If you have a keen interest in numbers, data, and technology, a career as a data engineer is just the thing for you! An April 2021 Gartner report predicts that worldwide hyperautomation will hit nearly $600 billion by 2022, and the very way to help bring this about is by driving insights from the huge volume of data organizations have. That is where the need for data engineering pros comes into picture, and consequently, the field of data engineering is rapidly growing. What does this mean for you? It means an increasing number of organizations, small and big, new players in the market and the established ones, all are ready to pay hefty data engineering salaries and growth opportunities.
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However, there are several factors that affect the average data engineer salaries, some of which include:
- Skills
- Country - and usually specific locations too
- Experience
- Industry
- Type and size of the organization
- Oftentimes education and training too
Skills that Affect a Big Data Engineer Salary
These are the eight most critical skills for Big Data Engineers:
- Database systems (SQL and NoSQL)
- Data warehousing solutions
- ETL tools
- Machine learning
- Data APIs
- Python, Java, and Scala programming languages
- Understanding the basics of distributed systems
- Knowledge of algorithms and data structures
So, how much do Big Data Engineers make around the world?
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Caltech Post Graduate Program in Data ScienceExplore ProgramBig Data Engineer Salary in India
A beginner-level Big Data Engineer's salary is approximately ₹466,265 per year. As a Big Data Engineer in the early stages of their career or as a Junior Big Data Engineer (with 1 to 4 years of experience), a typical salary is ₹722,721 per year. Mid-level Big Data Engineers (5-9 years of experience) earn an annual salary of ₹1264,555 per year.
Many of the country's data engineering jobs are based in Bangalore, with companies like Amazon, IBM, and Autodesk frequently hiring for this position.
Big Data Engineer Salary in the UK
In the United Kingdom, the average salary for data engineers is £48,481 annually. Shop Direct and Tessian are just a few of the many companies actively looking for data engineers in cities like Liverpool and London.
Big Data Engineer Salary in Toronto, Canada
In Toronto, data engineers earn an average of CA $88K. Several companies in the city are currently looking to fill data engineering roles, including ScotiaBank and IBM.
Big Data Engineer Salary in the United States
A Big Data Engineer's salary in the United States is between $68,931 and $155,000, with a median salary of $90,000. Most Big Data Engineers earn between $90,000 and $110,000 per year, while 86% earn more than $155,000 per year.
However, this number can vary significantly by state and even by city, as noted below.
- NYC: In New York, salaries average $118,168 per year. Major companies and brands like CapitalOne are almost always looking for big data professionals.
- Los Angeles: Falling just slightly behind New York City is Los Angeles, where the average annual salary is $114,138 for data engineers. Target, Hulu, and GumGum are only a few of the companies currently looking to hire data engineers.
- Seattle: In Seattle, the average annual salary for data engineers is $120,903. There are currently several companies looking to add data engineers to their payroll, including Amazon and Microsoft.
Big Data Engineer Salaries in Other Regions
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Caltech Post Graduate Program in Data ScienceExplore Program- According to Payscale, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Australia is AU$98,753/year.
- According to Payscale, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Canada is C$80,610/year.
- According to Payscale, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Singapore is S$61,688/year.
- According to SalaryExpert, the average salary of a Big Data Engineer in Mexico is MX$483,598/year.
- According to Indeed, the average salary of a Data Engineer in South Africa is R 544,145/year.
- According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Spain is € 35,439/year.
- According to Glassdoor, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Germany is € 62,145/year.
- According to Payscale, the average salary of a Data Engineer in Sweden is 457,645kr/year.
- According to LinkedIn, the average salary of a Data Engineer in France is €42,500/year.
Big Data Engineer Salaries by Level of Experience and Job Title
Location isn't the only factor to take into consideration when discussing the average salary of a data engineer. Qualifications, experience level, and official job title also play a role in how much a data engineer can make in a year. As discussed before, the average annual salaries can range quite a bit based on these factors.
For example, an entry level data engineer salary for a professional based in the United States is $116,079 per year. Junior-level professionals earn an average of $70,357 annually.
Moving beyond this level means more experience, which in turn means more earning potential. Those working as big data engineers take home, on average, $119,246 per year. One of the highest titles in this field is a senior data engineer, which unsurprisingly offers a higher average salary. The average senior Big Data Engineer salary in the United States is $135,961. In India, a mid-career professional with 5-9 data engineering work experience earns over ₹883K base salary. On the other hand, one with 10+ years of data engineering experience earns around ₹1600K.
Big Data Engineer Salary: Amazon and Facebook
For many data engineers, working at Amazon or Facebook is the ultimate goal. With the tremendous opportunity for growth, excellent benefits, and generous compensation, it's easy to see why. But what's the average big data engineer salary Amazon offers, compared to what Facebook offers?
While it depends on the specific role, qualifications, and other factors, Glassdoor reports that the average salary for a data engineer at Amazon is $121,567 per year, calculated based on the average salaries of 281 Amazon data engineers. The same source reports that the average salary at Facebook ranges from $97,000 to $197,773 annually.
For more details, you can also check out this salary calculator.
Become a Certified Data Engineer
All of the above information is certainly interesting but aspiring Big Data Engineers should never lose sight of the two biggest factors in getting a career off the ground: education and training. No matter where you live, one of the best ways to boost your salary potential is to enroll in a Big Data Hadoop certification course.
Simplilearn's Big Data Engineer Master’s Program, co-developed with IBM, can help put you on that path. The comprehensive program includes seven courses, with master’s certificates provided by both Simplilearn and IBM. You will be able to improve and expand your skills by working on more than a dozen real-world projects offered through the course, and in the process getting an authentic look at a day in the life of a data engineer. Take your data engineering career to the next level by earning your certification today!
