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Career spotlights

AWS Data Engineer

Whatever the AWS role, use our guide to benchmark your salary or contact rate, or to uncover what you should be paying employees in your team.

Career spotlights

AWS Data Engineer

Whatever the AWS role, use our guide to benchmark your salary or contact rate, or to uncover what you should be paying employees in your team.

Career spotlights

AWS Data Engineer

Whatever the AWS role, use our guide to benchmark your salary or contact rate, or to uncover what you should be paying employees in your team.

How much do Data Engineers make?

Junior (0-3 yrs) Mid-level (4-8 years) Senior (9+ yrs) Contract
United States – End users ($) 127,000 156,500 192,000 162 (p/h)
United States – Partners ($) 121,750 175,750 203,250 167 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£) 48,250 74,000 104,250 880 (p/d)
Germany (€) 54,000 68,000 91,250 900 (p/d)
Switzerland (Fr) 91,250 101,750 130,000 -

79%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their job, up from 65% in our last survey

84%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their salary, up from 81% in our previous survey

41 hours

Permanent Data Engineers work an average of 41 hours per week

35 hours

Freelance Data Engineers work an average of 35 hours per week

How much do Data Engineers make?

Junior (0-3 yrs) Mid-level (4-8 years) Senior (9+ yrs) Contract
United States – End users($) 127,000 156,500 192,000 162 (p/h)
United States – Partners ($) 121,750 175,750 203,250 167 (p/h)
United Kingdom (£) 48,250 74,000 104,250 880 (p/d)
Germany (€) 54,000 68,000 91,250 900 (p/d)
Switzerland (Fr) 91,250 101,750 130,000 -

79%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their job, up from 65% in our last survey

84%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their salary, up from 81% in our previous survey

41 hours

Permanent Data Engineers work an average of 41 hours per week

35 hours

Freelance Data Engineers work an average of 35 hours per week

How much do Data
Engineers make?

United States – End users: $127,000
United States – Partners: $121,750
United Kingdom: £48,250
Germany: 54,000
Switzerland: Fr91,250
United States – End users: $156,500
United States ($) – Partners: $175,750
United Kingdom (£): £74,000
Germany: 68,000
Switzerland: Fr101,750
United States – End users: $192,500
United States – Partners: $203,250
United Kingdom: £104,250
Germany: 91,250
Switzerland: Fr130,000
United States – End users: $162 (p/h)
United States – Partners: $167 (p/h)
United Kindom: £880 (p/d)
Germany: €900 (p/d)
Switzerland:  –
Junior (0-3 yrs) Mid-level (4-8 years) Senior (9+ yrs) Contract
United States ($) – End users 0000 0000 0000 0000
United States ($) – Partnerss 0000 0000 0000 0000
United Kingdom (£) 0000 0000 0000 0000
Germany (€) 0000 0000 0000 0000
Switzerland (SFr) 0000 0000 0000 0000

79%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their job, up from 65% in our last survey

84%

of Data Engineers are satisfied with their salary, up from 81% in our previous survey

41 hours

Permanent Data Engineers work an average of 41 hours per week

35 hours

Freelance Data Engineers work an average of 35 hours per week

What factors impact your earning potential as a Data Engineer?

We asked current AWS professionals what factors were most important in upping your earning potential in that role.
Important Neutral Unimportant
Years of technical experience with AWS 79% 17% 3%
Years of experience in IT 76% 21% 3%
Exposure to large projects 76% 14% 10%
Specific vertical industry experience 69% 10% 21%
AWS certifications 59% 31% 10%
Years of experience working for an end user 50% 43% 7%
College/University degree(s) 48% 28% 24%
Years of experience working for a partner organization 45% 38% 17%

What factors impact your earning potential as a Data Engineer?

We asked current AWS professionals what factors were most important in upping your earning potential in that role.
Important Neutral Unimportant
Years of technical experience with AWS 79% 17% 3%
Years of experience in IT 76% 21% 3%
Exposure to large projects 76%0 14% 10%
Specific vertical industry experience 69% 10% 21%
AWS certifications 59% 31% 10%
Years of experience working for an end user 50% 43% 7%
College/University degree(s) 48% 28% 24%
Years of experience working for a partner organization 45% 38% 17%
We asked current AWS professionals what factors were most important in upping your earning potential in that role.

What factors impact your earning potential as a Data Engineer?

%
Years of technical experience with AWS 79%
Years of experience in IT 76%
Exposure to large projects 76%
Specific vertical industry experience 69%
AWS certifications 59%
Years of experience working for an end user 50%
College/University degree(s) 48%
Years of experience working for a partner organization 45%
%
Years of technical experience with AWS 17%
Years of experience in IT 21%
Exposure to large projects 14%
Specific vertical industry experience 10%
AWS certifications 31%
Years of experience working for an end user 43%
College/University degree(s) 28%
Years of experience working for a partner organization 38%
%
Years of technical experience with AWS 3%
Years of experience in IT 3%
Exposure to large projects 10%
Specific vertical industry experience 21%
AWS certifications 10%
Years of experience working for an end user 7%
College/University degree(s) 24%
Years of experience working for a partner organization 17%

What steps should you take to become a Data Engineer?

