Big Data Engineer Salary and Job Trends in 2024

Introduction

Before understanding the various aspects of big data engineer salaries, let us understand what big data is and why there is a demand for data engineers.

In this era of data, every industry, big or small, is obtaining data from all possible sources to analyze and make data-driven decisions.

With the growing number of data sources and the fast growth of data, many challenges have occurred, such as the handling, storing, and processing of data.

The main challenge is the vast amount of data and the rate at which it is generated, as well as the format and discrepancies in which the data is presented.

As technology grows, so does the demand for storing, curating, analyzing, and visualizing data. This is big data, which needs to be handled by big data engineers.

The role of a big data engineer is to work with large volumes of complex data and make it understandable for the business. Since their job demands a high level of skill and expertise, the big data engineer's salary has been constantly increasing.

Read more: what is Big Data – Types, Trends and Future explained

Big Data Uses Explained with Examples

 

Understanding Big Data and Its Impact

In this digital age, data is being generated at an uncontrollable rate. From social media interactions to financial transactions and scientific research, the volume, variety, and velocity of data being generated continue to rise. This data, often referred to as "Big Data," covers vast and complex amounts of datasets that traditional data processing software struggles to process. Big Data's wide range of information sources includes:

• Social media activity (posts, comments, and likes)
• Transaction records (e-commerce purchases, financial transactions)
• Sensor data (Internet of Things devices)
• Machine-generated data (logs, application data)
• Scientific research data (genomics, climate studies)

The ability to collect, store, analyze, and process this data is the key for modern businesses and organizations across multiple sectors and industries. These Big Data analytics empower organizations to:

• Gain deeper customer insights: By analyzing customer behavior patterns and preferences, businesses can personalize marketing campaigns, optimize product offerings, and improve customer satisfaction.
• Make data-driven decisions: Big data allows organizations to analyze trends, identify risks and opportunities, and make informed decisions based on real-time data insights.
• Enhance operational efficiency: Big data analytics can be used to streamline processes, optimize resource allocation, and identify areas for cost reduction.
• Fuel innovation: Big data can be a catalyst for innovation, enabling the development of new products, services, and business models.

The increasing demand for professionals that can handle and process big data has led to a surge in big data engineering roles. This provides you with a foundational understanding of big data and its impact across various industries, helping you explore the skills and career path of a Big Data Engineer.

 

Big Data Engineer Skills

What are the big data engineer's skills? What are the skill sets required to become a big data engineer? Many aspirants have these questions on their minds.

Before choosing big data engineering as a career, those who are seeking this position in the tech industry must conduct thorough research.

A Big Data Engineer job requires specific skill sets to complete day-to-day tasks in the workplace. Their role is to provide organizations with data analysis and produce insights that are useful for the business. Here are the specific skills needed for this position, as shown below:

For this job role, the most crucial component in determining the wage is their skill set. The responsibilities and requirements listed in each job description are determining factors for a big data engineer's salary.

 

Big Data Engineer Salary

The salary depends upon various factors, such as geographical location, educational qualifications, job position, and work experience. According to Glassdoor, the average salary in India is Rs. 8,56,643 LPA for this job role.

Let's look at the various factors that affect the big data engineer's salary.

Big Data Engineer Salary Based on Skills

Skill sets are the first important factor in determining salary. Every job description has its own set of roles and requirements. These roles and requirements are deciding factors for a big data engineer's salary.

 Here is a salary distribution according to skill sets.

 

Big data engineer salary based on job title and year of experience

Another factor that influences a big data engineer’s salary is experience level. The salary varies at different levels of experience. In general, more the year of experience, more will be the salary.

In this field, qualifications, years of experience, and job titles play crucial roles in deciding how much salary they can get.

For example, a professional working at the junior level in the US earn an average salary of $70,357 annually, whereas an entry-level data engineer earns $116,079 per year.

The highest position in this profession is that of a senior data engineer. In the United States, the average take-home pay of a senior data engineer is $135,961, whereas in India, a professional with work experience of 10+ years earns ₹1600K as their base salary.

A big data architect with key skills such as database architecture and warehousing, BI tools, data modeling, and SQL can get an average salary of $122K.

