The 2025-26 SF Ben Salary Survey Results are live! We couldn’t be more excited to share the most comprehensive and up-to-date survey of Salesforce professionals – and what it means to work in the Salesforce ecosystem. Brought to you by us and our sponsor, Quality Clouds, this survey report provides comprehensive information about who works in the ecosystem, the state of the job market, which skills and certifications are making a difference, job satisfaction, and, of course, current trends and data around salaries and compensation.
It also includes breakdowns of top salaries and other detailed insights from the geographies with the largest responses. Here are a few teasers to give you an idea of the insights you’ll find inside…
Impact of Remote Work on Your Pay
We asked those surveyed how their compensation has changed over the past year. When we overlaid this data with their work location arrangements (office, remote, or hybrid), it brought to light a trend where office-based workers were more likely to see their pay increase.
We’ve been reporting on return-to-office mandates for the past couple of years. Over that time, despite a growing trend across all sectors, our surveys – including this one – have consistently shown that office-only work remains consistently around 10%. Half of respondents are able to maintain a fully remote arrangement, with the remainder in hybrid work. This year’s salary survey found that there may be a cost to not heading back to the office full-time.
Of the three groups, in-office workers had the highest number of respondents who received a pay increase in the past year. Hybrid and remote employees, on the other hand, showed much higher rates of pay decreases. Are employers beginning to see remote work as a perk? Or is in-office work becoming something worth offering additional compensation for?
Let’s stress that pay increases were not absent in remote and hybrid work, just less common proportionally. But this is a trend worth watching. Certainly, if you’re looking for a given work arrangement, it may be worth doing some due diligence before joining. Or, if you don’t mind office work – or are very close to a potential employer – you may be able to improve your benefits.
Diversity of Educational Background
When I was in university (a long time ago), I imagined software and technology to be populated by former computer science graduates, along with some business studies. When I, with my Theater and French degree, finally joined a Silicon Valley startup, I felt like I needed to excuse away or hide my educational experience.
But eventually, I learned there were quite a few of us from “non-traditional” backgrounds who had built careers in tech. While this discussion has gone on for some time, our survey puts some numbers to those from these non-traditional educational backgrounds.
Our top three groups of respondents studied computer science (24%), business administration (23%), or engineering (10.9%), making a total of 58%. That means a whopping 42% came from some other educational backgrounds.
And the spread is broad, including natural sciences, social sciences, languages, communications, and other humanities. A whole 13.1% of respondents selected our “other” bucket, which could include any other degree program out there, from art to theater to music. Interestingly, a very small number (1.6%) studied mathematics.
But here’s the hitch: when looking at median salaries across these degree fields, it reveals something everyone should notice. Median income is notably highest for former students of math, business administration, computer science, biology, and engineering. Since our data skews toward more experienced workers, it begs the question of whether those coming from non-traditional educational backgrounds are undervaluing their labor.
Or could it be that the top-salary groups started on higher pay packages earlier in their careers, allowing them to climb the salary ladder sooner and stay there longer?
Certainly, if you’re entering into a salary negotiation anytime soon, you’ll want to keep this in mind. And if your educational background is no longer relevant when held up against the body of work from your recent career, you may want to rethink your value.
Silent Disabilities
It’s more likely than not that you’re working with a colleague with some form of disability. Our survey found that 57.8% of respondents reported living with a cognitive or mental health condition. This category spans a large spread of both visible and invisible impairments – some are temporary, and some are lifelong conditions. In a world coded for ableism, many of these are completely invisible to others.
It’s worth calling out that across most disability categories, median salary trends are lower than for those identifying no disability. Individuals with cognitive or mental health conditions are the least affected in this regard, earning about 8% less. However, those with more obvious disabilities – such as visual and mobility impairments – earn 20-25% less than individuals with no disability.
Such a disability glass ceiling is not an unknown or new phenomenon. Almost 15 years ago, the UK government urged businesses to address this problem. Perhaps what is most shocking is that in an ecosystem that seemed to pride itself on diversity, equity, and inclusion for so many years, a disparity so stark still exists.
Final Thoughts: So Many More Insights
This is just a taste – the 2025-26 SF Ben Salesforce Salary Survey Results are filled with even more insights. So go download it today, and come back and tell us what you think.
How are you going to use this data to uplevel your career and your work situation? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments: