DevOps Engineer Salary in Seattle 2026: $140K-$280K Complete Guide
From Kubernetes to Cash: What DevOps Engineers Actually Earn in the Pacific Northwest
Seattle has become one of the premier markets for DevOps engineers in the United States. The concentration of cloud computing giants — Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud all maintain major engineering presence here — creates intense competition for infrastructure talent that drives salaries well above the national average.
This guide breaks down exactly what DevOps engineers earn in Seattle in 2026 — by experience level, by employer, and after the Washington state tax advantage — plus the skills that move you into the top quartile.
See current Seattle DevOps engineer salary data →Seattle DevOps Market Overview
Seattle’s DevOps ecosystem is defined by three structural advantages: the highest concentration of cloud employers in the world, a state income tax rate of zero percent, and a regional culture that has embraced platform engineering and site reliability as first-class engineering disciplines.
Amazon AWS is the world’s largest cloud provider and employs more DevOps and infrastructure engineers than any other company in Seattle. AWS teams span everything from EC2 and Kubernetes infrastructure to internal developer platforms serving tens of thousands of Amazon engineers. The scale of the problems — running the cloud that runs the internet — means AWS is constantly hiring senior infrastructure talent. Microsoft Azure in Redmond employs thousands of DevOps engineers across Azure infrastructure, GitHub Actions, Azure DevOps, and internal platform teams. Microsoft’s shift toward cloud-first has made DevOps engineering central to nearly every product group. Boeing and T-Mobile represent the industrial and telecommunications employers. Boeing’s digital transformation has created sustained demand for DevOps engineers in aerospace-grade infrastructure. T-Mobile’s Bellevue HQ is one of the largest telecom engineering operations in the US, with strong CI/CD and cloud migration hiring. Expedia Group runs a major engineering organization in Seattle focused on travel technology infrastructure at scale. Tableau (now part of Salesforce) and a growing cluster of Series B–D startups in the South Lake Union corridor round out the employer landscape.The result: DevOps engineers in Seattle rarely have trouble finding opportunities. The harder problem is choosing between them.
Compare DevOps salaries across all cities →DevOps Engineer Salary by Level in Seattle (2026)
Salary ranges below represent total annual compensation (base + RSUs + bonus) based on current market data. Base salaries account for roughly 65–75% of total comp at large tech companies.
Junior / Associate DevOps Engineer (0–2 years)
Base salary: $95,000–$125,000 Total comp: $100,000–$140,000 Typical skills: Linux administration, basic AWS/Azure, CI/CD fundamentals, Git, Docker basicsEntry-level DevOps engineers in Seattle earn significantly more than their counterparts in most US cities. The floor is higher because even junior infrastructure roles require cloud proficiency — on-premise-only candidates rarely make it past screening at Seattle’s major employers.
Mid-Level DevOps Engineer (2–5 years)
Base salary: $130,000–$170,000 Total comp: $150,000–$210,000 Typical skills: Kubernetes, Terraform, Helm, CI/CD pipelines, AWS/Azure/GCP, monitoring and observability stacksThis is where the Seattle DevOps market really separates from national norms. Mid-level engineers with Kubernetes production experience and Terraform proficiency are in extraordinary demand. A 3-year DevOps engineer with strong cloud-native skills can command $180K+ total comp at Amazon or Microsoft.
Senior DevOps Engineer (5–8 years)
Base salary: $160,000–$210,000 Total comp: $195,000–$260,000 Typical skills: Platform engineering, multi-cluster Kubernetes, IaC at scale, SRE practices, incident management, cross-team leadershipSenior DevOps engineers in Seattle regularly clear $200K total comp. The defining characteristic is autonomy: seniors design systems, not just maintain them. Engineers who can own the developer experience — internal platforms, golden paths, self-service tooling — command premiums even at this level.
Staff / Principal DevOps Engineer (8+ years)
Base salary: $200,000–$260,000 Total comp: $250,000–$320,000+ Typical skills: Org-wide infrastructure strategy, FinOps, multi-region architecture, platform product ownership, engineering management interfaceStaff-level engineers at Amazon (L7) or Microsoft (Level 65+) can reach $300K+ total comp. At this level, the role blurs with engineering manager and principal SRE. The salary ceiling is less a function of skills than of scope: how many teams and engineers does your infrastructure serve?
