◆finddatasciencejobs.
Add as a preferred source on GooglePost a job
salary report · updated september 2026

How Much Do Data Engineer Jobs Pay in the USA? (September 2026)

As of September 2026, the median Data Engineer salary in the USA is $185,000 a year. Most roles pay between $123,695 and $253,950 (the 10th–90th percentile), drawn from 438 live salaried listings across 221 companies. All figures are converted to annual US dollars so different sources compare like-for-like.

Median salary
$185,000
per year · annual USD
Typical range
$124k – $254k
10th–90th percentile
Range seen
$10k – $438k
lowest to highest
Sample
438
salaried listings · 221 companies
Data Scientist payMachine Learning Engineer payAI Engineer payData Analyst payResearch Scientist payAnalytics Engineer pay payMLOps pay

How pay has moved

$107k$252k$397kAug 2026Sep 2026

Median base salary by month, from our monthly salary snapshots.

Highest-paying employers

  1. #1
    A
    AXS
    2 salaried listings in the USA
    $364,000
    median
    VP, Data Engineering$366k – $400k·San Francisco, CAVP, Data Engineering$330k – $360k·Los Angeles, CA
    All AXS roles →
  2. #2
    A
    Anthropic
    4 salaried listings in the USA
    $362,500
    median
    Data Engineer$320k – $405k·San Francisco, CAData Engineer, GTM$320k – $405k·San Francisco, CAData Engineer, Safeguards$320k – $405k·San Francisco, CASoftware Engineer, Research Data Platform$320k – $405k·San Francisco, CA
    All Anthropic roles →
  3. #3
    O
    OpenAI
    6 salaried listings in the USA
    $309,000
    median
    Technical Lead Manager, Data Engineering, Trust & Safety$385k – $490k·San FranciscoIT Controls Data Engineer$293k – $385k·San FranciscoData Engineer, People Innovation Labs$293k – $325k·San FranciscoSenior Data Engineer, Core Experimentation$293k – $325k·SeattleData Engineer$230k – $385k·San Francisco
    All OpenAI roles →
  4. #4
    HH
    Hinge Health
    2 salaried listings in the USA
    $287,500
    median
    Senior Staff Data Engineer - Data & ML Platform$240k – $360k·San Francisco-HQData Engineering Manager, Data & ML Platform$220k – $330k·San Francisco-HQ
    All Hinge Health roles →
  5. #5
    B
    Brex
    3 salaried listings in the USA
    $270,000
    median
    Staff Software Engineer, Product Data Platform$240k – $300k·Seattle, Washington, United StatesStaff Software Engineer, Product Data Platform$240k – $300k·San Francisco, California, United StatesData Engineer$121k – $151k·San Francisco, California, United States
    All Brex roles →

Employers ranked by median advertised base among those with at least two salaried listings in the USA; each one’s best-paying open roles are listed beneath it.

See the open Data Engineer roles in the USA →Top Data Engineer hiring companies in the USA →

Data Engineer pay elsewhere

RemoteNew YorkSan FranciscoCanadaMcLeanSeattleTorontoChicagoLos Angeles
All salary reports →

Methodology: Data Engineer listings in the USA with a published salary, updated daily. Figures come from roles that are open right now. Ranges and single figures are converted to an annual US-dollar midpoint; hourly rates are annualised and out-of-band values dropped. Salary data is self-reported by employers and covers the roles that disclose pay — treat it as a directional guide, not a guarantee.