YouTube; Meta's NYC team focuses on infrastructure and ads. All three pay at Big Tech scale with RSU-heavy packages. Cloudflare and the broader startup ecosystem round out the picture. NYC's fintech (Stripe, Plaid, Brex), media-tech (Spotify, Vimeo), and SaaS companies have built substantial DevOps teams that offer equity upside as an alternative to the stability of bank compensation.

NYC DevOps Engineer Salary by Level (2026)

Salary ranges below represent total compensation (base + bonus/RSU) for each level:

Junior DevOps / Cloud Engineer (0-2 years)

$90,000 - $130,000 total comp

Junior roles in NYC typically require familiarity with at least one major cloud provider (AWS preferred), basic Linux administration, and exposure to containerization. Financial firms tend to start higher on base but lighter on equity; startups invert that. Expect $80K–$100K base with $10K–$30K in bonus or RSUs.

Common titles: Cloud Engineer I, DevOps Engineer I, Infrastructure Engineer, SRE Associate

Mid-Level DevOps Engineer (3-5 years)

$130,000 - $185,000 total comp

This is the most competitive hiring bracket in NYC. Mid-level engineers with Kubernetes, Terraform, and CI/CD experience are recruited aggressively by both banks and Big Tech. Financial firms offer $140K–$165K base with substantial cash bonuses; Big Tech tends toward $140K–$160K base with RSUs that can add $30K–$50K/year.

Common titles: DevOps Engineer II, SRE II, Platform Engineer, Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

Senior DevOps Engineer (6-9 years)

$175,000 - $240,000 total comp

Senior DevOps engineers in NYC own large-scale infrastructure, lead platform initiatives, and mentor junior engineers. At Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, the Vice President designation typically aligns with senior IC roles, and VP-level comp can reach $200K–$280K all-in when annual bonuses are included. At Big Tech, Staff and Senior SRE roles pay $185K–$260K.

Common titles: Senior DevOps Engineer, Senior SRE, Staff Platform Engineer, VP Infrastructure (banks)

Staff / Principal DevOps Engineer (10+ years)

$230,000 - $320,000+ total comp

Staff-level infrastructure engineers in NYC are rare and compensated accordingly. These roles involve setting technical direction for platform engineering organizations, influencing architecture at the company-or-division level, and often managing vendor relationships. Financial institutions call these roles "Executive Director" or "Managing Director" at the engineering level, with all-in compensation that can exceed $350K at bulge-bracket banks.

Common titles: Staff SRE, Principal Infrastructure Engineer, Distinguished Engineer, ED/MD Platform Engineering

Compare salary ranges across all levels on CareerCheck →

Top NYC Employers for DevOps Engineers

Goldman Sachs

Goldman is widely regarded as the top-paying employer for DevOps and infrastructure engineers in NYC. Base salaries are competitive but the real differentiator is the cash bonus: mid-level engineers can see $30K–$60K annual bonuses, and senior engineers $80K–$150K. The work is demanding - high-frequency trading infrastructure, risk platform reliability, regulatory compliance automation - but the pay reflects it.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMC's scale creates enormous DevOps hiring volume. The firm has invested heavily in Kubernetes-based platform engineering, multi-cloud strategy, and internal developer experience. Pay is slightly below Goldman on average but still top-of-market, with strong benefits and more predictable bonus structures.

Bloomberg LP

Bloomberg offers strong base salaries ($150K–$200K for senior engineers) with stable compensation that doesn't swing as wildly as bank bonuses. Engineers here build and maintain the infrastructure behind the Bloomberg Terminal - used by 300,000+ finance professionals worldwide. The technical depth and stability attract engineers who prefer lower variance in total comp.

Amazon NYC

Amazon's NYC offices focus on advertising technology and Alexa. AWS infrastructure engineers here work at massive scale. Compensation follows Amazon's global structure: strong RSU packages that vest over 4 years, modest base relative to total comp, and the career development path of the world's largest cloud provider.

Google NYC

Google's Chelsea office is one of the largest tech campuses in NYC with 12,000+ employees. SRE and infrastructure roles at Google offer the most competitive RSU-heavy packages in the city: $180K–$260K total comp for senior SREs. Google's SRE culture - which originated modern site reliability engineering - means DevOps engineers here work on some of the most technically sophisticated infrastructure problems in the industry.

Cloudflare

Cloudflare's NYC office works on their global edge network, DDoS mitigation, and Zero Trust security products. DevOps and infrastructure engineers at Cloudflare earn $145K–$220K in total comp with meaningful equity at a public growth company. The infrastructure scale - serving ~20% of internet traffic - is genuinely impressive on a resume.

NYC Startups (Fintech & SaaS)

Companies like Stripe, Plaid, Brex, Ramp, Rippling, and Datadog all have substantial NYC engineering presence. Total comp ranges from $140K–$250K+ depending on stage and level, with significant equity upside for early-stage hires. The infrastructure challenges at fintech companies - PCI compliance, real-time payment processing, fraud detection - map well to financial sector DevOps experience.

The NYC Tax Reality: What You Actually Take Home

New York City imposes one of the highest combined income tax burdens in the United States. Engineers earning above $1M face effective state+city rates near 14.8%, but even at typical senior engineer salaries, the combined burden is meaningful.

