More clearance, more money

Security Clearance Jobs Salary Survey Results

Life is good for information technology and engineering professionals with the highest security clearances, especially for those who live in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, according to a new salary survey.

The average national salary of IT management executives who hold the highest active clearances is $102,500. Job candidates who have passed polygraph tests earn an average of $10,000 or more a year than those who have not taken the tests. Clearances issued by the Energy Department command the highest salaries. Clearances from the National Security Agency and the CIA are not far behind.

Evan Lesser, director of ClearanceJobs, which published the survey data, said salaries for workers with security clearances have been increasing since the 2001 terrorist attacks. ClearanceJobs, an Internet job board for professionals with U.S. government security clearances, released the new salary data Jan. 8. Dice, the company that operates the job board, collected the data from Nov. 20, 2005 to Jan. 20, 2006.

The survey found that security clearances help close the gap between male and female salaries. Among those surveyed, women with security clearances earn 85 cents for every $1 that men who have security clearances earn. Women without security clearances earn 77 cents for every $1 that men who lack security clearances earn, according to the survey of more than 700 job seekers with active security clearances who registered on the ClearanceJobs board.