Total compensation for security-cleared professionals has risen 7% since 2017 to $93,004, according to survey data recently released by ClearanceJobs, a website for security-cleared jobs in the defense and intelligence industries.

Engineering ranks as the highest-paid industry with average compensation of $102,012; IT ranked second with average total compensation of $90,699.

The highest-paid job was systems engineer with average total compensation of $122,386.

“Today, we have a great need for professionals with the right skills and the right eligibility,” said Evan Lesser, founder and president of ClearanceJobs.com. “The end of sequestration and record growth in the Pentagon budget — along with the difficulty in issuing new clearances — has created incredibly high demand for cleared professionals, particularly those in specialized technical fields such as data science and IT engineering.”

ClearanceJobs reports the Department of Defense has reduced the number of security clearances by more than 30% since 2013. Security clearance processing times are also at record highs.

However, satisfaction rates in the security-cleared field has fallen 11% since last year.

The survey also found that 84% of respondents said they were “likely” to change their jobs in the coming year.

ClearanceJobs’ survey includes 20,883 usable responses from employed individuals with current, active federal security clearances. It took place between Oct. 30, 2017, and Feb. 9, 2018.