Top 20 Highest-Paying IT Certifications in 2023 | ExitCertified (2024)

Getting a high-paying job in IT is contingent upon one thing: your skills. If you want to increase your income as an IT professional, it’s necessary to increase your knowledge and skillsets. But skillsets alone are not always the answer, especially when you can’t get past the gatekeepers who look for job candidates who hold certifications. That’s why it’s important to not only take training courses but obtain certifications, which attest to your technical capabilities.

The capabilities needed in IT today are in the cloud. The skills needed to design applications and conduct analytics, automation and security are different than those that are needed to work with hardware on premises. No matter your field of interest, you’ll need training and expertise in the latest technologies to get up to speed and move forward in your career.

While IT certifications aren’t always necessary to prove your skills, they enable you to take advantage of the vast variety of IT jobs that can help you earn salaries at the top of the IT field. Employees are needed in IT, and the industry continues to grow. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that overall employment in computer and information technology occupations is projected to grow15% from 2021 to 2031, much faster than the average for all occupations. Over the decade, that increase would result in about 682,800 new jobs.

The Benefits of an IT Certification

HR managers and recruiters are the gatekeepers you must go through to get a job, and often people without the right certification are blocked from going any further in the hiring process. Recruiters want to send hiring managers the highest caliber of candidates they can find so they can be seen as heroes, helping the company obtain the best employees. HR personnel and recruiters understand the exams from major certifying authorities are difficult to pass and serve as proof that you’re qualified for a certain job role. While an IT certification won’t guarantee you a job, it often will get you past the gatekeepers into a meeting with the hiring manager.

Best IT Certifications of 2023

In reviewing data from outside sources and our company’s request for training and certifications, ExitCertified believes the certifications listed below will prove to be some of the most valuable for 2023. And this year like last year, at the top of the certifications pack is acybersecurity career path. That’s because with all the data that’s spread throughout the cloud, attackers continue to look for the weakest link to access your data.

Other top certifications include those for network engineers, solutions engineers, and solutions architects. And as companies continually uploaded more of their business to the cloud, any certification you hold that fits one of the spokes in the CloudCentrix diagram can help you increase your skills and job opportunities.

To help you follow the money in the IT industry, below we’ve listed what we believe to be the top 20 highest-paying certifications for 2023.

The above rankings are based on data from TheBalanceCareer, theMost Valuable IT Certifications | Robert Half, and ExitCertified.