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Penetration Testers vs Information Security Analysts

Side-by-side · O*NET · BLS · AI-exposure research · Anthropic Economic Index

A factual, source-backed comparison of Penetration Testers and Information Security Analysts on the dimensions both occupations carry. Every figure is a position within an independent published dataset — not a verdict on which job is better, safer, or more “future-proof.”

Penetration Testers Information Security Analysts
Median pay · BLS OEWS
$108,970
$124,910
Employment · BLS OEWS
439,380
179,430
AI exposure (percentile) · task overlap, not automation
88th pct
74th pct

At a glance

Dimension Penetration Testers Information Security Analysts
Median pay $108,970 $124,910
Employment 439,380 179,430
Employment outlook (2024–34) · BLS projection Growing fast (+8.2%) Growing fast (+28.5%)
Annual openings · BLS projection 31,300 16,000
Typical education · O*NET Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
AI exposure · published exposure studies High · 88th pct High · 74th pct
Global GenAI gradient · ILO ISCO-08 · via crosswalk — —
Observed AI use · Anthropic Economic Index — —
Mostly remote-capable · Dingel–Neiman — —

Pay and employment are BLS OEWS estimates; outlook and openings are BLS 2024–2034 projections; AI exposure and observed-use figures come from separate research and reflect exposure and usage, not predictions that either job will disappear. Compare like with like.

Skills

Specific to Penetration Testers

    Specific to Information Security Analysts

    • Computers and Electronics
    • English Language
    • Reading Comprehension
    • Oral Comprehension
    • Written Comprehension
    • Problem Sensitivity
    • Deductive Reasoning
    • Inductive Reasoning

    Knowledge, skills & abilities O*NET rates as important for each occupation. “Shared” are common to both; the columns list what is distinctive to each (top by the order O*NET surfaces).

    Tools & technology

    Shared: Data base user interface and query software , Operating system software , Development environment software , Object or component oriented development software , Web platform development software , Expert system software , Application server software , Configuration management software , Spreadsheet software , Office suite software .

    Specific to Penetration Testers

    Specific to Information Security Analysts

    Full profiles

    This page is a summary. See the complete source-backed profile for Penetration Testers or Information Security Analysts — tasks, the full skill graph, tools, work context, preparation, wages by percentile, industries, AI exposure and the AI work map.

    More comparisons

    Related occupations you can place side by side on the same sourced scale.

    Sources for this page

    Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

    Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

    Cite this page
    Plain

    Singulariki. "Penetration Testers vs Information Security Analysts." Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Built from O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026. https://singulariki.com/compare/penetration-testers-vs-information-security-analysts

    APA

    Singulariki. (2026). Penetration Testers vs Information Security Analysts. Singulariki: a source-backed encyclopedia of work. Retrieved June 7, 2026, from https://singulariki.com/compare/penetration-testers-vs-information-security-analysts

    BibTeX 
    @misc{singulariki-penetration-testers-vs-information-security-analysts,
  title  = {Penetration Testers vs Information Security Analysts},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2024; BLS Employment Projections 2024–2034; Anthropic Economic Index v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27); Microsoft “Working with AI” working-with-ai; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/compare/penetration-testers-vs-information-security-analysts}
}

    Citations name the underlying public dataset releases — they reflect what this page is built from, not just the URL.