article · Certification difficulty & pass rates

CompTIA CySA+ Pass Rate: What Is Sourceable

CompTIA's current CySA+ V4 page, verified 2026-07-20, publishes no candidate pass rate. Use source limits, role evidence, and a readiness plan.

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Last updated 2026-07-21 — the article text's own revision date; dated evidence on this page carries its own check date. See the Citation Ledger at the foot for this page's sources.

The cleanest CompTIA CySA+ pass-rate answer is not a percentage. RoleMath does not have a sourceable official CompTIA candidate pass-rate percentage for CySA+. A live fetch of the official CompTIA V4 page succeeded on 2026-07-20 and confirms the current CS0-004 exam facts, including a 750 passing score on a 100-900 scale, a maximum of 85 questions, and a 165-minute duration; what the current V4 page still does not publish is a candidate pass-rate percentage. A provider can advertise first-attempt outcomes or exam-pass guarantees, but that is not the same thing as a CompTIA-published candidate pass rate. For planning, use the safer evidence: CySA+ is an analyst-oriented credential after foundational security knowledge, RoleMath connects the role to Information Security Analysts, postings in the sample emphasize SOC, SIEM, and incident-response work, and AI changes the workflow without creating a personal job forecast.

Key takeaways

  • RoleMath does not have a sourceable official CompTIA CySA+ candidate pass-rate percentage; our read of the current official V4 page on 2026-07-20 confirms CS0-004 exam facts but publishes no candidate pass rate.
  • A bootcamp or provider pass-guarantee claim is not the same thing as a vendor candidate pass rate.
  • CySA+ is a mid-path analyst/SOC credential: the current CS0-004 V4 page recommends about 4 years in a SOC analyst or vulnerability analyst role as background, not as a registration requirement.
  • The useful planning evidence is role readiness: O*NET tasks, BLS occupation context, RoleMath's qualitative posting sample, and your own lab evidence.
  • AI can support study tasks, but current AI usage data is not a job-loss or hiring forecast, and every technical claim needs primary-source verification.

More on CompTIA CySA+

The short answer: do not plan from a CySA+ pass-rate percentage

Do not plan CySA+ around a pass-rate number unless CompTIA publishes one with a clear denominator, candidate population, attempt type, and time window. It does not. We read the official V4 page on 2026-07-20; it confirms the current CS0-004 exam facts and states no candidate pass rate. That is the opposite of the usual SEO answer, but it is the correct answer for a decision engine. A candidate pass rate would tell you what happened to a measured group. It would still not tell you your odds unless your background matched that group. Take the readiness path if you want a signal you can control: whether your security foundations, analyst practice, and lab evidence match the work CySA+ is meant to signal. Skip the pass-rate percentage as a decision input entirely, because there is none from a source you can check yourself.

The official-source limitation matters

CySA+ is mid-version. Two exam codes are in play: CS0-004 is current, and the CS0-003 English exam retires on December 22, 2026. Some of the structure and domain detail below still comes from the older CS0-003 material and is labelled as such, so this page does not present those weights as current CS0-004 objectives. It can still use them as a warning about source handling: when a certification is changing versions, stale objective pages, prep-provider syllabi, and search snippets become easier to confuse with current exam facts. We read the official CompTIA V4 page on 2026-07-20 and it confirms the current CS0-004 facts. Check it yourself before scheduling or buying prep.

Why provider pass claims are not the same thing

One training provider's page is worth reading as a warning rather than as a planning number. We re-read it on 2026-07-05 and it still carried first-attempt and pass-guarantee marketing language. That can describe a provider's own offer, funnel, selected students, retake policy, delivery model, or sales promise. It does not become a global CompTIA CySA+ pass rate. The population is different, the denominator is unclear, and the incentive is commercial. A provider claim can help you ask sharper questions before buying training: What is counted as a pass? First attempts only? Retakes? How many students? Which exam version? What happens to people who defer, withdraw, or never test? Without those answers, treat the claim as marketing context.

What CySA+ is actually trying to signal

CySA+ is not a general beginner IT credential. The official source lists no official prerequisite, but the current CS0-004 V4 page recommends about 4 years in a SOC analyst or vulnerability analyst role. That recommendation should shape the decision even if it is not a registration gate. In RoleMath's reading, the mapped analyst role tasks — detection, triage, vulnerability management, incident response, reporting, and security-operations judgment — are the work CySA+ preparation should be building toward; that is our framing of the role evidence, not a CompTIA scope statement. If you are still learning basic networking, identity, operating systems, and security vocabulary, Security+ or hands-on SOC foundations are usually a cleaner first move.

Use role evidence instead of pass-rate folklore

The role map is more useful than a pass-rate rumor. RoleMath connects CySA+ to Cybersecurity Analyst and SOC Analyst work, mapped here to ONET/BLS Information Security Analysts. ONET's Information Security Analysts profile supports task context such as planning safeguards, monitoring virus/security reports, encrypting transmissions, using firewalls, performing risk assessments, modifying security files, reviewing violations, documenting security procedures, and discussing access or security issues with users. Those tasks are a readiness checklist. If your study plan only memorizes exam terms but does not build alert triage, log analysis, vulnerability prioritization, and incident writeups, you are not preparing for the role signal CySA+ is supposed to carry.