At $170,000 base salary:

Federal income tax: ~$35,000

New York State income tax: ~$15,000 (8.82% effective rate)

New York City income tax: ~$6,600 (3.876%)

FICA (Social Security + Medicare): ~$12,000

Estimated take-home: ~$101,000–$107,000

By comparison, a $155,000 base salary in Seattle (0% state tax) yields roughly $107,000–$113,000 after federal taxes and FICA - more than the NYC $170K salary after NYC's state and city taxes.

Practical implication: When evaluating NYC offers, apply a mental adjustment of 12–15% to account for the state + city tax disadvantage relative to Seattle, Austin, or other no-state-income-tax alternatives. A $170K NYC offer is financially equivalent to roughly $148K in Seattle or Austin in take-home terms.

This doesn't mean NYC is a bad deal - the density of top-paying employers and the career trajectory available at Goldman Sachs, Google, or a Series B fintech startup can justify the tax cost - but you should negotiate with this math in mind.

Key Skills That Drive NYC DevOps Salaries

Kubernetes & Container Orchestration

Multi-cluster Kubernetes administration is the single most in-demand DevOps skill in NYC across both financial services and Big Tech. Engineers who can design, operate, and scale Kubernetes at enterprise scale - including multi-tenancy, network policies, and operator development - command $20K–$40K premiums over generalists.

Terraform & Infrastructure as Code

Terraform proficiency is table-stakes for senior roles. Engineers who go deeper - custom providers, Terraform Cloud/Enterprise, Atlantis workflows, and module library design - are valued at Goldman's internal cloud team and AWS partner firms alike.

AWS (and Multi-Cloud)

AWS is the dominant cloud in NYC's financial sector, with Azure a strong second at Microsoft-aligned banks and GCP growing at Big Tech-adjacent employers. AWS Solutions Architect Professional and AWS DevOps Engineer Professional certifications correlate with $10K–$20K salary bumps at the mid-level. Multi-cloud engineers with AWS + Azure expertise are especially valued at banks running hybrid strategies.

CI/CD & Platform Engineering

Jenkins, GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, and Tekton expertise is in high demand. NYC employers increasingly want engineers who can build internal developer platforms - not just manage pipelines - which means understanding developer experience (DevEx), golden paths, and service catalog tooling.

Site Reliability Engineering (SRE)

SRE practices - SLOs, SLIs, error budgets, chaos engineering, incident management - are particularly valued in financial services where uptime is a regulatory and reputational requirement. Engineers who can implement and evangelize SRE practices at organizations transitioning from traditional ops earn strong premiums.

Security & Compliance Automation

In a city dominated by financial institutions, DevSecOps expertise is a genuine differentiator. Engineers who understand SOC 2, PCI DSS, and financial regulatory compliance - and can automate controls, vulnerability scanning, and audit trails - earn $25K–$45K more than pure infrastructure specialists. Take the CareerCheck career quiz to find your highest-value skill gaps →

NYC vs Seattle vs Austin: Which Market Wins?

NYC wins if: You're targeting financial services, want access to the highest total comp (particularly bonus-heavy structures), or are building a career in trading infrastructure, risk platform, or regulatory tech. Seattle wins if: Tax efficiency matters most, you want to work at Amazon AWS or Microsoft Azure, or you prefer the Pacific Northwest lifestyle with Big Tech stability. Austin wins if: Lower cost of living is a priority, you're comfortable with slightly lower comp in exchange for no state income tax, or you're targeting the growing Austin tech ecosystem at companies like Oracle, Apple, or Dell.

For engineers who are already in NYC or planning to move there, the density of top-paying employers - particularly in finance - means the career ceiling in NYC is genuinely higher than either Seattle or Austin for the right specialization.

Negotiating Your NYC DevOps Salary in 2026

1. Know the total comp number, not just base. Financial sector employers pay large cash bonuses that can exceed base by 30–60% at senior levels. Always negotiate the full package: base, target bonus, signing bonus, and RSU/equity grant. 2. Leverage competing offers across sectors. A Big Tech offer from Google or Amazon creates leverage with Goldman Sachs, and vice versa. Banks compete with tech on base; tech competes with banks on equity. Playing both sides of this dynamic is the most effective negotiation strategy in NYC. 3. Account for the NYC tax math. When comparing an NYC offer to a Seattle or Austin offer, use the 12–15% tax adjustment. If a recruiter says "our compensation is competitive nationally," push back with specific after-tax comparisons. 4. Target Q1 for hiring. NYC financial institutions hire most aggressively in January–March, which is when bonus conversations at prior employers also create movement. Competing offers are most common during this window. 5. Ask about role specifics within DevOps. At banks, "DevOps" can mean very different things: production support vs. platform engineering vs. cloud architecture. Clarifying the actual scope of the role protects you from taking a $185K title that functions like a $140K ops job elsewhere.

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Summary: NYC DevOps Salary Benchmarks (2026)

Junior (0–2 yrs): $90,000–$130,000 total comp

Mid-level (3–5 yrs): $130,000–$185,000 total comp

Senior (6–9 yrs): $175,000–$240,000 total comp

Staff/Principal (10+ yrs): $230,000–$320,000+ total comp

NYC state + city tax impact: ~12.7% on high incomes (≈$12K–$25K/year vs. no-income-tax states)

Top employers: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Bloomberg, Amazon, Google, Cloudflare

See live NYC DevOps salary data and percentile breakdowns →