New York, Virginia Have Best Cybersecurity Career Prospects

Cybersecurity is one of the most lucrative career options for students. Lately, many universities are expanding their program offering base to include cybersecurity, while others are offering scholarships to attract and retain talent.

A new 2019 US Cybersecurity Salary & Employment Study compiled by Comparitech looked at the cybersecurity job hotspots, including the states with the highest salary and the most jobs.

New York ranks top among all other states when it comes to paying cybersecurity analysts. They are paid an average annual salary of $122,000. While Virginia ranks top for having most people in such roles with 14,180 people in its workforce.

“Virginia is the best state to be an information security analyst,” the report read.

“It was the highest-ranking state for the number of people currently employed in these roles and employment per 1,000 jobs. It also received a high score for its average annual salary and the number of job vacancies currently available.”

Texas, Colorado, New York, and North Carolina were the other four states that made up the top five having 3,570 people employed in cybersecurity roles earning them more than $104,430 at an average.

Last year, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen described cyber attacks and hacking as a bigger threat to the U.S. than physical attacks, without specifically mentioning the extension of these threats to higher education institutes.

On the other end of the spectrum, Puerto Rico, Maine, Montana, Indiana, and Vermont are the states in the bottom five with less than 1,000 people currently in such roles and annual packages ranging between $42,440 and $84,680.

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