Education

In terms of what you might need, 84% of Data Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. While 48% consider a degree to be an important factor in increasing earning potential, only 36% think that a degree is essential to work with AWS.

What AWS certifications do Data Engineers hold?

Answer %
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate 44%
AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty 38%
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Foundational 38%
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional 25%
AWS Certified Developer - Associate 19%

Certification

Earning an AWS certification is not only a super-effective way of upskilling, but it also helps you get ahead of your competition on the job market by validating your skills in the eyes of employers.

Over half (55%, up from 33% in our last survey) of Data Engineers are certified, and 50% of those have undergone recertification to maintain their AWS Certified Status. In comparison, 88% believe that certifications help candidates stand out in a competitive job market.

The most relevant vendor-accredited certification a Data Engineer can earn to boost their curb appeal is the AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty badge. This Specialty-level certificate isn’t directly aligned with a specific job role, but instead helps you develop a distinct expertise around skill sets relevant to a wide range of data roles.

Before obtaining this AWS certification, it’s recommended that you have around two years of practical experience working with AWS services and analytical solutions. The AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty focuses on the use of AWS data lakes and other analytical services to get insights from data, meaning candidates should be confident in designing, building, securing, and maintaining analytics solutions on AWS.

What steps should you take to become a
Data Engineer?

Education

In terms of what you might need, 84% of Data Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. While 48% consider a degree to be an important factor in increasing earning potential, only 36% think that a degree is essential to work with AWS.

Certification

Earning an AWS certification is not only a super-effective way of upskilling, but it also helps you get ahead of your competition on the job market by validating your skills in the eyes of employers.

Over half (55%, up from 33% in our last survey) of Data Engineers are certified, and 50% of those have undergone recertification to maintain their AWS Certified Status. In comparison, 88% believe that certifications help candidates stand out in a competitive job market.

The most relevant vendor-accredited certification a Data Engineer can earn to boost their curb appeal is the AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty badge. This Specialty-level certificate isn’t directly aligned with a specific job role, but instead helps you develop a distinct expertise around skill sets relevant to a wide range of data roles.

Before obtaining this AWS certification, it’s recommended that you have around two years of practical experience working with AWS services and analytical solutions. The AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty focuses on the use of AWS data lakes and other analytical services to get insights from data, meaning candidates should be confident in designing, building, securing, and maintaining analytics solutions on AWS.

What AWS certifications do Data Engineers hold?

Answer %
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate 44%
AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty 38%
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Foundational 38%
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional 25%
AWS Certified Developer - Associate 19%

What steps should you take to become a Data Engineer?

Education

In terms of what you might need, 84% of Data Engineers hold at least a Bachelor’s degree. While 48% consider a degree to be an important factor in increasing earning potential, only 36% think that a degree is essential to work with AWS.

Certification

Earning an AWS certification is not only a super-effective way of upskilling, but it also helps you get ahead of your competition on the job market by validating your skills in the eyes of employers.

Over half (55%, up from 33% in our last survey) of Data Engineers are certified, and 50% of those have undergone recertification to maintain their AWS Certified Status. In comparison, 88% believe that certifications help candidates stand out in a competitive job market.

The most relevant vendor-accredited certification a Data Engineer can earn to boost their curb appeal is the AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty badge. This Specialty-level certificate isn’t directly aligned with a specific job role, but instead helps you develop a distinct expertise around skill sets relevant to a wide range of data roles.

Before obtaining this AWS certification, it’s recommended that you have around two years of practical experience working with AWS services and analytical solutions. The AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty focuses on the use of AWS data lakes and other analytical services to get insights from data, meaning candidates should be confident in designing, building, securing, and maintaining analytics solutions on AWS.

What AWS certifications do Data Engineers hold?

Answer %
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate 44%
AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty 38%
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner - Foundational 38%
AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional 25%
AWS Certified Developer - Associate 19%

Roles that can lead on to becoming a Data Engineer

Data Engineers can come from a wide range of IT backgrounds, and the good news is that there isn’t a predetermined route that professionals must take—you just need to enjoy data!

Some of the most common roles that we see candidates starting their career in include:

What skills and experience should
Data Engineers have?

Roles that can lead on to becoming a Data Engineer

Data Engineers can come from a wide range of IT backgrounds, and the good news is that there isn’t a predetermined route that professionals must take—you just need to enjoy data!

Some of the most common roles that we see candidates starting their career in include:

What skills and experience should
Data Engineers have?

Roles that can lead on to becoming a Data Engineer

Data Engineers can come from a wide range of IT backgrounds, and the good news is that there isn’t a predetermined route that professionals must take—you just need to enjoy data!

Some of the most common roles that we see candidates starting their career in include:

What skills and experience should Data Engineers have?

What are the opportunities for progression?

What are the opportunities for progression?

What are the opportunities for progression?

Are you looking to hire an AWS professional?

Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the AWS ecosystem.