Salary Guide
The median data engineer earns $134K. The 90th percentile reaches $194K, 45.0% above median. 47.1% separates the 25th percentile ($110K) from the 75th ($162K).
Salary figures are derived from federal labor certification filings for data engineering roles, covering over 7,000 verified records. These are employer-reported base salaries, not self-reported estimates.
22.6% of filings are in Texas, 13.5% in California, 9.6% in Washington.
Median base
50th percentile75th percentile
+47.1% vs P2590th percentile
+45.0% vs medianEntry-level or low-cost-of-living markets. Often the first DE role, coming from analyst or bootcamp backgrounds.
Early-career or mid-market. 47.1% separates this tier from the 75th percentile. That gap is almost entirely explained by location, experience, and interview performance.
The midpoint across 7,123 verified filings. Mean is $140K, pulled up by high-cost metros. Most mid-level engineers with 2-5 years of experience land here.
Senior engineers in strong markets. 47.1% above the 25th percentile. Stock grants become a meaningful part of total compensation at this tier.
45.0% above median. Staff and principal engineers at top-tier companies. Compensation at this level is heavily stock-weighted.
22.6% of DE job filings are in Texas, 13.5% in California, 9.6% in Washington. The top 10 states account for over 75% of all filings. High-cost metros push offers well above the $134K median, while remote roles increasingly peg to a national band.
Finance, big tech, and healthcare tech cluster in the 75th-90th percentile range ($162K-$194K). Startups pay less in base but may offer meaningful equity. Government and non-profit roles typically sit below the 25th percentile ($110K).
AWS, GCP, or Azure certifications can shift an offer from the 25th to 50th percentile range, especially at companies early in their cloud migration. The cert itself matters less than the signal that you can hit the ground running.
Streaming (Kafka, Flink), ML pipelines, and real-time analytics command premium pay. Batch-only ETL skills are the baseline, not a differentiator.
67.6% of DE interviews test SQL. 53.8% test Python. A strong performance in these rounds can move your offer from the 50th to the 75th percentile, a $28K difference. Where you land in the band depends on how well you perform under pressure.
A realistic compensation path for a data engineer who changes companies strategically and invests in interview prep at each transition.
Competing offers are the single most effective salary negotiation tool. A written offer from one company can move another company $30K-$50K. Time your interview loops so offers arrive within the same 2-week window.
Total compensation varies 2-3x between companies for the same role and level. Public tech companies with strong stock performance pay dramatically more than private companies or non-tech industries.
67.6% of DE interviews test SQL. 53.8% test Python. The difference between a "meets bar" and "strong hire" rating can move you from the 50th percentile ($134K) to the 75th ($162K). Practicing until you can perform under pressure is the highest-ROI activity for your career.
Base salary is often the least flexible component. Sign-on bonus, stock grants, and annual bonus targets are more negotiable. Ask for a higher stock grant or a year-one sign-on bonus before pushing on base.
Interview performance determines whether you land at the 50th percentile ($134K) or the 75th ($162K). Practice SQL and Python with real execution.