AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries Explained: Skills, Demand, and Career Growth

Cloud computing has been growing over decades to meet business demands. The technology is essential as it allows organizations to scale their business and maintain flexibility whilst being able to focus on business operations instead of complex IT infrastructure.

An Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud practitioner is responsible for the management of an organization's cloud infrastructure. AWS is currently one of the leaders in the Infrastructure-as-as-Service market, meaning the demand for AWS cloud practitioners continues to grow. According to PayScale, the average base salary for those with AWS skills is $117,000 per year.

What Are AWS Cloud Practitioners?

An AWS cloud practitioner oversees an organization's cloud computing architecture, including the design, deployment, and overall maintenance. The main goal of an AWS cloud practitioner is to ensure the cloud environment operates efficiently and is always secure.

The importance of AWS Cloud Practitioner certification

To qualify as an AWS cloud practitioner applicant, you will need to have the right knowledge and skills. Many hiring organizations will require applicants to have a certification in AWS cloud computing technology.

AWS has its own certification programs to ensure that applicants are up to speed on the latest updates. During your career as an AWS cloud practitioner, you will continuously learn new systems and updates.

If you are interested in becoming an AWS cloud practitioner, start with the AWS Cloud Concepts course to learn the fundamentals of cloud computing with AWS.

Factors Influencing AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries

There are a few factors that influence the salary of an AWS cloud practitioner.

Geographic location

The majority of salaries are dependent on the location of the job. Regions that have a higher cost of living, such as New York or London, will generally have a higher salary and vice versa. However, as we’ve seen, the value of an AWS cloud practitioner is relatively high, and this is reflected in salaries across locations.

Experience Level

Naturally, the experience of a professional will also play a major role in salary. AWS cloud practitioners who have recently qualified will start at a lower salary. Once they gain experience and earn additional AWS certifications, such as Solutions Architect, their value in the job market will increase, and so will their salary.

Industry

The industry an AWS cloud practitioner is in also influences their salary. For example, industries such as technology, finance, and healthcare are heavily reliant on cloud technology for the management of their data, increased security, and scalability. These industries will offer higher salaries due to the demand.

Let’s dive into each of these a bit more.

Please keep in mind that the salary figures that are cited in this article have been gathered from a public data source, Glassdoor, and are accurate at the time of writing (March 2024). They should be used for reference purposes only.

AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries Around the World

AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries by Experience

AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries by Industry

AWS Cloud Practitioner Salaries at Top Companies

It is always good to remember that salaries are dependent on more than these three factors. One of the most significant factors that influence one's salary is the company. Naturally, salaries at major tech companies are often higher than elsewhere.

Building a Career As An AWS Cloud Practitioner

The AWS cloud practitioner certificate is how professionals typically enter the world of cloud computing. It offers an in-depth understanding of cloud concepts, IT services, deployment, operations, and more. With this certification, you can move on to specialized certifications and career paths within the cloud ecosystem.

Career opportunities

The AWS cloud practitioner certification opens up a variety of doors. You can go from being a cloud practitioner to moving into cloud developer, cloud support architect, or similar roles.

Even if you come from a non-technical role, the AWS cloud practitioner certification can help professionals in the sales, marketing, and finance sectors better understand the cloud environment.

Career growth

Once you have the AWS cloud practitioner certification under your belt and have had a good amount of experience in the field, you can further pursue more specialized career paths such as AWS Solution Architect, AWS Developer, or AWS SysOps Admin.

These certifications ensure that individuals are equipped with in-depth knowledge, skills, and tools for these more focused roles.

Combine certifications for increased earning potential

Combining AWS certifications can increase your earning potential drastically.

AWS has a variety of courses that are niche-specific, such as security, machine learning, data analytics, and more. Specialized certifications with a solid foundation from previous certifications make you more competitive and increase your value in the market.

Adding more technical knowledge on top of your AWS cloud practitioner certification will open more doors to opportunities and increase job security and salary.

Combining certifications puts you in a competitive position - your new role is high in demand but low in supply.

Conclusion

We have explored the importance of an AWS cloud practitioner and the main factors that influence salaries. Your location, experience and the industry you work in have a major influence. However, this should not deter you from wanting to pursue a career in AWS cloud computing. The demand for AWS cloud practitioners will continue to grow to meet the tech demands.

If you are looking to start your journey in AWS cloud computing, have a look at our course Introduction to AWS Boto in Python and Streaming Data with AWS Kinesis and Lambda to get a feel of what your day-to-day tasks will entail.

If you’re already familiar with AWS and are looking to take the next step in your career, be sure to prepare with our article on AWS interview questions.