IT Help Desk role at a bank moving off MSP – is 55k–65k realistic?

I’m in IT management for a community bank in the San Antonio. That range seems reasonable depending on the banks IT department size, asset size, and if that’s what your role would actually be limited to.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

What benefits do you get working at your bank if you don’t mind me asking ?

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maxbls16@reddit

401k with 5% match, profit sharing/performance based bonuses, free health insurance, more time off than I usually can use while staying on top of my job.

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slayermcb@reddit

Free health insurance seems pretty amazing. What's the deductible like if you dont mind me asking?

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maxbls16@reddit

PMed

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GhoastTypist@reddit

I mean thats almost double what our helpdesk staff make, given we also live in a very rural low income area of our country. Where 35k-45k is good for an entry level job. I make within that range as a manager.

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FireWithBoxingGloves@reddit

Depends very much on your location and experience, but I would expect a minimum of that range for any helpdesk role in the year of our lord 2026. If they're building out a brand new team, I would very quickly (within a quarter or two of performance reviews) push for 70k and more responsibility. Your time is worth a lot.

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IllIntroduction8499@reddit

Here in NYC, that's what level ones make. Depending on how long you've been in the game, a level two makes at least 80k a year. I've been a tech since 2006, I took home 100k as a level two, but I technically run IT for my branch office, and supervise one person. (My work definitely does not reflect my title)

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djgizmo@reddit

a) never give the first number. Ask them if the role has been approved, and if so, what’s the approved salary range.
b) never jump for less than 20% unless you’re desperate. So your minimum should be $58k (unless you’re getting worse at your job). c) learn to adapt socially within the new org. the more people like you, the more they will want to open doors to you.

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jhulbe@reddit

yeah, that's like if i'm buying something and you say 55-65k... I'm going to try and get it for 55k. maybe even 50-52.

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djgizmo@reddit

i have no idea what you’re talking about. This discussion is about job jumping and value response. sure, one could jump for less than 20%, but all things being equal. (good team, equal commute, same workload), it doesn’t make sense jumping for less in my experience.

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SamuraiThunderfuck@reddit

He was supporting your point about never giving the first number. Expressing that from the employer’s pov, if you give them the low end of the range you’ll accept then he would expect them to use that to negotiate from instead of the high end.

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SamuraiThunderfuck@reddit

And I just realized I made the same mistake he did. I thought you meant never give the first number of the range he gave, ie. the low end of his range. You meant never be the first one to say a number in the salary discussion so you don’t unknowingly cap yourself below their approved salary range, right?

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djgizmo@reddit

correct.

a) you need to know your range and their range are similar. say their approved range is 75-85 and you’re great at what you do. You say you need $69-75k, they’ll come back at $75k and expect you to be ecstatic.

b) i gave up giving ranges. Ranges allow people to low ball you. Whatever your low number is, that’s what recruiters latch on to. I give them numbers which I say “I’m happy where I’m at right now, but if you need me to jump ship, I need X (X= current salary + 20%)

c) recruiters of real companies EXPECT you to negotiate. Fucking send it. They offer you $80k (and their approved range is $75 to $90k) you should instantly respond that you’re worth the $90k and you’ll need the $90k to jump. They may go back and say ‘well I don’t know’ , but they already gave you a number of the approved range and if they’ve gotten to the point of offering you the job, they’re not going withdraw the offer unless your ask is more their approved range.

d) this also goes for benefits, like PTO, travel credit card limits, startup computer specs, and anything. (you can even get insurance fully paid for if you’re the best at what you do, it’s harder to do, and most orgs will just give you the money to cover it anyways)

e) all this only matters if you have confidence leverage. if you aren’t willing to walk away, it doesn’t matter. If the org isn’t ready for your pay, it doesn’t matter. I tell them “this isn’t going to work out” (one time I was making $50k and some org was trying to offer me $12/hour as a voip tech).

lastly, don’t be a dick, the recruiting team usually has no actual power, they are just the middlemen.

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smooth_like_a_goat@reddit

C is great advice

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djgizmo@reddit

sometimes I have good advice.

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jactheblock@reddit

Pay in the USA looks so much better than here in the UK on paper.

I literally earn half of that as a sys admin and I'm really happy with where I'm at

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adsarelies@reddit

Location?

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

San Antonio, and about 2 1/2 years

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masterkorey7@reddit

I commented above but now that I see your in Texas I can relate, I lived in Fort Worth from 2021 until 2023 and worked for a local 911 district. They started me at 64K with 3ish years of exp. Bexar 911 has an excellent IT department. Look into it.

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OPSEC-Actual@reddit

Our recruiter said the market for HD is about $62K for DFW, SA might be around $55K starting. However, I think I know the bank you are talking about and you will probably be doing way more than they advertise. Definitely push for $60K as a min

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Wait I’m curious, what bank do you think it is ? Private message me or give me initials lol

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MaximumEffortt@reddit

You're in the right ballpark. 2 folks I've worked with in similar jobs at a similar cost of living hired on at 64k and 57k.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Ok that makes me feel a lot better thank you !

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adsarelies@reddit

Yes. I think that's about right.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Thank you 🙏🏻

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masterkorey7@reddit

Before I moved into a sys admin role the highest offer for t1 I was offered landed around 71K with yearly salary bonus at 6%. That was a regional bank in Olympia WA. I didn't take it and landed a role as a sys admin with a hospital at 87k. You can do whatever you put your mind to.

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Snarky_Survivor@reddit

Do they have a real IT team?

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CesarioRose@reddit

How many years of experience?
Any info about seniority or team composition?

I moved from intermediate to senior role at my current org with 15yrs experience and i'm making just under 61k. My take home is just under 3.5k with all the benefits and pre-tax match(maxing retirement and health.), and post-tax fees, like parking, accounted for. When I was making 48k my net home was like 2.5-2.6k. I'm not sure your situation is, but, 1.5k seems awfully low. I hope you were/are getting some really swanky benefits my friend.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

I have early-career experience(about 2 years) with hands-on troubleshooting and user support, and this role would be a step further into a fully internal IT environment.

From what I understand, they’re currently building out the team as they transition away from an MSP, so it would be a smaller team with a lot of opportunity to take ownership and grow.

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Princess_Fluffypants@reddit

This sounds like an amazing opportunity. Take it.

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Princess_Fluffypants@reddit

That’s pretty damn reasonable, depending on the metro area. Obviously it’s MUCH more generous in rural Oklahoma than it would be in San Francisco.

Edit I see you said San Antonio. Yeah, that’s pretty spot on as long as the other benefits are reasonable.

It’ll be a great career move for you, hopefully it’s a place that’s just big enough to give you real access to enterprise IT systems while small enough that you’ll have exposure to a wide range of them. Be ready to spend a lot of time studying and learning, this could be a great step up the ladder for you.

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ISeeDeadPackets@reddit

It depends on where you're at and what your skill level is. Something in the 60's for L1 isn't unreasonable at all in a lot of the country unless you're in a HCOL area. Even if the salary jump isn't huge, there are some nice benefits to working at a bank if it's well run. Federal holidays are nearly always paid, most still pay bonuses annually and a lot of some form of non-401k retirement plan. They also are much more incentivized to do things the right way, though there are plenty who still try to skirt by.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Thank you this was very helpful 🙏🏻

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DeadStockWalking@reddit

If they offer in your range take it. I've worked IT in a lot of different fields and financial IT is one of the best. Not the highest paying but definitely easier than other fields.

Signed,
CTO at a credit union

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

If they go below 60 and closer to 55 should I fight again for higher ?

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PrincipleExciting457@reddit

A typical negotiation is they throw a number, you counter high, they come back and then you settle. You don’t really want another exchange imo. They will just pick the next candidate.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

What if they never threw a number to beginning with ? I had to give the first number

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ISeeDeadPackets@reddit

If you seem like a good fit I wouldn't be too worried about it. I had a guy give me a number I thought was too low and told him so. Offered him $5k more than his ask, worked out well for both of us. Not saying that will happen, but banking can be different.