BLS context: useful, but not a CySA+ outcome

The BLS data is strong occupation context and weak certification-outcome evidence. RoleMath's Cybersecurity Analyst and SOC Analyst samples use BLS OEWS May 2025 Information Security Analysts data: 190,650 national employment and a 129,180 USD national median annual wage. BLS Employment Projections show 28.5 percent projected employment change for Information Security Analysts from 2024 to 2034 and 16 thousand annual openings. Those figures are useful because they describe the mapped occupation. They do not mean CySA+ pays 129,180 USD, they do not prove that CySA+ creates a job, and they do not replace local employer research. Use them to understand the occupation, then check whether your target employers ask for analyst, SOC, SIEM, incident-response, vulnerability-management, cloud, and scripting evidence.

What the sample emphasizes

RoleMath's qualitative employer-language sample points in the same direction as the role evidence. In RoleMath's SOC Analyst public posting pilot, recurring terms included cybersecurity, SIEM, incident response, EDR, threat intelligence, threat hunting, Splunk, Python, AWS, Azure, CrowdStrike, PowerShell, GCP, and Linux, with Security+ and CySA+ appearing in some certification mentions. That sample is qualitative hiring language only: not representative demand, not proof of certification ROI, and not a year-over-year trend. It is still useful because it tells you how to make CySA+ more credible: pair the credential with a small evidence portfolio around alert triage, detection logic, vulnerability remediation decisions, incident notes, and the kinds of tools employers name in that sample.

How AI changes CySA+ study and analyst work

For role context, RoleMath maps Cybersecurity Analyst and SOC Analyst to Information Security Analysts. Anthropic's May 2026 Economic Index dataset reports roughly 24 percent augmentation-style and roughly 76 percent automation-style Claude conversations for that shared SOC. That is descriptive usage data only: it does not say analysts are being replaced, that CySA+ is more or less valuable, or that a learner should expect a job outcome. RoleMath editorial advice, not a sourced finding: treat AI as a supervised study assistant, and require citations or tool documentation for every technical claim it produces before you trust it. Verify security details against primary documentation and hands-on labs rather than accepting model output at face value.

What to do next: a readiness plan

Use a path that practices the same vocabulary and tasks the postings in the sample and mapped role evidence emphasize. Step 1: confirm that you already have SOC analyst or vulnerability analyst experience in line with the recommended background of about 4 years in that kind of role; if not, close that gap first. Step 2: recheck the official CompTIA V4 page and current CS0-004 objectives before buying prep. Step 3: build a small SOC lab habit: inspect alerts, read logs, map events to likely causes, and write a short incident note. Step 4: practice vulnerability triage: rank findings by exploitability, affected asset, business impact, and remediation cost. Step 5: use AI to quiz and review your explanations, but require citations or tool documentation for every technical claim. Step 6: compare your evidence against local hiring language before scheduling. That sequence gives you more signal than an unsupported pass-rate percentage.

Bottom line: CySA+ is a readiness decision, not a pass-rate bet

Take CySA+ if your foundations, analyst practice, and target role make it the next credible signal: you are moving from security foundations into SOC, incident response, vulnerability management, threat analysis, or security operations work, and you can pair the credential with hands-on evidence. Skip it, for now, if you have no networking, no Security+ equivalent knowledge, no log-analysis practice, and no plan to build hands-on evidence; close those gaps first. Do not choose CySA+ because a provider or prep page gives you a reassuring pass-rate number, because RoleMath has no sourceable official rate; a live fetch of the vendor's official V4 page on 2026-07-20 confirms CS0-004 exam facts but publishes no candidate pass rate. Confirm exam details on that official page before you rely on them.

Frequently asked questions

Does CompTIA publish a CySA+ pass rate?

RoleMath does not have a sourceable official CompTIA CySA+ candidate pass-rate percentage from the reviewed official sources; our read of the current V4 page on 2026-07-20 confirms CS0-004 exam facts but publishes no candidate pass rate. Treat any specific figure elsewhere with caution until you can trace it to a sourced CompTIA publication.

Can I trust a bootcamp's CySA+ pass guarantee?

Treat it as provider marketing unless it includes a clear denominator, candidate population, attempt type, time window, exclusions, and independent verification. It is not the same thing as a CompTIA candidate pass rate.

Is CySA+ a beginner cybersecurity certification?

Usually no. There may be no registration prerequisite, but the recommended background is about 4 years in a SOC analyst or vulnerability analyst role.

What should I use instead of a CySA+ pass-rate number?

Use official source status, version currency, role tasks, employer language, lab readiness, and your own weak areas. A readiness checklist is more actionable than an unsupported pass-rate percentage.

Does CySA+ guarantee a cybersecurity analyst job?

No. CySA+ can be a useful analyst signal, but it does not guarantee a job, salary, interview, or promotion. Pair it with SIEM, incident-response, vulnerability, scripting, and reporting evidence.

How should I use AI while preparing for CySA+?

