Thursday, September 18, 2025

Data Engineering - Career Earnings Analysis (September 2025)

Colleagues, implementing a well-defined, forward-thinking career development plan can boost your career and income growth over a 30-year life cycle. According to Mordor Intelligence “The Big Data Engineering Services Market size is estimated at USD $91.54 billion in 2025, and is expected to reach USD $187.19 billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 15.38% during the forecast period (2025-2030).” By making modest investments in your professional training and certification will reward you with greatly enhanced income potential.

Assumptions:


  • Duration: 30-year career lifecycle (e.g. age 25-55)

  • Salary: $125,015/year - BuiltIn (compensation will vary by location - we will use a US average for our analysis)

  • Education Level: This model is based upon the individual having a BS/BA degree. A MS/MA degree adds an extra 5%-10% to annual income

  • Training & Certification: 5%-10% income lift/year

  • Salary - Annual Increase per CPI Inflation: 2.5%/year

  • Base Case: Junior Level - age 25/1st certification

  • Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - age 30/2nd certification

  • Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - age 35/3rd certification

  • Expert Case: Technical Refresher - age 40-45/4th certification


Junior Level (5 years of experience):


  • Title(s): Junior Data Engineer, Data Engineering Intern, Junior ETL Developer, Data Analyst

  • Base income: $144,893/year

  • Sample Training & Certs: IBM Data Engineering Professional Certificate, Databricks Certified Data Engineer Associate, Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Fundamentals (DP-900)


Intermediate (10 years of experience):


  • Title(s): Data Engineer, Analytics Engineer, Cloud Data Engineer, Big Data Developer

  • Base income: $175,408/year

  • Sample Training & Certs: Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer, Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Engineer Associate (DP-203), AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate, SnowPro Core Certification


Advanced (15 years of experience):


  • Title(s): Senior Data Engineer, Data Architect, Principal Data Engineer, Data Engineering Manager

  • Base income: $214,335/year

  • Sample Training & Certs: Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional, SnowPro Advanced: Data Engineer, AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty, Arcitura Certified Big Data Architect (BDSCP)


Expert (Executive-Refresher) (20 years of experience):


  • Title(s): Director of Data Engineering/Data Science, Chief Data Officer (CDO), Principal Data Architect, VP of Data

  • Base income: $350,000/year

  • Sample Training & Certs: Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP), TOGAF 9 Certification, Specialized Vendor Certifications


Income Comparison:


  • Base Case: Junior Level - $144,893/year

  • Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - $175,408/year

  • Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - $214,335/year

  • Expert Case: Technical Refresher - $350,000/year


Note: For a more comprehensive roster of Data Engineering certifications see AWS, Databricks, Google, along with Coursera, edX, and Udacity.


Data Engineering Specializations, Master Classes and Certifications:



Get started today (teams & execs are welcome).


Recommended Reading:


Explore our Data-Driven Organizations Audible and Kindle book series on Amazon:

1 - Data-Driven Decision-Making  (Audible) (Kindle)

2 - Implementing Data Science Methodology: From Data Wrangling to Data Viz (Audible) (Kindle)

3 - The Upskill Gambit - Discover the 5 Keys to Your Career and Income Security in the Digital Age (Audible) (Kindle)


Much success in your Data Engineering career journey, Lawrence E. Wilson - Data Science Academy (share with colleagues & friends) 
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Data Engineering - Career Earnings Analysis (September 2025)

Colleagues, implementing a well-defined, forward-thinking career development plan can boost your career and income growth over a 30-year lif...