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PrincipleExciting457@reddit

Mmm, it’s easiest to avoid that to begin with. If a company or recruiter asks first I’ll tell them it’s best after we discuss the job duties a bit. Then I wait for the offer.

If you threw out the number first, they just know if they can try and low ball you. But technically negotiation doesn’t start until they extend an offer.

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Koala19042022@reddit

Vhcol area. We pay 90 for L1 starting and 110-120 for L2. That’s barely a living salary.

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ranggull@reddit

I was at $55K when I was an L1 Help Desk, contract to hire. But that was 8 years ago. Depends a lot on where you live, how big the company is, the complexity of the environment, and so on. The MSP I work at is hiring L1 techs around that range still but bumping higher for meaningful certs

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GullibleDetective@reddit

Tier 2, absolutely

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Break2FixIT@reddit

Make sure you state hourly wages

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

It’s salary

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anonpf@reddit

Is your goal to work as a sysadmin? If so, this gig is the wrong choice. If it isn’t, this sub is the wrong choice.

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drcygnus@reddit

why would you do that when datacenter techs for MS or meta, or google or AWS make more?

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xzer@reddit

We're hiring I AM analysts for 50-60 range

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Evening_Link4360@reddit

Sounds about right. Moving off an MSP, you're about to have a lot of fun...

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

lol is this sarcasm or you really think I’m going to have fun ?😂😂

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Evening_Link4360@reddit

Sarcasm. Most MSP’s keep the lights on and nothing else.

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PlateMiserable8832@reddit

I had the opposite experience. The MSP I used to work for did way too much for everyone. Being bound by SLAs across hundreds of companies to 3 techs is terrible.

IT internal departments are so chill you literally just get like 4 projects a year that suck from other departments but besides that it’s the best.

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flucayan@reddit

Yea I don’t know what they’re talking about. The only time an MSP ‘only keeps the lights on’ is when that’s all the client is willing to pay for. Which I can assure you if that’s the case internal IT will be hell working for them because you’ll have 0 budget and a million requests/roles.

Most MSPs will literally drag their techs through hell and back doing any and all ass backwards request for clients if they’re willing to pay. This is usually why most smb tend to go with an MSP because they’ll do whatever you ask so long as that gravy train keeps flowing.

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MetalSufficient9522@reddit

sarcasm. But it just depends on the MSP. They are not all bad.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Wait I just realized, I was referring to bank moving on from their MSP

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mineset@reddit

I worked up from a teller with no degree to one of the four people on our IT team at our small / regional bank in middle of nowhere Nebraska & I make $77k

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

I don't know, but it depends on the role. If it's a sysadmin job, or especially a mixed role, I'd expect higher.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

It’s tier 1 help desk

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AmiDeplorabilis@reddit

Just my opinion, probably not,unless you're in some metro area which drives up wages... and costs of living...

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ShineParking5730@reddit

I’m in DFW and make $65 as a it analyst (somewhat similar to the position). So that’s a good range!

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PlateMiserable8832@reddit

Currently work for a bank started as IT help desk they hired me for 55 and gave me 10k raise after a month in Missouri.

Very reasonable, it was my second IT I came from a dental MSP

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Oh wow that’s amazing, how did you get that much of a raise just a month after ?

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PlateMiserable8832@reddit

Honestly not sure, this company doesn’t do much raising other than 4% every year. I was also just 21 and I think they were hiring for IT Specialist and Helpdesk at the same time and I ended up taking both hats. Now I don’t much or any helpdesk tho and my title is IT Specialist.

When they gave me the raise they said “we thought you’d still be learning the helpdesk system and LoB app”. If the MSP you worked for was rough then working ant internal IT department anywhere will make you feel so easy, trust bro

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Previous-Low4715@reddit

Sorry i know this is off topic but can anyone explain how a salary of 48k has a take home of 1500?

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PrincipleExciting457@reddit

It’s most likely bi-weekly

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

I live here and that’s what I’m trying to understand too 😂😂😂

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7eregrine@reddit

I did an almost identical move. Started at a similar range. They only wanted to start me with a week of vaca. I said I wanted 3. I was coming from somewhere that I had 3. I got 3. That was a long time ago...still there, making a lot more. 5 weeks now. I don't use nearly all of it because I come and go as I please.