Check your current salary against Seattle market data →Top Employers for DevOps Engineers in Seattle
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS is the benchmark employer. Compensation is competitive at every level, and the scope of infrastructure problems is unmatched. The trade-off: Amazon’s on-call culture and operational tempo are demanding. L5–L6 engineers earn $175K–$280K total comp. AWS also offers the densest internal transfer opportunities — moving from one AWS team to another can mean a 15–25% salary increase without leaving the company.
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft pays slightly below Amazon at senior levels but offers better work-life balance and a more predictable RSU vesting schedule. Azure DevOps, GitHub (now headquartered in San Francisco but with major engineering in Redmond), and Microsoft’s internal IT transformation teams are active hiring grounds. Senior engineers earn $185K–$265K total comp. Microsoft’s Level 62–65 band covers most mid-to-senior DevOps roles.
Google Cloud
Google’s Kirkland and Seattle offices focus heavily on cloud infrastructure, Kubernetes (Google invented it), and internal developer tooling. Google’s SRE culture is the most mature in the industry, and the company pays accordingly: $190K–$310K for senior SREs and DevOps engineers. Google’s stock performance makes RSUs particularly attractive here.
Boeing
Boeing’s digital transformation has created unusual DevOps opportunities in aerospace — with higher job security than pure tech companies and lower salary ceilings. Expect $115K–$160K base, with total comp rarely exceeding $180K. The appeal is stability, mission-critical infrastructure work, and a well-defined career ladder.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile’s Bellevue HQ runs major DevOps hiring for network infrastructure, cloud migration, and 5G platform engineering. Salaries run $140K–$210K total comp. T-Mobile is an underrated employer in the Seattle market — less competitive hiring pressure than FAANG means faster interviews and slightly more negotiating room.
Expedia Group
Expedia runs large-scale travel infrastructure with significant Kubernetes and AWS investment. Total comp ranges $150K–$230K. Expedia has invested heavily in internal developer experience and platform engineering, making it a good fit for engineers who want to shape tooling rather than just operate it.
Startups and Scale-Ups
Seattle’s startup ecosystem — particularly around South Lake Union and Capitol Hill — includes infrastructure-heavy companies in fintech, healthcare tech, and enterprise SaaS. Startups typically pay $120K–$160K base with meaningful equity (0.1–0.5% for senior engineers at Series B–C companies). The risk-reward calculation depends heavily on the company’s trajectory, but equity outcomes in Seattle startups have historically been solid.
Washington State Tax Advantage
Washington has no state income tax. For a DevOps engineer earning $175,000 in Seattle, this is worth approximately $12,000–$18,000 per year compared to a California-equivalent role, depending on marginal rate.
Take-home comparison (approximate, $175K base):The tax advantage is permanent and compounds over a career. A DevOps engineer who spends 10 years in Seattle versus San Francisco at equivalent salaries keeps roughly $120,000–$180,000 more in after-tax income.
Seattle’s cost of living is also meaningfully lower than San Francisco. While Seattle is expensive by national standards — median 1-bedroom rent runs $2,100–$2,600 — it’s 20–30% below San Francisco equivalents.
Compare software engineer salaries in Seattle →Key Skills That Move the Salary Needle
Not all DevOps skills pay equally in Seattle’s market. The following skills command measurable premiums above the base ranges:
Kubernetes (Production Experience)
Kubernetes administration is table stakes for senior roles — but production Kubernetes at scale (multi-cluster, federation, service mesh with Istio or Linkerd) commands $15K–$25K premiums. Engineers who can design and troubleshoot Kubernetes at Amazon or Google scale are in permanent short supply.
Terraform and Infrastructure-as-Code
Terraform proficiency is expected. Deep Terraform expertise — module design, state management at scale, Terragrunt, Atlantis workflows — differentiates senior candidates meaningfully. Pulumi is gaining traction at Microsoft-adjacent companies.
CI/CD Pipeline Architecture
GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, Jenkins, and Tekton are the dominant tools in Seattle’s market. Engineers who can design CI/CD pipelines from scratch — rather than just maintain existing ones — earn more. Experience with GitOps and progressive delivery (canary deployments, feature flags) is particularly valued.
