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 2,575 unique DFIR job postings collected 2026-05-30 to 2026-09-21 across 13 countries, 789 (31%) state pay. Normalised to US dollars, the median advertised DFIR salary is US$102,200 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$59,500 | US$42,800 to US$68,100 | 53 |
| Lead/Principal | US$151,800 | US$106,600 to US$184,900 | 113 |
| Manager | US$115,400 | US$84,700 to US$153,300 | 48 |
| Mid | US$82,500 | US$62,200 to US$114,100 | 319 |
| Senior | US$120,200 | US$85,700 to US$152,500 | 254 |
By role focus (all countries, US dollars)
| Role focus | Median | Middle half | Postings stating pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Forensics | US$87,600 | US$61,600 to US$129,600 | 390 |
| Incident Response | US$118,700 | US$87,100 to US$151,700 | 330 |
| OSINT | US$64,200 | US$57,100 to US$136,600 | 16 |
| Other | US$101,600 | US$75,600 to US$139,900 | 7 |
| eDiscovery | US$86,200 | US$64,700 to US$115,600 | 46 |
By country (local currency)
| Country | Median advertised salary | Middle half |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | AUD 126,400 | AUD 99,800 to AUD 136,100 |
| Canada | CAD 120,000 | CAD 96,600 to CAD 149,600 |
| Germany | EUR 75,000 | EUR 51,000 to EUR 87,500 |
| India | INR 575,000 | INR 364,600 to INR 1,989,600 |
| Ireland | EUR 77,500 | EUR 64,400 to EUR 99,900 |
| Netherlands | EUR 67,900 | EUR 58,600 to EUR 79,100 |
| New Zealand | NZD 90,600 | NZD 88,000 to NZD 94,000 |
| Singapore | SGD 144,000 | SGD 133,500 to SGD 154,500 |
| United Kingdom | GBP 47,400 | GBP 41,000 to GBP 65,600 |
| United States | US$135,000 | 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.
More DFIR career tools
- DFIR Skills Demand Explorer: the tools and certifications employers ask for
- DFIR Training Finder: courses and certifications ranked by employer demand
- DFIR Tool and Vendor Directory: commercial and open-source tools by category
- Practice and CTF Directory: evidence datasets, labs and challenges to build skills on
- Tool Release Tracker: latest releases across the open-source DFIR toolbox