Data Engineer.
San Francisco.
$184,000
median salary, 35% above the national average
$146,000 to $228,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Data Engineer salary in San Francisco is $184,000, 35% above the national average. Entry level starts near $146,000. Experienced professionals push past $228,000. San Francisco is the epicenter of venture capital and startup innovation, consistently producing the highest tech salaries in the nation. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Data Engineer in San Francisco, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $175,860 for Database Architects (SOC 15-1243) in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA metropolitan area, based on 1,600 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$133,050
25th percentile
$163,160
Median
$175,860
75th percentile
$212,170
90th percentile
$237,930
Workers surveyed
1,600
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Database Architects (SOC 15-1243) rather than Data Engineer specifically. The San Francisco range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 15-1243Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $165,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$120,000
to $147,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$156,000
to $193,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$202,000
to $239,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$230,000
to $285,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $51,000 to the total package.
Base
$184,000
Equity
$29,000
Bonus
$18,000
Signing
$4,000
Estimated total: $235,000
Data Engineer salary by company.
Total compensation estimates include base, equity, bonus, and signing. Ranges reflect mid to senior level. Derived from public H-1B LCA filings (DOL).
How San Francisco compares.
San Francisco, CA
$184,000
Cost of living: 35% above average
National Average
$136,000
San Francisco is $48,000 above
Data Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in San Francisco.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for Data Engineer roles in San Francisco, here is what you are walking into. San Francisco is the epicenter of venture capital and startup innovation, consistently producing the highest tech salaries in the nation. The city's concentration of AI labs, SaaS companies, and fintech firms creates intense competition for talent. Despite remote work trends, SF still commands the steepest salary premiums for engineering and product roles. Proficiency with modern data stack tools like Spark, Kafka, dbt, and Snowflake separates top earners from the pack. Engineers who build real-time streaming pipelines or manage petabyte-scale warehouses earn 15 to 25% more. Startups with heavy ML infrastructure needs often pay premiums to attract pipeline specialists.
Junior data engineers start at $85,000 to $105,000, progressing to mid-level at $115,000 to $155,000 within three years. Senior data engineers earn $160,000 to $195,000, while staff-level or principal roles reach $210,000 to $270,000 at top-tier companies. In San Francisco, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 35% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity grants at data-intensive startups can represent 15 to 30% of total compensation. Annual bonuses range from 10 to 15%, and many firms provide $3,000 to $8,000 yearly learning stipends for cloud platform training. And on the tax side: california's top marginal state income tax rate is 13.3%, the highest in the U.S. San Francisco has no additional city income tax, but overall tax burden remains steep. When someone quotes you $184,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Leverage competing offers aggressively. SF employers expect candidates to shop around, and matching or beating a rival offer is standard practice here. The range for Data Engineers in San Francisco runs from $146,000 to $228,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An ML Engineer in San Francisco earns $183,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in San Francisco is CTO at $401,000
Common questions.
Data Engineer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in San Francisco.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"Data Engineer Salary in San Francisco, CA." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/data-engineer/san-francisco
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