And, a title of a technical architect with key skills such as network architecture and design, Java/J2EE, Oracle, and cloud computing can get an average salary of $117K.

There are many such job roles in the data engineering field that can provide the best salary for your skill sets. Having key skills to get the desired job is

To start a career in engineering or big data, there are numerous opportunities available. Let’s take a look at a few of the roles and their expected salaries.

The majority of data professionals start out as software engineers, data analysts, or business analysts.                                       

 

Big data engineer salary based on location

How much a big data engineer can make is also influenced by the location of the organization. Usually, working in bigger cities like New York and California means higher pay.

These are the top 10 nations in the world according to average data engineering salaries.

 

The highest-paying countries for data engineering are Australia, Germany, and the United States.

 

Big data engineer salary by the company

Nowadays, every big or small tech company uses huge, unorganized raw data. To harness that data and make data-driven decisions, data analysis is required. To complete the work, they use big data engineers.

Before entering the field and for career benefits, it’s better to understand which company pays more for this role. All technology-based companies are the best to start as data engineers because they pay well.

For example, the average salary at Apple is $166K, and the average at Amazon is $121K for a big data engineer.

Salary levels for big data engineers differ from one company to the next. It depends upon the specific role, location, qualification, and many other factors. Here are the average salaries offered by top companies.

Average big data engineer salary:

at Amazon- $121K

at Microsoft- $132K

at Apple- $166K

at Meta- $166K

at Google- $126K

The above figures are taken from Glassdoor. The salaries mentioned are based on real job descriptions.

 

Big Data Engineer Job Trends

The increased demand for big data engineers has increased competition for the best candidates. Every big or small company is struggling with processing, gathering, and analyzing data sets. This has resulted in numerous jobs in the industry.

The best way to understand the job trends in this field is by understanding and analyzing the jobs available and the different job titles of big data engineers.

According to Glassdoor, the jobs available for big data engineers in the US are 9,991 and in the UK, 2,309.

According to Indeed, the number of jobs available in India is 3040, and in the US, it is 20,153.

In India, the number of jobs available is determined by the pay scale; for example, the number of jobs available for a pay scale of 7,00,00,000 is 2,328.

And for the US, the number of jobs available in the $90,000 salary range is 14,960.

The salary gap is because of factors like job location, experience, and skill sets that we have already discussed above.

Become a Certified Big Data Engineer

A profession like big data engineering is both promising and in demand. Since a lot of new technologies and tools are emerging for collecting, storing, and analyzing data, this field is rapidly growing, and there is a lot of growth potential in the coming years.

The most important factors that can help aspirants get into this field are the right education, certification, and training.

To upgrade skills and knowledge for a career as a big data engineer and to boost your salary potential, enroll in relevant courses offered by Sprintzeal listed below:

Big Data Hadoop Certification Training Course

CompTIA Data+ Certification Training

Data Science Master Program

Big Data Analytics Training Course

 

 

Takeaway

Big data is everywhere, and it is being used by all industries. There is a drastic rise in big data and data analytics globally; it’s the best time to consider becoming a big data engineer.

The article shows the most up-to-date information on a big data engineer’s average salary in the US and around the world. We've observed that characteristics like experience, geography, job title, and firm determine a big data engineer’s salary.

There are many job opportunities in the field of big data engineering, and those opportunities are expected to grow in the future.

To learn and practice more data science-related topics, visit Sprintzeal’s all courses and enroll in your desired course now.

 

Frequently Asked Question

What are the required qualifications to become a big data engineer?

The minimum required qualification to become a Big Data Engineer is the successful completion of an undergraduate degree in Big Data.

What are the top big data engineer recruiters?

Top recruiters for Big Data Engineers:

Amazon

Facebook

Microsoft

Google

Airbnb

AT&T

Capital One

What are the roles and responsibilities of a big data engineer?

The role and responsibilities of a big data engineer are not limited to one task. It mainly includes making the raw data ready for usage, analysis, and evaluation. This extracted data helps businesses make data-driven decisions.

How much does a big data engineer earn on average?

A data engineer with 1-4 years of experience can expect to earn approximately 7,37,257 lacs per year. Further, as experience increases, the salary increases.