Cloud Engineer Salaries in 2024: AWS, Azure, Google Cloud

Average Cloud Engineer Salary

How much does a cloud engineer earn on average? According to Indeed, the average base pay for cloud engineers in the U.S. is $127,126 annually, based on 2,300 salaries reported.

Source: Indeed

The salary is slightly lower when looking at the data from PayScale, which gives an average estimate of $113,358 a year for Cloud Software Engineers in the US.

Source: PayScale

However, as we will see in the next sections, the average salary of a cloud engineer is influenced by several factors, including cloud providers, experience level, location, industry, educational background, and certifications. 

Salary by Cloud Platform

The cloud is highly monopolized by three cloud solutions: Amazon’s AWS, Microsoft’s Azure, and Google Cloud.

AWS Cloud Engineer Salary

According to the 2023 Stack Overflow Developer Survey, AWS remains the most used cloud platform. Based on data from Talent.com, AWS cloud engineers earn a median salary of $140,000 per year, based on 5846 reported salaries.

Source: Talent.com

If you are interested in becoming an AWS Cloud engineer, a great place to get started is our AWS Cloud Technology and Services Course.

Azure Cloud Engineer Salary

Developed by Microsoft, Azure is rapidly gaining popularity thanks to its unique integrations with other tools of the Microsoft technology stack. According to Talent.com, Azure cloud engineers earn a median salary of $135,000 per year, based on 4680 respondents. 

Source: Talent.com

Interested in Azure? Check out our Introduction to Azure Course to start your journey to becoming an Azure Cloud developer.

Google Cloud Engineer Salary

Google Cloud is Google’s bet to keep up with Amazon and Microsoft in the cloud market. According to Talent.com, Google Cloud engineers can expect a median salary of $143,000 per year, based on 632 respondents. 

Source: Talent.com

DataCamp offers dedicated materials and courses to help you become a Google Cloud engineer. Enroll in our Introduction to GCP Course to get started today. 

Cloud Engineer Salary by Experience and Job Role 

The average salary of a data scientist also changes with the level of experience. As reported by PayScale, if you are an entry-level cloud engineer looking for your first job in the field, you can expect, on average, a salary of $94,000. Cloud engineers with 1-4 years of experience, on the other hand, can expect a total compensation of $112,000, while senior cloud engineers with 5-9 years of experience means an average salary of around $119,000, with higher compensation packages.

Besides the experience, there are also salary differences depending on your job role. Some positions require specific skills that are harder to find in the job market, hence higher salary.

Cloud Architect Salary

Cloud architects design, develop, and support cloud computing solutions. This role is very technical and often focuses on implementing the frameworks for the company's network or security system. According to data from PayScale, cloud architects can expect an average $133,037 annual salary.

Source: PayScale

Cloud Security Engineer Salary

Cloud security engineers help companies protect their data and networks hosted in the cloud by developing security practices and systems. Cloud security engineers earn an average of $136,485 annually​, based on PayScale.

Source: PayScale

Salary by Industry and Location

The cloud computing industry is rapidly growing. Companies from all kinds of industries, from finance and healthcare to manufacturing and IT are implementing cloud solutions to store and process data. 

However, salaries vary widely by industry. According to Glassdoor, the top 5 paying industries for a Cloud Engineer in the U.S. are:

• Pharmaceutical & biotechnology: median salary of $145,098, 
• Financial services: median salary of $140,293, 
• Energy, mining & utilities: median salary of $138,056
• Insurance: median salary of $135,880,
• Telecommunications: median salary of $135,815.

Salaries can also be highly influenced by location. Overall, mean salaries tend to be higher in states along both the East and West Coasts. This comes as no surprise, as these areas are where some of the biggest tech hotspots in the country, including San José —also known as the capital of Silicon Valley—, San Francisco, and New York, where cloud professionals normally earn good six-figure salaries. 

What Can You Do to Increase Your Cloud Engineer Salary?

The cloud is a vibrant and highly disruptive field in itself. The ecosystem is changing at a fast pace, with new technologies, tools, and software constantly being introduced, making it very difficult to predict what the industry will look like in 10 years. 

Given this environment, continuous training is key for cloud professionals not only to keep up with the speed of innovation but also to achieve salary increases or promotions.

What are the best pathways for upskilling? Depending on your time availability and how much your company is willing to invest in your education, you could consider the following options:

• Formal degrees in cloud engineering. Going for an advanced education program, such as a PhD or a master’s degree in data science or cloud computing, is a great way to level up in your organization. Most big tech companies are encouraging their employees to pursue these kinds of programs.  
• Cloud certifications. Getting certified is becoming one of the more common and fastest ways to pick up or improve cloud skills. According to the O’Reilly 2021 Data/AI Salary Survey, cloud certifications, specifically AWS certifications and Microsoft Azure certification, were most strongly associated with salary increases. In DataCamp, we are working hard to expand our certification catalog to include cloud certifications. For now, we are happy to announce our Azure Fundamentals Certification. 

Conclusion

We hope you enjoyed this article. As we’ve seen, the cloud is booming, there are plenty of opportunities, and it is highly profitable for those interested in breaking into the field.

If you are considering starting a new adventure in the exciting world of cloud computing, Datacamp is the best place to get started. Check out our cloud-related courses and materials and begin your learning journey today.

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