How much do headend technicians make in 2026?
Headend technicians are counted in the BLS telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers series: OEWS May 2025 puts SOC 49-2022 at a national median of $63,890 a year ($30.72 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $44,240 and the top 10% at $96,730. The series pools headend work with central office, field and installation roles, so it is an inside-plant family band rather than a headend-specific figure. A headend — or hub — is where a cable operator acquires, processes and distributes video and data signals: satellite receivers and antennas, encoders and transcoders, CMTS and optical transmitters, conditional access and monitoring, plus the power and cooling that keeps it running. The role has changed more than most. Traditional headend work was RF-centric — signal levels, carrier-to-noise, satellite alignment — while today's version is largely IP: streaming origination, transcoding, multicast, network configuration and server maintenance sitting alongside the remaining RF plant. Technicians who made that transition and can work both sides sit at the top of this band; those who only know RF have watched their value narrow. Employment is projected to decline 4.2% through 2034, with roughly 13,200 openings a year. → Full headend technician career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $63,890 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Headend Technicians earn a national median $63,890/yr ($30.72/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-2022); the P10 to P90 range is $44,240 to $96,730.
- The headend is where video and data are acquired, processed and distributed — satellite receivers, encoders, CMTS, optical transmitters, conditional access and the power and cooling behind them.
- The role shifted from RF-centric work to largely IP: streaming origination, transcoding, multicast and server maintenance alongside the remaining RF plant.
- Technicians fluent in both RF and IP sit at the top of this band; those who stayed purely RF have seen their value narrow as the plant converted.
US Headend Technician Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do headend technicians earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 49-2022; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 49-2022, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a headend technician earn at each career stage?
Headend pay follows the breadth of systems you can keep on air. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 49-2022.
By State
Which states pay headend technicians the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national telecom equipment installer median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Headend employment depends on where operators still maintain facilities, and consolidation means the number of sites in a state matters more than its wage level.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($73,470), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay headend technicians the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Regional headends serve wide areas from a small number of locations.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a headend technician’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does headend technician pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Headend Technicians sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify headend technician wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a headend technician actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Headend Technician Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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