How Much Do Data Engineer Jobs Pay in the USA? (November 2026)
As of November 2026, the median Data Engineer salary in the USA is $170,000 a year. Most roles pay between $110,250 and $246,150 (the 10th–90th percentile), drawn from 757 live salaried listings across 374 companies. All figures are converted to annual US dollars so different sources compare like-for-like.
How pay has moved
Median base salary by month, from our monthly salary snapshots.
Highest-paying employers
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- Data EngineerData Engineer, Billing & PaymentsData Engineer, GTMData Engineer, ProductSecurity Data EngineerAll Anthropic roles →
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- Sr. Staff Data Architect Senior Staff TLM, Data Mining and Sampling for ML and EvaluationSenior Data EngineerTech Lead Manager, Data EngineerAll Waymo 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.
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.