Salesforce Admin salaries are a hot topic. Historically, demand for Salesforce Administrators remained steady, fed by the growing Salesforce economy. More Salesforce customers, more administrators required, right?
Surprising findings, gathered by the Salesforce Talent Ecosystem Report, claimed that there was a global decrease in Administrator supply (declined by 20% in established markets, and 16% in emerging markets). This was paired with the lowest demand growth the report had recorded in its five years.
What’s behind the numbers? One could argue that the ‘traditional’ view of the Salesforce Administrator has shifted. Administrators are tasked with a broader range of responsibilities which garner varying job titles – essentially, the Salesforce admin role comes with a different job title.
We’re confident in a resurgence of the Salesforce Admin role. “Low code” is here to stay – Salesforce are improving upon their “click not code” configuration with each release. Plus, fields will continue to open up the need for admins, such as DevOps – very much the zeitgeist of the 2020s.
Professionals with the right approach to upskilling and career progression will still find themselves in a good position.
With this in mind, how much do Salesforce Admins make? Read on to find out – plus which factors influence your earning potential, and tips on how to improve it.
Salesforce Administrator Salary Averages
North America
| Entry level | Senior level | Contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US ($) | $103,375 | $131,750 | $105.50 p/h |
| Canada (C$) | C$90,000 | C$115,000 | C$75 p/h |
These figures may appear high. Please note that this is the average salary for Salesforce Admins with up to 3 years’ experience. According to recruiter observations with market experience, new Admins just starting out can aim for around $75,000.
Europe
| Entry level | Senior level | Contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK (£) | £40,875 | £57,500 | £404.50 p/d |
| Ireland (€) | €40,500 | €60,000 | €379.50 p/d |
| France (€) | €47,875 | €59,875 | €525 p/d |
| Italy (€) | €25,100 | €30,650 | €315 p/d |
| Germany (€) | €54,375 | €70,375 | €428.5 p/d |
| Spain (€) | €29,250 | €41,750 | - |
| Switzerland (CHF) | 85,500 Fr. | 105,000 Fr. | - |
| Netherlands (€ - monthly) | €3,540 | €4,180+ | - |
| Belgium (€ - monthly) | €2,885 | €3,945 | - |
Asia-Pacific
| Entry level | Senior level | Contract | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (AU$) | AU$101,000 | AU$121,625 | AU$862 p/d |
| Singapore (S$) | S$67,750 | S$90,250 | - |
| Japan (¥) | ¥3,425,000 | ¥5,195,000 | - |
Data source: the data is from the Mason Frank Careers & Hiring Guide, based on self-reported information from 2,500+ Salesforce professionals, spanning a range of job titles, industries, and geographic locations.
Factors that Influence Salesforce Admin Salary
One single salary figure can be misleading, without context. Certain factors at play can result in differences between one professional’s salary, to the next. We will dive into the following factors in this guide:
- Experience (Seniority)
- Certifications
- Generalists vs. Specialists
- Location
Experience (Seniority)
As with any profession, the more experience and responsibility you take on, the higher your salary expectations should be.
We defined a junior/mid-level/senior Admin based on years of experience and the types of activities they are carrying out in our guide:
Certifications
Salesforce professionals love gaining certifications – they are a milestone in your career that proves that you know what you are talking about. Certifications can potentially be used as leverage if you are looking for a more senior position internally, or looking for a job in another company.
In the annual career survey, respondents were asked which certifications are likely to increase their worth as a Salesforce professional.
- 18% believe that holding the Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator is likely to increase your worth (ranked 6th).
- This is closely followed by Salesforce Certified Administrator, where 16% of respondents agree (ranked 7th).
Note: In the report’s previous edition, Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator ranked 7th. Salesforce Certified Administrator didn’t even make the top 10.
Speaking more generally, the survey also asked if they experienced an increase in their salary after earning (any) certification:
- 67% did, reporting an average salary increase of 21%
- 33% did not, their salaries remained the same
Note: In the report’s previous edition, the split was 63% did, 37% did not. While the positive % is higher, the average salary increase has dropped from 26% to 21%.
The chance that your salary could increase the more certifications you earn can’t be ignored but should be taken with a ‘pinch of salt’ alongside the other factors.
Generalists vs. Specialists
There are multiple Admin career pathways that follow a specialist skill set. Usually starting off mastering Sales Cloud, Admins can then verge into a specialization e.g. CPQ, Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
We’ll take a deeper dive into specializations later in the guide. An organization looking for an Admin skilled in more than one platform area will expect to offer more salary, especially for a less common combination of products! However, understanding best practices across multiple feature sets, and business analysis, will also be attractive to organizations that don’t want to lose you.
Location
Salary figures are influenced by location, due to the differences in the cost of living between countries – and within countries (the US is a good example of this economic influence).
Converting all the salaries into US$ makes the geographic comparison easier. Senior Admins in the US reported an average salary of around $132k. The UK Admins on average earn $64.5k, in Spain $41k, and in Australia, the figure is $82k. Please note that at the time of writing, US$ is very strong against £ and €.
How to Improve your Salesforce Admin Salary
If you want to increase your salary, this section is for you. Here are the tips Christine (MVP and long-time Salesforce Admin) and I would like to share with anyone looking to accelerate through this career path.
