According to Zippia, the projected growth rate for data engineering roles in the US is 21% for the period 2018 to 2028. With the future looking very bright for data engineering, now is a perfect chance to land your first or next job as a big data engineer.

At AI/ML Jobs, we know a thing or two about compensation for data engineering roles and related jobs. After all, you can use our service to browse through thousands of AI and ML jobs from across the U.S. and abroad!

In this guide, we’ll look at how much big data engineers receive on average and explore related topics such as salary factors and whether employees feel fairly compensated. 

Let’s begin!

What’s the Verdict On Big Data Engineer Salary?

According to Indeed, big data engineers (on average) make $131,568 per year in the United States. When you consider additional pay, the average total salary lands around $153,000 annually.

This puts compensation for big data engineers above jobs like data analysts, business analysts, and even software engineers. However, data scientists, data engineers, and machine learning engineers generally make more. This lands big data engineers in the middle of a wide range of AI and ML jobs.

Factors That Influence Big Data Engineer Salary

Years of Experience

Naturally, the more experience you have, the higher the starting salary an organization will likely offer you. For example, while an entry-level big data entry may receive around $107,000 per year, those with 15+ years of experience will likely receive an annual salary of close to or above $160,000.

Seniority

Seniority is another important factor. When you’ve held a high-level position at a company you’ve demonstrated your ability to lead, manage, and mentor. This evidence will be taken into consideration when salary negotiations occur.

Location

Location matters, too. The salary of big data engineers can differ from nation to nation. They often also vary depending on the exact location within a country.

Here are some examples from the United States:

• California: $160,000 per year
• Texas: $120,025 per year
• Florida: $130,000 per year
• Illinois: $136,500 per year
• New York City: $151,750 per year
• Virginia: $145,000 per year

Negotiation Skills

Negotiation can have a huge impact on salary. Research shows that candidates who do negotiate their starting salaries earn up to $1,500,000 more throughout their careers than those who don’t!

Job Title

Big data engineer roles can come in various forms with salaries ranging depending on the exact job title in question. For example, while data warehouse developers earn about $84,000 annually, solution architects make around $122,000 per year, and big data architects secure close to $127,000.

Education

Your level of education may also affect the likelihood of receiving a higher starting salary than most. Most big data engineer roles require, at a bare minimum, a Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., computer science). However, if you have a relevant Master’s degree this may put you in a position to start on a higher salary.

Size and Type of Organization

Lastly, more profitable organizations will have greater room to offer higher salaries than smaller companies or startups. 

To illustrate, consider the compensation for data engineers. A company like Palo Alto Networks, with 12,500 employees and $6.6 billion in revenue, offers approximately $150,000 in total compensation. However, a corporation like Meta, with over 77,000 employees and revenue exceeding $100 billion, provides an estimated salary of nearly $210,000 for data engineers.

Do Employees Feel Fairly Compensated?

According to Indeed, a little over two-thirds of American big data engineers feel satisfied with their salaries when considering the cost of living in their area. 

This is a pretty good rating when compared with other related job titles:

• Data Analyst: 59%
• Data Scientist: 68%
• Data Architect: 81%
• Analytics Consultant: 69%
• Machine Learning Engineer: 61%

As you can see, salary satisfaction among US-based big data engineers falls somewhere close to the middle when compared to related job titles.

Big Data Engineer Average Salary Levels by Seniority and Years of Experience

According to Glassdoor, here are the average salaries for big data engineers based on years of experience and thus (often), seniority:

Experience	Average Base Pay	Average Additional Pay	Average Total Pay
0–1 Year	$91,758	$15,828	$107,585
1–3 Years	$103,728	$20,451	$124,179
4–6 Years	$110,908	$22,927	$133,835
7–9 Years	$115,059	$24,348	$139,408
10–14 Years	$121,585	$26,520	$148,104
15+ Years	$129,465	$29,803	$159,268

Somewhat surprisingly, the rates of average salaries increasing for big data engineers do not follow a steady trend over time. 

