- Home >
- Startup hiring data >
- Data Engineer Salary in San Francisco Bay Area Startups 2026
Data Engineer Salary and Equity in San Francisco Bay Area 2026
How much does a Data Engineer expect to make at San Francisco Bay Area-based startups? The average expected salary for Data Engineers in San Francisco Bay Area-based startups is 145k per year, with a range from 41k to 212k. These amounts were gathered from Wellfound self-reported data and represent the median salary range. The salary range for Data Engineers in San Francisco Bay Area startups varies depending on factors such as industry, experience, skills, and startup stage.
144.8k
Average Salary
4 years
Average years of experience
Salary
The average salary for a Data Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area is $144,750, which is 13.6% higher than the average San Francisco Bay Area startup salary of$127,375. Data Engineer salaries in San Francisco Bay Area are based on exclusive Wellfound data. All data is updated on a weekly basis. Factors that may influence salary include: years of experience, title, size of company, skill-set, and industry.
Top of market
$193,958/yr
Range $160k - $212k
Average
$144,750/yr
Range $120k - $175k
Below Average
$89,083/yr
Range $41k - $175k
Industries
The highest average salary a Data Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area can get in Enterprise Software, that is $175,000. This pay is 22.8% higher than the average Data Engineer salary in San Francisco Bay Area, which is $142,500. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Enterprise Software (avg $175,000 per year), Big Data (avg $165,000 per year), Machine Learning (avg $115,000 per year).
Tech Stack
The highest average salary a Data Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area can get with PyTorch, that is $175,000. This pay is 37.4% higher than the average salary in San Francisco Bay Area startups, which is $127,375. Salary range for specific skills will vary based on the supply and demand in the current market.
Top Tech Stacks
The top-paying Data Engineer skills in San Francisco Bay Area of 2026 are:
1. PyTorch
$175k
2. Python
$157k
3. SQL
$115k
4. Docker
$115k
5. AWS
$115k
Years of experience
Below Average
Average
Top of Market
The highest average salary a Data Engineer in San Francisco Bay Area can get with 4-6 years of experience, that is $125,000. This pay is 1.9% lower than the average salary in San Francisco Bay Area startups, which is $127,375. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.
Popular roles
Software EngineerMobile DeveloperAndroid DeveloperiOS DeveloperFrontend EngineerBackend EngineerFull-Stack EngineerSoftware ArchitectMachine Learning EngineerEmbedded EngineerData EngineerDevOpsEngineering ManagerQA EngineerData ScientistDesignerUI/UX DesignerUser ResearcherVisual DesignerCreative DirectorGraphic Designer Product DesignerProduct ManagerOperationsFinance/AccountingH.R.Office ManagerRecruiterCustomer ServiceOperations ManagerSalesBusiness DevelopmentSales Development RepresentativeAccount ExecutiveBD ManagerAccount ManagerSales ManagerCustomer Success ManagerMarketingGrowth HackerMarketing ManagerContent CreatorCopywriterSocial Media ManagerManagementCEOCFOCMOCOOCTOOther EngineeringHardware EngineerMechanical EngineerSystems EngineerOtherBusiness AnalystProject ManagerAttorneyData AnalystInvestorLimited PartnerStrategic InvestorInstitutional InvestorVenture DebtVCSeed FundIndividual InvestorAngelFounder