- Specialize
- Take Certifications
- Nurture “On-demand” Skills
- Work in the Right Role and Team
- Become Self-sufficient
Tip 1: Specialize
There are multiple Admin career pathways that follow a specialist skillset. Mid-level Admins usually work with Sales Cloud or a suite of clouds (Sales + Service Cloud, etc.), which could result in having a specialism eg. CPQ, Salesforce Marketing Cloud.
Combine multi-cloud skills to stand out in the marketplace. An organization looking for an Admin skilled in more than one platform area will expect to offer more salary, especially for a less common combination of products.
There are approximately 30 Salesforce specializations, most of which are totally plausible for a Salesforce Admin. Some specializations require less effort to learn, whereas others are more challenging, with greater pay-off in terms of the “bargaining” chips they give you for your career.
We opened this guide noting that the ‘traditional’ view of the Salesforce Administrator has shifted. These “Admin-adjacent roles” have grown while the supply of “Salesforce Administrators” has dropped. Examples include Business Analyst (+33%), Consultant (+17%), and Solution Architect (+13%) (source). This demonstrates the movement towards specialization.
Tip 2: Take certifications
Certifications are often met with skepticism. Can someone who passes an exam really know what they are talking about?
Experience will always trump certifications, however, certifications will bolster your experience by strengthening your Salesforce best practice knowledge.
Studying for a certification exam requires discipline. You will cover every topic in-depth, and more importantly, learn the trade-offs between different configuration options and when to use them (eg. record types vs. page layouts).
There may be features or concepts you come across in the study guide that you may not have working as a junior Admin, in one, single org.
With a growing number of Salesforce certifications, and once you’ve passed the Salesforce Administrator exam, you have a ‘jumping off’ point into multiple certifications. Depending on which skills you want to nurture, you could choose between:
- Platform App Builder: Demonstrate your knowledge of building custom applications on the Salesforce platform using clicks, not code.
- Sales Cloud Consultant: Taking a deep dive into all the features that make up the Sales Cloud.
- Service Cloud Consultant.
- Salesforce CPQ Specialist: Prepare to implement complex Quote to Cash requirements and business models.
- Business Analyst: Prove your skills when obtaining clear business requirements, facilitating project discovery, process mapping, and creating user stories.
While certifications may not directly increase your salary, they will allow you to be considered for job opportunities that require this level of credibility – in other words, certifications on your resume will enable you to get your foot in the door as a proficient candidate. 90% of those with certifications believe they make you more marketable (source).
Tip 3: Nurture “on-demand” skills
Released in 2022, the Salesforce Admin Skills Kit is a blueprint created by Salesforce, detailing the 14 key skills needed to be an awesome Salesforce Admin. Among the usual admin responsibilities (e.g. user management, security management, process automation), you’ll find plenty of “softer” skills (e.g. communication, attention to detail, business analysis).
These “softer” aspects could be considered “on-demand” skills, as you may not be able to predict when a situation will arise where you need to exercise these skills. They’re not scheduled as part of a typical day-to-day, requiring intuition that can’t be taught.
It goes without saying – they’re incredibly valuable, especially as these situational skills will get you noticed around the organization, and respected by the higher-ups. You can quickly become indispensable – an advisor to many colleagues.
You may find that you’re the only admin, common in smaller organizations where the budget for headcount is restricted. Wear those many “hats” with style.
Tip 4: Work in the right role and team
Although easier said than done, working in the right environment can help you reach the next level. When it comes to deciding between solo admin or admin team, there are both benefits and drawbacks – and yes, as you can see, it’s totally dependent on the organization itself.
| Benefits | Drawbacks | |
|---|---|---|
| Solo admin | Autonomy over your role, more decision-making power, and a reputation as the Salesforce subject matter expert across the organization. | The org you’ll be working with could restrict the products/use cases you encounter. Budget for additional purchases/development work will likely be restricted. |
| Admin team | Step up to a mid-level Admin fast with the right support. Managers (or more experienced Admins) could mentor you and delegate tasks that will stretch your skills, e.g. explaining best practice in a given scenario. | Set clear expectations that you want to be challenged, or risk being ‘pigeon-holed’ by only working on a small part of the whole Salesforce operation. |
A team environment will mean you can venture further into the unknown and still have their support to rely on. Just ensure that you identify the organization’s culture and promotion opportunities first.
Senior Admins could work for larger Enterprise companies in a product owner position, managing a team or external parties to oversee the development of the Salesforce org. If you are a mid-level solo Admin, perhaps consider shooting for a job opportunity that fits that criteria.
Tip 5: Become self-sufficient
While having the right working environment and team around you is important, you need to know where to go for answers.
When faced with questions or some tricky troubleshooting, you should know what you don’t know – yes, that’s not a typo.
As a mid-level Admin, you should be able to describe what your issue is using the correct terminology, and explore all possible solutions in your research (not jumping at the first answer that seems viable).
Summary
There’s no doubt that Salesforce Admins are deserving of their compensation – they carry out a core function that allows organizations to extend Salesforce beyond declarative (point-and-click) configuration, build apps, and in turn, optimize business operations.
This guide has brought context to what your salary should be (or could be) with information to back up that figure, so that you can be armed with the information required when asking for a raise, or applying for a new role.
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