While salaries (obviously) increase with experience, the rates at which they do vary as follows:

• 0–1 years to 1–3 years of experience: +5.4%
• 1–3 years to 4–6 years of experience: +7.8%
• 4–6 years to 7–9 years of experience: +4.2%
• 7–9 years to 10–14 years of experience: +6.2%
• 10–14 years to 15+ years of experience: +7.5%

As you can see, there is no clear trend with the rates of salaries rising over time. However, it’s worth noting that the rate of salary increases is higher early (and then again later) in a big data engineer’s career.

Total Compensation

According to Indeed.com, the average base salary for data engineers in the United States is $131,568 per year. Also, the range of salaries varies from as low as $85,579 to a little over $200,000 on the high end.

Total compensation consists of base pay and additional pay (e.g., cash bonuses and shares). Additional pay adds about $20,000 to the role, bringing total compensation to around $153,000 per year.

How Do Big Data Engineer Salaries Compare To Other Jobs?

With big data engineers making approximately $153,000 on average, here is how this wage compares with the average total compensation for related roles, according to Indeed.com:

Job	Average Total Pay
Data Analyst	$76,822
Business Intelligence Analyst	$91,469
Business Analyst	$87,272
Database Administrator	$99,144
Data Engineer	$150,853
Software Engineer	$119,584
Data Scientist	$147,054
Machine Learning Engineer	$180,319

As touched on earlier, big data engineers earn more than the likes of data analysts and business analysts. Notably, their average salary even beats software engineers. However, data scientists, data engineers, and machine learning engineers tend to make more.

How Do Big Data Engineer Salaries Compare To Other Companies?

Here’s how much data engineers tend to make at various companies: 

Company	Average Total Pay
Meta	$207,369
Google	$143,492
Apple	$180,545
Microsoft	$185,377
Amazon	$178,019
Nvidia	$190,268
Palo Alto Networks	$149,285
NorthBay	$204,068
Cloudwick	$184,783

As you can see, many companies offer very strong salaries for data engineers in general and salaries will generally go higher for big data engineers in particular. In other words, the above salaries may not reflect the higher compensation enjoyed by big data engineers at this organization.

While the bigger names often offer higher salaries, some lesser companies (e.g., Cloudwick) also offer relatively high levels of overall compensation.

How Do Big Data Engineer Salaries Compare in Various Industries?

According to Glassdoor, here is how much big data engineers make in different industries:

Industry	Average Base Pay	Average Additional Pay	Average Total Pay
Legal	$94,943	$11,766	$106,709
Aerospace & Defense	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Agriculture	$100,358	$23,553	$123,911
Arts, Entertainment & Recreation	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Management & Consulting	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Construction, Repair & Maintenance Services	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Personal Consumer Services	$105,018	$22,327	$127,344
Education	$99,100	$17,871	$116,972
Financial Services	$95,937	$20,589	$116,526
Government & Public Administration	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Healthcare	$107,914	$22,335	$130,248
Information Technology	$105,036	$23,709	$128,745
Insurance	$110,830	$23,395	$134,226
Manufacturing	$94,832	$16,190	$111,022
Media & Communication	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Nonprofit & NGO	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Energy, Mining & Utilities	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Real Estate	$117,377	$27,087	$144,463
Restaurants & Food Service	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Retail & Wholesale	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Telecommunications	$99,186	$16,868	$116,055
Transportation & Logistics	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Hotel & Travel Accommodation	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481
Human Resources & Staffing	$98,812	$21,669	$120,481

Perhaps it will surprise you that big data engineers receive the highest average salaries in real estate, insurance, and healthcare. With that said, figures in the IT sector stand at over $128,000 on average, which beats many other sectors.

Conclusion

In today’s guide, we’ve taken a deep dive into big data engineer salaries. 

We’ve discussed their overall average income and factors that influence their salary—including the years of experience they have under their belt, the company itself, and their ability to negotiate.

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