VP Data

💰 $185K–$240K salary range

Median: $210K  ·  Based on 70 public job postings  ·  Updated October 23, 2026

This VP Data salary benchmark is built from public job postings at high-growth and AI-native companies — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

VP Data salary by location

• All locations: $210K median ($185K–$240K typical range)
• New York: $238K median, $213K–$278K range (+13% vs. national)
• San Francisco: $270K median, $238K–$280K range (+29% vs. national)
• Los Angeles: $174K median, $165K–$223K range (-17% vs. national)

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 80% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 54% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 61% of postings
• Parental leave: 50% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 16% of postings
• Visa sponsorship: 4% of postings

Typical experience required: 9–11 years.

Data salaries by seniority

• Data Analyst: $84K
• Data Engineer: $135K
• Data Team Lead: $160K
• Data Engineering Manager: $160K
• MLOps Engineer: $175K
• Senior Data Engineer: $178K
• VP Data: $210K
• Staff Data Engineer: $224K

What does a VP Data do?

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

Government wage data

For corroboration, U.S. Department of Labor certified wage filings (FY2026) show a median of $206K for VP Data roles, ranging $172K–$252K, across 93 filings. This is reported separately from — never blended with — the job-posting median above.

Common questions

What is the average VP Data salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $210K, with a typical range of $185K–$240K, based on 70 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

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 70 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 October 23, 2026.

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