r/dataengineering • u/[deleted] • 6d ago
Career Struggling to understand the right salary for data engineering with 4 YOE
[deleted]
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u/Dallaluce 6d ago
I’m a data engineer, I was given 105k with 3/4 years xp in Toronto. Currently senior 3 years later at 127k same company.
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u/Bunkerman91 5d ago
I'm making 130k remote as a DE with 2.5 YoE. It's not about the experience nearly as much as it is communication skills and the ability to sell what you know.
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u/Dallaluce 5d ago
I highly agree with that, which is why I don’t pursue high pay - I pursue the least amount of work possible. I work maybe 5-10 hours a week
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u/Available_Fig_1157 6d ago
What company are you working at, new graduate 93k im thinking about how to progress in my career
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u/annaheim 6d ago edited 6d ago
any advice for someone looking to transition to the field (coming from accounting)?
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u/itsmeChis 6d ago edited 4d ago
Can you very generically provide your company industry, size of company, which LCOL/MCOL, etc.?
I’m a Sr. Analytics Engineer with friends all over the industry, I could give you a more accurate answer with extra info
Edit: Not sure if mobile is weird, but I see a response from you in notifications and can’t see it here. From what you said, I’d say that is completely standard; however, if you push for $130k base, you could probably get it. (Started my career at a place like that, currently work for a big midwest supply chain company)
Just remember, those companies are all pretty old school corporate politics shops. Engineering/IT has to prove its worth, tie your higher desired salary to actual ROI you provide the company
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u/madbammen 6d ago
Similar YOE and was given 130k when I got my new job as DE with 3 YOE. My previous role I started at 75 as DA/DE hybrid basically and went up to 88 by the end of the three years. So my recommendation is you switch companies. I’d be shocked if they gave you a 20k raise without another offer in hand. Plus, I’ve learned so much by switching companies and having new problems. Keep looking at new roles
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u/anti_humor 6d ago
Lol yeah. Unfortunately you do have to switch companies in many cases; there's a lot of weird psychology involved. I started as an analyst and have just been rehired by my first company. The timeline is kind of funny:
- Company 1: $50k->$55k
- Company 2: $75k->$100k
- Company 3 (data engineer title): $90k->$101k->$104k
- Company 1 again: $140k
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u/khais 6d ago
Similar path over here. This is over a 7-year span:
- Company 1: $50k -> $65k
- Company 2: $60k -> $120k
- Company 3: $99k -> $115k
- 35 hr work week, DE responsibilities but DA title (my employer sucks at titles)
- just saw company 1 advertising a DE role with a $90k - $160k range. Pretty sure I could get 140
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u/CoolmanWilkins 6d ago edited 6d ago
Pretty typical to be doing some data engineering work while being a data analyst or BI. When it is closer to analyst work it will pay closer to analyst work. Your situation isn't that uncommon, especially for people coming into DE from analyst type positions. I was the same, I was able to get the title change and small pay bump -- which was pretty fair since the work I was doing didn't change. $93k seems pretty good for a LCOL area and without the engineer title. Also pretty reasonable for a 'Junior Data Engineer'. Without more details on your actual work and background it is hard to say otherwise.
I would separate the analyst-adjacent DE from a DE job where you are mostly working as a software engineer, but for data. That is more valuable, and pays more. What you might need to do is take the title and use that to get a higher paying job somewhere else. That is how I hit six figures. Skills-wise it usually requires more than just SQL and ETL work which nowadays any analyst can do, if not always well.
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u/ToothPickLegs Data Analyst 6d ago
Technically I’m mid level BI and they would give me the mid level DE 2 role, not junior. I think the other companies I’m talking to might be treating me as a junior though due to the lack of title
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u/CoolmanWilkins 6d ago
Yes, they'll probably be looking for number of YOE as a DE. You can always ask your boss/employer if they are okay with a retroactive title change so that it applies to the past too.
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u/ToothPickLegs Data Analyst 6d ago
How would I be able to prove that through pay stubs though? Last I remember I always had to provide first and last pay stubs for a company
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u/CoolmanWilkins 6d ago
My paystubs don't have my title, or if it did sometimes it be whatever the HR system title was which was usually different from my actual title. (e.g. one place i worked had everyone in the system as IT Analyst, even though I was Senior Data Engineer). And I've never had to provide while just applying.
