Data Engineer salaries and job demand
Last updated
Data Engineer roles typically advertise around £75,000 a year. Here's the current salary range, hiring demand, and the skills employers ask for most.
What do Data Engineer roles pay in 2026?
As of September 2026, the typical advertised salary is £75,000 (≈ $95k) a year, with most postings between £55,000 and £97,500.
| 25th percentile | £55,000 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | £75,000 |
| 75th percentile | £97,500 |
Advertised base salary, from 305 job postings with pay data, as of September 2026.
Disclosed base wage (H-1B/LCA)
Employers disclose a median base wage of US$129,998 on H-1B/LCA visa filings for this role, between US$103,580 and US$157,096.
| 25th percentile | US$103,580 |
|---|---|
| Median (50th percentile) | US$129,998 |
| 75th percentile | US$157,096 |
Disclosed base wage, from 23,328 H-1B/LCA filings, U.S. DOL OFLC, as of Q4 2025.
| Period | 25th percentile | Median | 75th percentile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | US$106,000 | US$130,450 | US$160,000 |
| Q4 2024 | US$110,000 | US$135,000 | US$162,550 |
| Q1 2025 | US$108,826 | US$135,000 | US$160,000 |
| Q2 2025 | US$92,040 | US$116,150 | US$145,102 |
| Q3 2025 | US$110,000 | US$135,200 | US$163,239 |
| Q4 2025 | US$111,692 | US$133,289 | US$160,160 |
How strong is hiring demand for Data Engineer roles in 2026?
Tarmac tracked 1,467 postings in August 2026, the most recent month we tracked from start to finish.
We need 3 complete months of tracking before we publish a month-by-month series. Months we only partly covered are left out rather than shown as low demand.
Skills employers ask for
- databases-sql3122
- python3059
- aws2548
- dbt1921
- snowflake1589
- apache-airflow1362
- docker702
- apache-spark654
- databricks536
- ci-cd-pipelines473
- system-design442
- terraform440
Postings for this role that named each skill, out of the postings we could parse. Bars run to 3122, the most-asked skill here.
Which skills to study first
These skills matter most for this role, scored together on how often employers ask for them, what they pay, and how often people pass them when they practise.
| Skill | Market demand | Median pay | Pass rate | Leverage | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Python | 60% of postings | US$170,000+28% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Databases & SQL | 55% of postings | US$167,031+26% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| AWS | 51% of postings | US$171,000+28% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| System Design | 32% of postings | US$183,021+38% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Docker | 23% of postings | £80,000+10% | Not enough data yet | — | — |
| CI-CD Pipelines | 23% of postings | £78,625+8% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Terraform | 12% of postings | US$175,000+31% | Not enough data yet | — | — |
| dbt | 7% of postings | £80,000+10% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Snowflake | 7% of postings | £80,000+10% | Not enough data yet | — | — |
| Apache Airflow | 5% of postings | US$156,000+17% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Apache Spark | 2% of postings | £75,000+3% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
| Databricks | 1% of postings | £68,750−5% | Not enough data yet | — | Practice |
Pass rate is the share of correct answers among people who practised that skill on Tarmac, a self-selected group rather than every developer, so read it as relative difficulty, not a universal stat. It comes from how people actually scored, not what anyone claimed, and a dash in that column means not enough people have practised the skill here yet. Leverage scores demand, pay, and difficulty together (out of 100); a higher score means a skill is both worth learning and worth your study time.
What it takes
The entry bar and required skills employers ask for, among extracted postings. This excludes postings we couldn't confidently parse, so the figures below skew toward roles with clearer, fuller job descriptions. Every bar below runs 0 to 60% of postings: solid is required, outlined is preferred, dashed is the posting's own words.
Australia
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Databases & SQL required in only 48% of postings, was 91% 4 weeks ago.
- Python required in only 24% of postings, was 36% 4 weeks ago.
- CI-CD Pipelines required in only 10% of postings, was 18% 4 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Databases & SQL now required in 40% of postings, was 10% 5 weeks ago.
- Python now required in 20% of postings, was 10% 5 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
- Databases & SQL required in only 20% of postings, was 75% 4 weeks ago.
- Python required in only 20% of postings, was 58% 4 weeks ago.
- Snowflake required in only 30% of postings, was 58% 4 weeks ago.
United States
Required
In the postings’ own words
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Years asked up 0.5 years over the last 4 weeks.
- Python now required in 72% of postings, was 48% 4 weeks ago.
- CI-CD Pipelines now required in 28% of postings, was 14% 4 weeks ago.
- Snowflake now required in 32% of postings, was 18% 4 weeks ago.
- Databases & SQL required in only 56% of postings, was 77% 4 weeks ago.
- Apache Airflow required in only 8% of postings, was 25% 4 weeks ago.
- Docker required in only 8% of postings, was 16% 4 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Databases & SQL now required in 67% of postings, was 17% 4 weeks ago.
- Python now required in 67% of postings, was 17% 4 weeks ago.
United Kingdom
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Databases & SQL required in only 21% of postings, was 38% 5 weeks ago.
- Google Cloud Platform required in only 5% of postings, was 13% 5 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Python required in only 28% of postings, was 71% 5 weeks ago.
- AWS required in only 12% of postings, was 43% 5 weeks ago.
- Docker required in only 4% of postings, was 29% 5 weeks ago.
Required
Preferred
In the postings’ own words
- Databases & SQL now required in 27% of postings, was 20% 5 weeks ago.
- Python required in only 13% of postings, was 20% 5 weeks ago.
Practice interview questions
Jobs data powered by Adzuna.
Disclosed wage data from the U.S. Department of Labor, OFLC.
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