Salary guide · 2026
Data Engineer salary guide
Benchmark data engineer pay across the UK, Germany and the US. Updated from live Haystack market data.
- UK£70k–£90k
- Germany€70k–€95k
- United States$125k–$170k
Mid-level base salary
Salary benchmark
Pay across the band - at a glance
Base benchmarks across the UK, Germany and US. Drill into a country below for localised ranges.
GBP · base salary
Junior
£50k–£60k
Mid
£70k–£90k
Senior
£95k–£135k
EUR · base salary
Junior
€50k–€65k
Mid
€70k–€95k
Senior
€100k–€140k
USD · base salary
Junior
$90k–$115k
Mid
$125k–$170k
Senior
$175k–$250k
Side-by-side
Data Engineer salary by country
Base salary in local currency. US runs materially higher, especially in the Bay Area and NYC, where TC > base.
| Metric | United Kingdom | Germany | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior (0–3 yrs) | £50k–£60k | €50k–€65k | $90k–$115k |
| Mid (3–6 yrs) | £70k–£90k | €70k–€95k | $125k–$170k |
| Senior (6+ yrs) | £95k–£135k | €100k–€140k | $175k–$250k |
| Typical notice | 1–2 months | 3 months | 2 weeks |
| Cities live | 8 | 8 | 8 |
10–20%
Specialist skill premium
Candidates with specialist skills like Python, SQL, Snowflake, BigQuery reliably command 10–20% above generalists at the same seniority - and offers close faster.
Where the talent lives
Data Engineer pay by city
Hotter colours mean higher local pay vs the country average. Click any city for a localised benchmark.
UK
8 cities · GBPDE
8 cities · EURKeep exploring
Drill in further
Per-country guides and other tools for hiring this role.
Context
What drives data engineer pay?
Data engineers build the pipelines, warehouses and tooling that turn raw data into reliable product and business insight.
Pay varies primarily with seniority, location, and sector. The UK and Germany cluster within ~10% of each other on base salary; the US runs materially higher - particularly in the Bay Area and New York, where total compensation (base, bonus, equity) is the more meaningful benchmark.
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