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Data Engineer salary in Australia
The median full-time salary for a data engineer is $111,800 per annum, before tax, up $23,000 since 2018.
DerivedIndicative estimate, not yet verified against official Jobs and Skills Australia / ABS data · Estimate
- Pay moves most with the depth of your platform skills and the sector you work in, and financial services and technology employers generally pay above government and not-for-profit employers.
- Contract and day-rate work is common in this field and can pay well, but it comes without paid leave or a guaranteed next engagement.
- Seniority, and whether you can design systems as well as build them, matters more than location.
The median salary rose by $23,000 between 2018 and 2024; the dashed line shows a projection to 2028 based on the real ABS Wage Price Index growth rate, not a role-specific forecast.
Roles that pay more than data engineer
The largest typical pay rise is $20,100 a year, moving into Software Engineer.
- Software Engineer+$20,100/yr
- DevOps Engineer+$20,100/yr
- Machine Learning Engineer+$15,600/yr
How to negotiate a higher data engineer salary
- Know the market rate before you ask. The median full-time data engineer salary is $111,800; use that, not a guess, as your anchor, and adjust for your experience and employer.
- Use demand as leverage. Data Engineers are on the national skills shortage list, so employers are more likely to move on price to keep or attract someone in a role they're struggling to fill.
- Lead with what's scarce, not just tenure. Skills like Programming and software development and Cloud infrastructure tend to command a premium over general data engineer experience, name them specifically when you ask.
- Bring a real alternative to the table. Software Engineer pays a typical $20,100 a year more and draws on similar skills, even mentioning you're weighing it up is a legitimate data point in a pay conversation.
- Time it deliberately. Reviews, the end of a project you delivered, or taking on responsibility beyond your job description are stronger moments to ask than an arbitrary date on the calendar.
- Ask for a number, not a raise. "Based on the market rate and [specific contribution], I'd like to move to X" gets a clearer answer than "I think I deserve more."
Data Engineer salary questions
How much do data engineers earn in Australia?
The median full-time salary for a data engineer is $111,800 a year before tax. Seniority, specialisation, sector and the award or agreement you're employed under all move it.
Is data engineer pay rising or falling?
The median data engineer salary is up $23,000 since 2018. Figures from 2025 onward on this page are a projection, not a measured result.
What pays more than data engineer?
Software Engineer pays a typical $20,100 a year more and draws on similar skills to data engineer.
Related salaries
- Data Architect salary
- Machine Learning Engineer salary
- Software Engineer salary
- Site Reliability Engineer salary
- DevOps Engineer salary
- Data Analyst salary
Pay advice
- How to ask for a pay rise, and back it up with real numbersWhat national wage growth looks like right now, how to work out a figure for your own role, wording you can adapt for the conversation, and what to do if the answer is no.
- The average salary in Australia (2026)Full-time adults in Australia averaged $2,083.70 a week in May 2026. Several measures get called the average salary, and this explains which one fits your situation.
- Overtime pay, time in lieu and what your award saysOvertime rates come from your award or agreement, not one national rule. How rates work, what happens on a salary, and how time off in lieu works.