Author
Utkarsh Sahu
Director, Category Management @ Interview Kickstart || IIM Bangalore || NITW.
If you have a passion for coding and automation, becoming a site reliability engineer might be the perfect job. SREs are in high demand as they work to reduce operational costs while enhancing the reliability of the software development processes of an organization.
To land an SRE role in FAANG+ companies and get the best site reliability engineer salary packages, you’ll need a background in software or system administration or systems engineering along with experience in IT operations. Read this article to learn more about the site reliability engineer’s salary.
If you are preparing for a tech interview, check out our technical interview checklist, interview questions page, and salary negotiation e-book to get interview-ready!
Having trained over 21,000 software engineers, we know what it takes to crack the most challenging tech interviews. Our alums consistently land offers from FAANG+ companies. The highest ever offer received by an IK alum is a whopping $1.267 Million!
At IK, you get the unique opportunity to learn from expert instructors who are hiring managers and tech leads at Google, Facebook, Apple, and other top Silicon Valley tech companies.
Want to nail your next tech interview? Sign up for our FREE Webinar.
To help simplify your research on the site reliability engineering salary packages, in this article, we’ll cover:
As a site reliability engineer, you’ll be working between development and operations and need to be familiar with IT operations. A huge part of this role includes writing and developing code to automate processes.
These consist of testing production environments, studying logs, and dealing with any issues. The engineer must be an expert coder to write the code for these processes. Further, these automation processes help developers concentrate on feature development, allowing them to get new features to the product stage soon.
When it comes to the operations team, it results in a decrease in their workload since an SRE is responsible for automating solutions for recurring problems. Essentially, a site reliability engineer keeps shuttling between development and operations and works on maintaining an equilibrium between them.
The main goal of SREs is to concentrate on automation so that they can improve the performance and efficiency of software development processes and monitor them at the same time.
Wondering what the interview process looks like for SREs? Read Google SRE Interview Process.
As an SRE, you’re required to have several technical skills, such as:
If you’re preparing for an SRE interview, read Google SRE Interview Preparation for some helpful tips.
The average base salary of a site reliability engineer is $133,723 per year in the US (Source: indeed.com). Since this is an average figure, it can change based on the role, experience, location, company, and several other factors.
Further, the site reliability engineer manager’s salary is $200,000 per year on average, and the senior site reliability engineer’s salary is $140,000 per year (Soruce: comparably.com).
As you go up the ladder and gain more skills and experience, your salary will increase in a manner similar to the one given below:
(Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Compensation Survey)
When applying at FAANG+ companies, here are the site reliability engineer’s salary packages you can expect:
(Source: glassdoor.com)
As the table above shows, Google’s site reliability engineers’ salary is more than the other FAANG+ companies. However, this figure includes stock options and bonuses as well. So before you start applying, make sure to do your research.
Cities that offer the highest site reliability engineer’s salary packages in the US have been given below:
(Source: indeed.com)
Considered one of the most fulfilling roles of engineering, as an SRE, you might even sometimes be in a position where your work can improve your coworkers’ lives. Further, you’ll also be learning about several IT and software development disciplines and consistently work on becoming a better developer.
Q1. What does a site reliability engineer do?
Site reliability engineers are responsible for developing a bridge between development and operations using software engineering concepts for system administration topics. They work on creating systems and software that’ll enhance site reliability and performance.
Q2. What’s the average site reliability engineer salary?
On average, a site reliability engineer makes $133,723 per year in the US, according to Indeed.com.
Q3. Is site reliability engineering hard?
One of the most in-demand engineering roles, site reliability engineering isn’t an easy career path. To become one, an SRE needs to have development and operations skills or a Pi-shaped skill set.
Q4. Which is better, SRE or DevOps?
To put it simply, DevOps refers to the writing and deployment of code, while SRE is much more complicated since the team takes a more detailed approach while working on the system. A DevOps team takes an agile approach when working on a product or app.
Q5. How much does a senior site reliability engineer make?
A senior site reliability engineer’s salary is $140,000 per year, according to Comparably.com.
If you need help with your prep, join Interview Kickstart’s Site Reliability Engineer Interview Course — the first-of-its-kind, domain-specific tech interview prep program designed and taught by FAANG+ instructors.
IK is the gold standard in tech interview prep. Our programs include a comprehensive curriculum, unmatched teaching methods, FAANG+ instructors, and career coaching to help you nail your next tech interview.
Attend our free webinar to amp up your career and get the salary you deserve.
Time Zone:
The 11 Neural “Power Patterns” For Solving Any FAANG Interview Problem 12.5X Faster Than 99.8% OF Applicants
The 2 “Magic Questions” That Reveal Whether You’re Good Enough To Receive A Lucrative Big Tech Offer
The “Instant Income Multiplier” That 2-3X’s Your Current Tech Salary
The 11 Neural “Power Patterns” For Solving Any FAANG Interview Problem 12.5X Faster Than 99.8% OF Applicants
The 2 “Magic Questions” That Reveal Whether You’re Good Enough To Receive A Lucrative Big Tech Offer
The “Instant Income Multiplier” That 2-3X’s Your Current Tech Salary
Just drop your name and email so we can send your Power Patterns PDF straight to your inbox. No Spam!
By sharing your contact details, you agree to our privacy policy.
Time Zone: Asia/Dhaka
We’ve sent the Power Patterns PDF to your inbox — it should arrive in the next 30 seconds.
📩 Can’t find it? Check your promotions or spam folder — and mark us as safe so you don’t miss future insights.
We’re hosting a private session where FAANG insiders walk through how they actually use these Power Patterns to crack interviews — and what sets top performers apart.
🎯 If you liked the PDF, you’ll love what we’re sharing next.
Time Zone:
