JOB ROLE

Data engineer: certifications, study paths and pay

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You build and run the pipelines that move and prepare data at scale so analysts, data scientists and AI teams can use it.

See practice tests for this roleWhat does it pay?
US$139,500 US median pay4 practice-test exams3 study paths

What you do

  • Design and build data pipelines
  • Keep data reliable, fast and secure
  • Work with cloud data platforms and orchestration tools

Skills that matter

  • SQL and Python
  • Cloud data services
  • Pipeline orchestration
  • Data quality practices

What does this role pay?

Lowest 10 percent earn less thanUS$86,240
Median per yearUS$139,500
Highest 10 percent earn more thanUS$204,000

United States, May 2025, annual wages for the closest official occupation: Database architects, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Pay grows with experience, scope and certifications. Pay in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries is different, so check local job boards and salary guides. These figures are a guide, not an offer or a promise of pay.

Practice tests that fit this role

Certifications that appear most often alongside this role. Start with the first one if you are new to it.

AssociateDatabricks GenAI Engineer Associate5 tests · 225 questionsAssociateSnowPro Associate5 tests · 325 questionsAssociateGoogle Cloud Associate Data Practitioner5 tests · 250 questionsAssociateAWS MLA-C025 tests · 425 questions

Study paths that lead here

STUDY PATH

Data and analytics path

View roadmap →

STUDY PATH

Google Cloud AI and data track

View roadmap →

STUDY PATH

AWS AI track

View roadmap →

Job titles this page covers

  • Cloud data engineer
  • Data engineer
  • Data engineer working with LLMs
  • Data science engineer
  • Junior data engineer
  • Lakehouse engineer

Employers use many names for similar work. Requirements vary by employer and country, and a certificate supports your application but does not guarantee a job.

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