How Much Do Data Center Engineers Make?

Having a clear understanding of earnings potential is important, especially if you are researching career paths or considering changing jobs. If you're one of those people, and you're curious what kind of salary data center engineers make, you've come to the right place.

Using data from Lightcast,™ the Best Adult Colleges and Careers Guide has compiled rich information about salary for data center engineers and related jobs, including details about average compensation, salary trends and job growth. We've also gathered advertised salaries from actual job postings to provide insight into what employers of data center engineers are offering as compensation.

Keep reading to learn more about how much data center engineers can expect to make in the United States.

At a Glance: Salary & Jobs for Data Center Engineers

According to data from 2023, there were about 77,311 positions for data center engineers in the United States. In terms of salary, the national median salary for data center engineers was reported to be $101,504. Additionally, when examining job demand, employers across the country posted 82,403 job postings related to positions for data center engineers.

How Much Money Do Data Center Engineers Make?

Median salary is just one data point. To build a better understanding of how much money data center engineers and related positions can expect to make in the United States, it can be helpful to look at the full range of compensation for those jobs.

Let's look more deeply at data that was reported to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for detail into the lowest and highest salary earnings for data center engineers.

Annual Salary for Data Center Engineers

According to the BLS, the lowest earners for data center engineers and related professions earned about $54,330 per year in 2023. Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, the highest earners made about $157,706 annually.

As mentioned previously, the median salary for data center engineers in the United States in 2023 was $101,504.

Hourly Salary for Data Center Engineers

The BLS also breaks down compensation for data center engineers by hourly salary, and the median average hourly pay for data center engineers in 2023 was $49. Lowest hourly earners took home $26 while the highest reported hourly salaries for data center engineers was $76.

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Degree Options for Data Center Engineers

Advertised Compensation for Data Center Engineers

Data from the BLS is one way to dig into compensation for data center engineers, but another way to build a more real-time understanding of salary is to look at actual job postings and see what compensation organizations are currently providing to fill open positions for data center engineers.

Keep in mind that salary data is not included in every job posting, so the information compiled here is reflective of the data available through Lightcast.™

Annual Salary from Job Postings for Data Center Engineers

During a review of 119,011 job postings related to data center engineers, advertised salary was included in 40,539 of them, which was 34%. Based on those postings, the median advertised salary for data center engineers was $115,072 per year.

Hourly Salary from Job Postings for Data Center Engineers

A similar analysis of job postings provides insight into advertised hourly salary for data center engineers. Based on 49% of postings with advertised compensation, the median hourly salary for open positions for data center engineers in the United States is about $55.

Salary Trend for Data Center Engineers

If you're thinking about pursuing a career in the field, you may want to understand how compensation has changed over time for data center engineers. The chart below provides a snapshot of advertised salaries over the past three years.

Based on compensation data that was included in job postings for data center engineers dating back to September 2020, advertised salaries for data center engineers have increased 9%.

What's the Job Growth for Data Center Engineers?

Another data point that someone thinking about a career path should consider is whether or not jobs are expected to see growth in the future. The chart below looks at projected employment for data center engineers over the next 10 years.

According to the data obtained through Lightcast,™ there were 77,652 jobs for data center engineers in the United States in 2023. By 2033, it is expected that about 9,076 jobs will be added. That's a 11.7% increase over the next 10-year period.

Additional Links

Ready to dig deeper into career information about data center engineers? Visit our other pages focused on salary and education for data center engineers.

What do data center engineers do?
Data Center Engineers: How do you become one?

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