Use AI to quiz, summarize, draft incident notes, and challenge your reasoning, but verify technical details in primary documentation and labs. Do not memorize AI-generated security facts without checking them.

Related, with the cited detail

Evidence behind this article

RoleMath turns this article into a small decision report: official credential facts, occupation context, and AI workflow evidence.

Mapped roles: Cybersecurity Analyst, IT Security Operations Specialist, Incident Response Analyst, SOC Analyst

Pay by metro

Cybersecurity Analyst maps to Information Security Analysts.
MetroMedian payCost-adjusted
San Jose, CA$176,120$159,496
Raleigh, NC$143,640$146,337
Seattle, WA$161,780$145,573
IT Security Operations Specialist maps to Information Security Analysts.
MetroMedian payCost-adjusted
San Jose, CA$176,120$159,496
Raleigh, NC$143,640$146,337
Seattle, WA$161,780$145,573

Occupation-level metro medians only; not credential salary, personal pay, or a placement claim. OEWS 2025-05 + BEA RPP 2024. Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics May 2025 OEWS Current Tables

AI impact context

  • Cybersecurity Analyst: roughly 24% of recorded usage looked like augmentation vs 76% automation-style (Anthropic Economic Index; usage signal, not a job-loss prediction). Sampled AI-language terms include Anthropic, OpenAI, machine learning. Descriptive Claude usage data, not employment demand, not job loss, and not a personal forecast; CC-BY attribution required.
  • IT Security Operations Specialist: roughly 24% of recorded usage looked like augmentation vs 76% automation-style (Anthropic Economic Index; usage signal, not a job-loss prediction). Sampled AI-language terms include Anthropic, LLM, OpenAI, machine learning. Descriptive Claude usage data, not employment demand, not job loss, and not a personal forecast; CC-BY attribution required.
  • Incident Response Analyst: roughly 24% of recorded usage looked like augmentation vs 76% automation-style (Anthropic Economic Index; usage signal, not a job-loss prediction). Sampled AI-language terms include LLM, OpenAI, machine learning. Descriptive Claude usage data, not employment demand, not job loss, and not a personal forecast; CC-BY attribution required.

Sources: Anthropic Economic Index report: Cadences (release 2026-06-26), Canaries in the Coal Mine - recent employment effects of AI (working paper), Felten Raj and Seamans - AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE) index, GPTs are GPTs: An early look at the labor market impact potential of LLMs (Science 2024), OECD Employment Outlook 2023 - Artificial Intelligence and the Labour Market

What we verified about these certifications

Certifications referenced in this evidence packet: CompTIA CySA+.

  • Do not publish a CySA+ pass-rate percentage from this row. Use only for official-source limitation framing and same-day recheck status.
  • Use only to explain why bootcamp/provider pass claims are not official candidate pass rates.

No certification shown here is treated as salary, job, ROI, or pass-rate proof. Sources: CompTIA official credential page

Core source records

This table lists the page’s core content records and their checked dates where recorded. Claim-specific citations appear beside the relevant text and may not be repeated here.

Show all 13 sources
IDSupportsSourceChecked
CIT-01RoleMath does not have a sourceable official CompTIA CySA+ candidate pass-rate percentage.https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst/v4/2026-07-20
CIT-02CySA+ is in a version-transition window, so stale objective details should not be presented as current CS0-004 facts.https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst/v4/2026-07-20
CIT-03The older CS0-003 exam structure is shown only as historical context, and it has not been re-verified.https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst/v4/2026-07-20
CIT-04CySA+ is not positioned as a first cybersecurity credential for most beginners.https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/cybersecurity-analyst/v4/2026-07-20
CIT-05Provider pass-guarantee or first-attempt marketing claims are not official CompTIA candidate pass rates.https://trainingcamp.com/training/comptia-cysa-plus-certification-bootcamp/2026-07-05
CIT-06CySA+ role context should connect to analyst and SOC work, not only exam folklore.https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-1212.00Date not recorded
CIT-07RoleMath uses O*NET database downloads as the official task, skill, and technology source family for role evidence.https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html2026-06-07
CIT-08Occupation pay context for CySA+ mapped roles must not be treated as a CySA+ salary outcome.https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip2026-07-21
CIT-09Occupation outlook context is not live posting demand and not a certification outcome.https://www.bls.gov/emp/ind-occ-matrix/occupation.xlsx2026-06-25
CIT-10Employer-language samples can show SOC and analyst language without becoming market-share or demand claims.https://developers.greenhouse.io/job-board; https://developers.ashbyhq.com/docs/public-job-posting-api; https://hire.lever.co/developer/documentation#postings2026-06-07
CIT-11AI usage data for mapped cybersecurity analyst work is descriptive workflow context, not a job-loss or demand forecast.https://www.anthropic.com/research/economic-index-june-2026-report2026-06-30
CIT-12The Anthropic Economic Index dataset requires careful attribution and does not prove employment demand.https://huggingface.co/datasets/Anthropic/EconomicIndexDate not recorded
CIT-13General AI-exposure research should be framed as task-overlap context, not a personal employment forecast.https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adj09982026-06-19

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