Staff Data Engineer

💰 $190K–$231K salary range

Median: $207K  ·  Based on 69 public job postings  ·  Updated July 1, 2026

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This senior engineering position is crucial for high-growth companies. Staff Data Engineers design and optimize the foundational data infrastructure critical for training large language models and powering machine learning inference systems. Compensation for this role typically ranges from $218K to $250K, with a median of $230K, based on an analysis of 20 recent job postings. Professionals commanding top pay demonstrate expertise in building scalable real-time data pipelines, advanced MLOps platform integration, and optimizing vector databases for retrieval augmented generation (RAG) applications. Strong leadership in architecting robust, high-performance data platforms directly impacts model development cycles and product scalability within the AI landscape, making this a highly valued and compensated role.

📊 Salary breakdown

Staff Data Engineer salary by location

• All locations: $207K median ($190K–$231K typical range)
• San Francisco: $210K median, $198K–$269K range (+1% vs. national)
• New York: $220K median, $196K–$268K range (+6% vs. national)
• Remote: $200K median, $195K–$200K range (-3% vs. national)

Highest paying companies

San Francisco

• GoFundMe: $225K median
• Gusto: $209K median

Remote

• Fluidstack: $200K median

Based on companies with 3+ active postings. Median of publicly advertised salary range.

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 91% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 72% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 71% of postings
• Parental leave: 25% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 16% of postings

Typical experience required: 8–10 years.

Data salaries by seniority

• Data Analyst: $108K
• Data Engineer: $145K
• Data Engineering Manager: $155K
• Data Team Lead: $165K
• Senior Data Engineer: $175K
• VP Data: $205K
• Staff Data Engineer: $207K

What does a Staff Data Engineer do?

Staff Data Engineers are data professionals who build the pipelines, models, and analytics the business runs on. This benchmark reflects Staff-level base compensation at high-growth and AI-native companies.

Common questions

What is the average Staff Data Engineer salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $207K, with a typical range of $190K–$231K, based on 69 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

How does Staff Data Engineer pay compare in San Francisco vs. remote?
San Francisco roles pay a median of $210K, while fully-remote roles pay $200K.

Where does this salary data come from?
It is aggregated from public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.

Methodology

Figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised USD salary range, aggregated from 69 public job postings (2025–2026). The range shown is the 25th–75th percentile; the median is the 50th percentile. Equity is separate and not included; where a posting's range reflects on-target earnings (OTE) for commission roles, that is included in the midpoint. Roles require at least 15 postings to be published. Last refreshed July 1, 2026.

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