It's pretty great.

Keep in mind they were paying at least 60K to an MSP. At least. My place was paying closer to 90k. They paid a lot of OT to that company.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

So what do you recommend? Realistically I’m aiming for 60k if they give more that’s amazing if they give me a little less it’s not the end of the world for me

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7eregrine@reddit

Ask for 65K. Take the counter.

And you either want them to pay for your phone and a new phone every 3 years. Or they have to buy you a "Work phone". You WILL be on call and you're willing to be on call, and this is why you need a phone. (Especially at a bank that isn't open past 5PM...you'll never get a late night call). And of course, you'll need a pohne for testing purposes. I am sure a bank doesn't do much on mobile, but I'm sure they still use phone apps you need to know about and be familiar with.

Whatever vaca they offer, you want an extra week. You WILL get a call at least once on vacation. I once took a call in Bermuda on a beach my wife and I were exploring. And this is why I come and go as I please. and why they pay for my phone.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

I believe there isn’t any on-call requirement for this role

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7eregrine@reddit

You WIlL get a call on your day off: "I know you're off today, but....".

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gwig9@reddit

Without knowing the region or city you'll be in, it's kind of hard to estimate salary expectations but... I would say that is a realistic Helpdesk salary for what they are asking for.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

San Antonio

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gwig9@reddit

Ok. I would say no less than $50k then. Median IT Support salary for SA is $41k to $85k so you are probably right in the sweet spot of what they are expecting.

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Rancor_Keeper@reddit

Don’t take anything u see 50, or they’re taking you on a ride.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

Got it, thank you

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Business-Lawyer-1274@reddit

I started my help desk role at $55k in 2024 in a mid sized city. Totally reasonable

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JealousRhubarb9@reddit

I’m in the south and I make less than that

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RicePuddingForAll@reddit

Depending on your location, I'd say yes. I spent nearly ten years at a Community Bank (would have been longer but the owners retired and they sold it) and that sounds about right.

If you've not worked in a bank before, the big think you'll notice is documentation (creating and following) is HUGE; this is because they get auditors from the state and FDIC every year, and often other internal auditors.

I loved working at the bank. I loved who I worked with (after my interview I told my spouse I wanted to hug the person who would be my boss), and because of the regulatory requirements, it's a lot easier to get those things you always thought was a good idea as a sysadmin but never could convince the cheap ass owners to do.

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RikiWardOG@reddit

Where do you live? That matters a lot. helpdesk imo should be hourly and you deserve overtime if you go over 8 hrs a day.

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ibrewbeer@reddit

I’m familiar with the pay structure for the desk side support team at a regional bank in the Midwest with ~400 employees. That’s about the range for our more experienced T1 or early T2 techs.

We’d need more info about the location, size, and tech stack to get you really granular info.

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

For context, this is in San Antonio at a regional bank that’s currently transitioning away from an MSP and building out their internal IT team. From what I’ve gathered, the role would be more on the internal user support side with some opportunity to grow as things come in house.

Sounds like I’m roughly in line with that early T1 to T2 range based on what you’ve seen.

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MetalSufficient9522@reddit

You didn't really mention the environment. Did you ask?

Would you be the only resource? How many people would you be supporting? Any on-call?

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LaughNowCryLater1914@reddit (OP)

From what I understand, I wouldn’t be the only resource. They’re building out an internal team as they move away from an MSP.

The role is focused on supporting internal employees of the bank, and there’s no on call component.

Still trying to get a better sense of team size and overall workload as things transition, since that seems like the biggest variable.

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star_gazer2112@reddit

Depends on what you know, where you are located. To me that seems pretty fair. Always give a higher number then meet at what you are really wanting. Moving from an MSP you should be fine.

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Calm_House8714@reddit

I think it's fine.

Ask for what you think you're worth. It'd help out everyone in the industry, helpdesk all the way up to C Suite, if we all stop settling.

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Stonewalled9999@reddit

That's on par for what we pay our L2/Deskside support so without knowing the metro you are in I would say it is in line for that scope.