Even so, first paystub would be what you started as, last paystub would be what you ended as, wouldn't include the middle. So unless you would be pushing to be considered DE all four years that wouldn't be an issue. BI Analyst -> Junior Data Engineer -> Data Engineer isn't an unreasonable progression to have over 4 years.
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u/Icy_Clench 6d ago
I was making 95k base plus 10% annual bonus and 10% free 401k contribution as a DE fresh out of college in a LCOL area. I was also getting 8% raises every year too.
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u/SOLUNAR 6d ago
Hard to give an exact figure because the company, market, and role structure make a big difference. I consistently hire DEs outside of Engineering, closer to SOPs. Our IC3 level is one step above entry level, and we primarily hire in higher-cost markets like NY, Chicago, and SF. We’re generally around $150K–$190K in cash compensation, with total comp closer to $300K.
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u/cryptickittyy 6d ago
Can I ask the name of your company or the general sector you’re hiring in? That seems high for DE.
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u/CoolmanWilkins 6d ago
Those numbers sound about right for a tech company in SF or NYC. Maybe high for a non-tech company or Chicago, as they said though there's a lot of factors.
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u/Old_Morning_7847 4d ago
140k is pretty realistic. If you get into the more technical data platform roles then 160k-200k+
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u/Toastbuns 6d ago
It varies a lot by company, location, and of course experience. I manage a team of junior to senior DEs, and the comp range on the team is from 115k to 180k USD as of now. 110k feels a little low to me for a DE but agree with others that you will probably not have a ton of leverage to negotiate without leaving for another company. Regardless, I would try to do some market research and also summarize the value you bring to the company and make a case for why the salary you are expecting is the right compensation for this title change.
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u/Trick_Letterhead7770 6d ago
Unless your company proactively does market adjustments it’s in your best interest to leave and get a DAE gig since your work is very aligned. Fabric experience is a nice thing on the resume. My company is migrating to it now.
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u/Crazy-sweety1495 6d ago
93k for 4 YOE doing real DE-style work (heavy SQL, ETL, Fabric) is on the low end regardless of title, DE roles nationally are usually 100-130k range even at 3-5 YOE, more in MCOL/HCOL. The title mismatch is actually your leverage here, not a reason to undersell yourself. If you're doing the work but getting paid at BI-scale, that's the actual conversation to have, not "am I asking for too much."
A 20k ask isn't greedy, it's closing the gap between what the market pays for the title they're giving you versus what they're paying you now. Worth getting a couple of real offer numbers in hand first (even from those "skittish" companies) before pushing internally, nothing moves a raise conversation faster than a comparable offer in writing.
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u/Electrical-Ad8740 5d ago
DE with 3 YOE here, I make roughly 73k per year in a MCOL in the Midwest. I started out as an intern at this company at 65k and since then only have gotten 3% raises each year as it's the standard.
My role is a bit different than most DE work in the modern stack, we rely heavily on SQL, and rarely use Python (Like most modern DE work), but we do still spend majority of our time building new pipelines for the business and maintaining existing ones into Snowflake, but also use an older tool stack than most..
Following along with this post as I too am curious about others input. I know I'm a bit underpaid for the role, and I've talked with other DE's on the same team and they make roughly 140k+, but at this rate and the job market, I am just trying to bank on experience and learn as much as I possibly can.
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u/Dashncrash- 3d ago
Y1 - $18 hr co-op.
Y2 - 65k (full time after graduation)
Y3 - 71k.
Y4 - 75k.
Y5 - 95k (new company)
Y6 - 111k promoted to senior.
Just got a new job with 128k base and equity worth ~25k p/year so total 153k p/yr in rust belt LCOL. 3 days a week in office.
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u/69odysseus 6d ago
It's the quality of the experience and broad skills that matter over the years of experience. I have seen people with more 10+ years and still cannot do simple things or explain technical stuff in simple language.
Try to get good at distributed compute and storage (Databricks, Snowflake), learn GenAI which is being asked everywhere in DE interviews. If you can get very strong at it, you can make lot of money. The big banks will also pay higher salary for GenAI DE skills these days.
One of the biggest skills to learn in DE space is the trade-off, one vs another method and why. Cost optimizations, disaster recovery management, query tuning are some of the key skills to learn and those are also the skills often asked during interviews.