AWS / Azure / GCP Expertise
AWS is the primary cloud in Seattle by volume. AWS Solutions Architect Professional or DevOps Engineer Professional certification adds credibility and $5K–$15K to offers. Multi-cloud engineers (AWS + Azure or AWS + GCP) are especially valued at companies running hybrid or multi-cloud architectures.
Monitoring, Observability, and SRE Practices
Datadog, Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, PagerDuty — engineers who own the observability stack and can define SLOs, SLIs, and error budgets are increasingly rare. The SRE skill set (error budgets, runbooks, post-mortem culture) adds $20K+ at companies that take it seriously.
Take the CareerCheck quiz to benchmark your DevOps skills →Seattle vs Other Tech Hubs for DevOps Engineers
| Market | Median Total Comp | State Income Tax | Net Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $195,000 | 0% | Baseline |
| San Francisco | $215,000 | 13.3% | -$12K to -$20K after tax |
| New York | $185,000 | 10.9% + NYC | -$8K to -$15K after tax |
| Austin | $160,000 | 0% | -$35K gross |
| Remote | $150,000 | Varies | Varies by location |
San Francisco nominally pays more — but after California taxes, the after-tax advantage disappears for most income levels. New York’s combined state and city tax burden is one of the highest in the country. Austin has no state income tax but DevOps salaries run 15–20% below Seattle.
Seattle’s position is hard to beat for DevOps engineers specifically: the cloud employer concentration means more jobs, higher floors, and faster career progression than most markets.
See full salary data for DevOps engineers nationwide →Negotiation Tips for Seattle DevOps Engineers
Know the Level Before You Apply
Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all level engineers before extending offers. Knowing whether you’re targeting L5 vs L6 (Amazon) or Level 62 vs Level 64 (Microsoft) changes negotiation strategy entirely. Ask about level during the recruiter screen — it signals sophistication and helps you benchmark the offer against public compensation data.
Get Competing Offers
The single most effective negotiation strategy in Seattle is a competing offer. Amazon and Microsoft both have known policies of matching or beating offers from FAANG competitors. A Google offer in hand before negotiating with Amazon is worth — based on reported outcomes — $20K–$50K in additional total comp at Amazon.
Focus on RSUs, Not Just Base
At senior levels, base salary is often band-limited. The flexible levers are RSU grant size, sign-on bonus, and RSU vesting schedule. A recruiter who can’t move base by more than $10K may be able to move RSUs by $40K. Know your 4-year total comp number and negotiate toward it.
Certifications as Negotiation Anchors
AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional, Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), or Google Cloud Professional DevOps Engineer certifications are tangible credentials that justify salary floor increases. They’re also relatively fast to obtain if you’re actively interviewing — a new certification between offer and negotiation has been used successfully by candidates to justify above-band compensation.
Negotiate Timing, Not Just Amount
RSU grants vest over 4 years. If you’re 2 years into a vesting schedule at your current employer, leaving means forfeiting unvested equity. Smart negotiation includes a sign-on bonus that covers your unvested equity — a completely standard ask at Amazon and Microsoft, and one that can add $30K–$80K to your total first-year compensation.
Compare software engineer and DevOps salaries in Seattle →Is Seattle the Right Market for DevOps Engineers in 2026?
For DevOps engineers with 3+ years of cloud-native experience, Seattle offers a combination that’s hard to replicate: the highest concentration of cloud employers in the world, zero state income tax, and a tech culture that treats infrastructure engineering as a first-class discipline rather than an afterthought.
The trade-offs are real. Seattle’s weather is famously gray from October through April. Housing costs have risen significantly over the last decade. Amazon’s operational culture is demanding, and on-call expectations at cloud companies are higher than in many other markets.
But the financial mathematics favor Seattle clearly. A DevOps engineer earning $195K median total comp in Seattle takes home more than a $215K San Francisco counterpart after state taxes — and lives in a city that’s meaningfully cheaper. Over a 10-year career, that differential compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Use CareerCheck’s Seattle DevOps engineer salary tool to benchmark your current compensation against live market data — and find out whether it’s time to negotiate, move, or make your next career move.
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