How much do digital forensics and incident response roles pay? Explore salary benchmarks from the job postings Forensic Focus tracks every week, filtered by country, role focus and seniority.
DFIR salaries at a glance
Of 2,008 unique DFIR job postings collected 2026-05-30 to 2026-08-31 across 13 countries, 623 (31%) state pay. Normalised to US dollars, the median advertised DFIR salary is US$104,800 a year; the middle half of postings runs from US$69,100 to US$140,000.
By seniority (all countries, US dollars)
| Seniority | Median | Middle half | Postings stating pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | US$61,600 | US$53,300 to US$70,400 | 36 |
| Lead/Principal | US$152,200 | US$115,500 to US$184,500 | 88 |
| Manager | US$109,300 | US$81,700 to US$164,200 | 39 |
| Mid | US$81,900 | US$61,800 to US$114,100 | 262 |
| Senior | US$120,200 | US$85,000 to US$151,600 | 196 |
By role focus (all countries, US dollars)
| Role focus | Median | Middle half | Postings stating pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Forensics | US$89,800 | US$62,600 to US$128,700 | 316 |
| Incident Response | US$118,700 | US$89,100 to US$151,400 | 258 |
| OSINT | US$60,900 | US$51,100 to US$82,600 | 12 |
| Other | US$109,200 | US$80,400 to US$151,400 | 6 |
| eDiscovery | US$83,500 | US$72,700 to US$117,900 | 31 |
By country (local currency)
| Country | Median advertised salary | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | AUD 127,800 | AUD 100,000 to AUD 136,100 |
| Canada | CAD 117,500 | CAD 95,400 to CAD 140,000 |
| Germany | EUR 80,500 | EUR 51,000 to EUR 100,000 |
| India | INR 575,000 | INR 389,100 to INR 1,968,800 |
| Ireland | EUR 77,500 | EUR 67,400 to EUR 93,600 |
| Netherlands | EUR 71,500 | EUR 58,600 to EUR 80,000 |
| New Zealand | NZD 91,200 | NZD 89,900 to NZD 91,200 |
| Singapore | SGD 147,000 | SGD 136,500 to SGD 156,400 |
| United Kingdom | GBP 47,100 | GBP 41,300 to GBP 65,200 |
| United States | US$134,600 | US$110,000 to US$165,000 |
Countries are listed alphabetically; a country is shown only when at least 5 postings there state pay in its main currency.
Method: figures are advertised salary ranges normalised to annual amounts (midpoint of a range), not payslips; US-dollar figures use exchange rates as of 2026-05-30. Small samples are suppressed rather than shown as unreliable figures. Use the explorer above to filter by country, role focus and seniority, or to compare your own salary against the advertised range.
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