What Is the Average Salary for an Entry-Level AWS Data Engineer With One Year of Experience?
In the US, a data engineer with a year of experience typically lands in the $85,000 to $115,000 range. Here’s what pushes it up or down.
In the United States, a data engineer with about one year of experience on AWS typically earns roughly $85,000 to $115,000 in base salary. Location, company type, and your skills move that range a lot. These are ballpark figures, not guarantees, and published salary surveys vary.
Let me be upfront about the limits here. Salary data for a specific title and experience level is messy. Different sites report different numbers, and job titles don’t map cleanly. Use this as a planning range, then check current listings in your city.
The range, and what’s behind it
| Situation | Typical US base salary |
|---|---|
| Junior data engineer, smaller company or lower-cost city | $75,000 to $95,000 |
| Junior to mid, average market | $90,000 to $115,000 |
| Large tech company or high-cost metro | $115,000 to $140,000 and up, plus bonus and stock |
Those are base figures. At larger tech companies, stock and bonuses can add a lot to total compensation, but entry-level offers vary widely.
What moves your number
Location. San Francisco, Seattle, and New York pay more than most other markets, though the cost of living offsets some of that. Remote roles often pay based on a regional band.
Company type. Big tech and well-funded startups pay the most. Consulting firms, government contractors, and smaller companies tend to pay less at entry level but can offer faster skill growth.
Your actual skills. Strong SQL, Python, Spark, and orchestration experience will raise an offer more than a certificate will. Pipeline projects you can show carry weight.
Prior background. If your one year came after years as a software engineer or analyst, you can negotiate higher than someone fresh out of school.
Certification. DEA-C01 helps as a signal, particularly for career changers. It rarely adds a fixed dollar amount, but it can help you clear screening and strengthen your case.
What “one year of experience” often looks like
Titles vary: data engineer, junior data engineer, analytics engineer, ETL developer, or cloud data engineer. In year one, you’ll typically build and maintain pipelines, write transformation logic in SQL or Python, work with S3, Glue, Redshift, or Athena, and fix things that break at 2 a.m. The pay band reflects that you’re productive but still learning.
How salary tends to grow
Data engineering usually pays well relative to many tech roles, and pay climbs as you take on ownership and scale. Reaching mid-level in two to four years often moves you well past the entry range, and senior roles sit considerably higher. The rate depends heavily on the employer.
Outside the US
Pay differs a lot by country. A data engineer with one year of experience in other markets may earn a fraction of US numbers in absolute terms, though the relationship to local salaries can still be strong. Check local job boards for real figures.
How to use these numbers
- Compare actual job postings in your target city and company type
- Look at total compensation, not only base
- Ask recruiters for ranges. In many places, employers must disclose a pay range in listings
- Negotiate with evidence: projects, certifications, and quantifiable impact
Raising your number
1. Get strong in SQL, Python, and Spark 2. Build and publish end-to-end pipeline projects 3. Earn DEA-C01 to validate your AWS skills 4. Learn cost optimization and data quality, which employers value 5. Be willing to change employers after a year or two, since that’s often where the biggest raises happen
For broader numbers across AWS roles, see how much AWS-certified professionals make, and for the career question itself, is data engineering a good career in 2026.
Practice for the DEA-C01 with full-length exams
Six full-length DEA-C01 practice exams, 390 questions in all, built around the real exam blueprint. Run them timed to rehearse your pacing, or drill one domain at a time when you know where you are weak. You see how you did by domain after every attempt, so you know what to study next.
- 6 full-length exams, 65 questions each
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