IT support specialist: the job, the pay and the certifications
IT support specialists, the help-desk and desktop-support staff BLS calls computer user support specialists, earned a median $61,860 a year in May 2025. BLS projects the number of these jobs to fall 3.5% between 2025 and 2035, yet still expects about 39,700 openings a year, mostly from people moving on. BLS lists some college, no degree, as the typical entry education. We recommend CompTIA A+ first ($548 for both exams with free study material, November 2026), then Network+. No certification sets pay; these are occupation-wide figures.
The BLS numbers for help-desk and support work
| Jobs in 2025 | 750,600 |
|---|---|
| Projected jobs in 2035 | 724,400 |
| Projected change, 2025–35 | -3.5% |
| Openings per year, 2025–35 average | 39,700 |
| Median annual pay, May 2025 | $61,860 |
| Middle half of pay (25th to 75th percentile) | $49,000 to $79,040 |
| Lowest and highest 10 percent earn less than / more than | $40,980 / $100,540 |
| Typical education to enter (BLS) | Some college, no degree |
| Work experience in a related job (BLS) | None |
Openings exceed growth because BLS counts every job someone leaves, through a move to another occupation or out of the workforce, not only new jobs. Here that works out to openings each year equal to about 5.3% of today's jobs, against a net loss of about 2,620 jobs a year: BLS expects people to leave support work far faster than the job count shrinks.
What the work involves
O*NET lists 16 core tasks. In plain terms: answering users' hardware and software questions, setting up equipment and software for staff, diagnosing problems with manuals, users' reports and diagnostic tools, making small repairs and installs, recording each problem and fix, and checking that systems run day to day. Job titles people report include help desk analyst, desktop support technician and IT support specialist. O*NET places the occupation in Job Zone Three (medium preparation).
Certifications, in the order that usually makes sense
| Step | Certification | Why |
|---|---|---|
| First | CompTIA A+ | Two exams written for people starting in support; no experience required |
| Next | CompTIA Network+ | Networking basics behind many support problems |
| Then, by direction | Security+, CCNA or AZ-104 | Security, networking or cloud administration, depending on where you want to move |
The two CompTIA steps cost about $947 in exam fees with free videos, or several thousand dollars with live classes. If you already work in support, ask your employer to pay for the second; our employer-funding guide covers how to ask.
Where support work leads
The next steps our certification paths lead to have stronger BLS outlooks or higher pay: systems administrators ($99,130 median), information security analysts ($129,180, projected +21%) and, with more experience, network architects. Each needs more than a certificate: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for all three, so check the job ads you are targeting for what they accept instead.
Questions
- How much do IT support specialists make?
- The BLS median for computer user support specialists was $61,860 in May 2025; the middle half earned $49,000 to $79,040.
- Is IT support a dying job?
- BLS projects a 3.5% fall in jobs from 2025 to 2035, but about 39,700 openings a year from turnover. BLS lists some college, no degree, as typical for entry.
- Which certification first for help-desk work?
- We recommend CompTIA A+: it needs no experience and covers hardware, operating systems and troubleshooting.
Next step
Tell us where you are now and where you want to be in two years, and we will reply with a certification plan and its cost.
Ask for an IT support certification plan
Sources
- BLS Employment Projections: Table 1.2, occupational projections 2025–35 (computer user support specialists, 15-1232), checked November 5, 2026
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 national estimates, checked November 5, 2026
- O*NET OnLine: 15-1232.00 Computer User Support Specialists, checked November 5, 2026
Prices are published list prices we recorded on the dates shown, not quotes. How we research.
This page includes information from O*NET OnLine by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. We paraphrased and selected the content; USDOL/ETA has not approved or endorsed it.