Data Engineer Salary
Official ONS earnings for the UK, covering 360,000 jobs.
Median salary
£55,587
gross, per year, all employees
▲ 4.2% change on the previous year
Full-time only
£56,914
Part-time only
£29,281
Mean
£62,387
Jobs measured
360,000
What a typical data engineer takes home
On the median of £55,587, 2026/27 tax year, England, Wales and Northern Ireland rates, no pension or student loan.
Take-home a month
£3,566
Take-home a year
£42,798
Income Tax
£9,667
National Insurance
£3,122
What most data engineers actually earn
Half of data engineers earn between £41,141 and £75,077. Earning above £75,077 puts you in the top quarter of the profession.
The full pay range
Each bar is the salary at that percentile — the 25th means a quarter of data engineers earn less than this.
Data Engineer salary by region
11 of 11 GB regions have a published figure for this occupation.
| Region | Median | Mean |
|---|---|---|
| London | £74,284 | £79,081 |
| East | £60,203 | £68,286 |
| North East | £54,279 | £55,043 |
| South East | £52,671 | £58,190 |
| South West | £51,631 | £55,065 |
| North West | £49,505 | £56,816 |
| East Midlands | £48,744 | £51,219 |
| West Midlands | £47,744 | £52,108 |
| Scotland | £47,301 | £55,359 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £46,594 | £50,833 |
| Wales | £45,942 | £48,379 |
Data Engineer jobs hiring now in the UK
Live adverts. Salaries are shown only where the employer states one.
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Data Engineering Manager
Places For People · UK
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Principal Data Engineer
Places for People · UK
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Data Engineer
PA Consulting · Belfast, Northern Ireland
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Data Engineering Coordinator
CWA: Civil Works Alliance · Purdis Farm, Ipswich
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Data Engineer
Hackajob Ltd · Manchester Science Park, Manchester
Where this figure comes from
- ONS occupation group
- Programmers and software development professionals
- SOC 2020 code
- 2134
- Measure
- Gross annual pay, all employees
- Edition
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
ONS doesn't measure “data engineer” as its own category. These figures are for the wider group “Programmers and software development professionals”, which includes this role alongside others. ONS measures programmers and software development professionals as one group - it separates neither specialism nor seniority.
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Figures are estimates from a survey of PAYE jobs and are not financial advice.
Data Engineer salary FAQs
What is the average Data Engineer salary in the UK?
The median is £55,587 a year and the mean is £62,387, according to the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings. Those cover all employees; full-time employees alone have a median of £56,914 and part-time employees £29,281.
How much does a data engineer earn per hour?
Across the UK the median hourly rate is £29.31 excluding overtime, or £29.61 for full-time employees. ASHE publishes hourly pay by occupation nationally only.
What is a good Data Engineer salary?
Half of data engineers earn between £41,141 and £75,077. Anything above £75,077 is in the top quarter for the role.
What is the starting salary for a data engineer?
ASHE does not record experience, so there is no official starting salary. What it does show is that the lowest-paid 10% of data engineers earn under £30,752 and the lowest quarter under £41,141 — the range a new entrant is most likely to be offered.
How much do the highest-paid data engineers earn?
The top 10% of data engineers earn more than £101,172 a year, and the top quarter more than £75,077. ASHE does not publish figures above the 90th percentile.
Which part of the UK pays data engineers the most?
London, at a median of £74,284, is the highest of the 7 GB regions with a precise ONS estimate; West Midlands is the lowest at £47,744. Regions where ONS marks the figure as imprecise are not ranked.
Has data engineer pay gone up in the last year?
ASHE puts the year-on-year change in the median at +4.2% for this occupation in the UK. That compares the latest survey with the one before it and is not adjusted for inflation.
How many data engineers are there in the UK?
ASHE counts around 360,000 employee jobs in “Programmers and software development professionals” (SOC 2134) in the UK. Self-employed work is not included.
Is this figure official?
Yes. It comes from the ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, an accredited official statistic based on employer PAYE records.
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