AI Engineer salary

Q: How much does an AI engineer make?

The median AI engineer salary in the U.S. is about $133,080 per year. Most AI engineers earn between $79,850 and $211,450, and top earners (90th percentile) make $211,450 or more. AI Engineer is a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so these figures are labeled, mapped estimates benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

Q: What is the highest AI engineer salary?

Top-earning AI engineers (90th percentile) make about $211,450 or more nationally. In the highest-paying metros, estimated AI engineer pay can run even higher — for example around $208,270 (median) in San Jose. Metro figures are cost-of-labor estimates, not direct BLS metro data.

Q: How much do entry-level AI engineers make?

Entry-level AI engineers (0–2 years) earn about $104,000 per year, rising to roughly $143,500 at mid-level and $179,500+ at the principal/staff level. These by-experience figures are modeled estimates based on typical engineering career progression.

Q: Do AI engineers make good money?

Yes. The median AI engineer salary of $133,080 is 11% above the roughly $120,395 median across engineering occupations, and experienced AI engineers can earn $211,450 or more.

Q: Which cities pay AI engineers the most?

Estimated AI engineer pay is highest in San Jose ($208,270), San Francisco ($174,910), Seattle ($169,340). These are cost-of-labor estimates that adjust the national baseline by local wage levels — not direct BLS metro wages.

Mapped est.

Updated March 2025

AI engineers build applications and systems powered by machine learning and large language models — one of the fastest-growing engineering roles, with pay that runs above the broader software baseline.

Median pay

$133,080

U.S. typical

Top earners

$211,450

90th percentile

Entry level

$104,000

0–2 yrs

Senior

$179,500

15+ yrs

The median AI engineer salary in the U.S. is about $133,080 per year. Entry-level pay starts near $79,850, while top earners (90th percentile) make $211,450 or more. AI Engineeris a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so this figure is a labeled estimate benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

Median annual wage

$133,080

Mean

$144,570

10th pct · $79,85090th pct · $211,450

What AI engineers do

Integrate and fine-tune ML/LLM models, build AI-powered features and pipelines, and deploy and monitor models in production.

What affects AI engineer pay

▹Frontier-lab vs. application-layer roles
▹Research vs. applied engineering
▹Years of experience and rare specialization
▹Equity (very large at AI labs)
▹Metro cost of labor

AI Engineer salary by experience

Pay typically climbs from about $104,000 for entry level engineers to $179,500+ at the principal / staff level.

Entry level 0–2 yrs

$104,000

Early career 3–5 yrs

$125,000

Mid level 6–9 yrs

$143,500

Senior 10–14 yrs

$162,500

Principal / Staff 15+ yrs

$179,500

Your actual offer depends on company, location, and specialization — run the calculator for a tailored range.

Highest-paying cities for AI engineers

AI engineer pay in the top-paying metros, mapped from the nearest tracked occupation, vs the national benchmark.

15results

Metro	State	Median	90th pct	vs U.S.	Data
San Jose California	CA	$208,270	$239,200	+56%	Estimate
San Francisco California	CA	$174,910	$239,200	+31%	Estimate
Seattle Washington	WA	$169,340	$239,200	+27%	Estimate
Santa Maria California	CA	$163,020	$213,440	+22%	Estimate
New York City New York	NY	$161,970	$220,780	+22%	Estimate
Boulder Colorado	CO	$159,670	$239,200	+20%	Estimate
San Diego California	CA	$159,240	$212,100	+20%	Estimate
Bridgeport Connecticut	CT	$157,540	$239,200	+18%	Estimate
Los Angeles California	CA	$155,330	$210,600	+17%	Estimate
Boston Massachusetts	MA	$154,240	$208,590	+16%	Estimate
Washington, D.C. District of Columbia	DC	$150,880	$211,230	+13%	Estimate
Portland Oregon	OR	$149,010	$211,750	+12%	Estimate
Santa Rosa California	CA	$141,140	$203,830	+6%	Estimate
Sacramento California	CA	$141,030	$210,460	+6%	Estimate
Manchester New Hampshire	NH	$140,820	$199,390	+6%	Estimate

AI Engineer salary by state

AI Engineer pay by state, mapped from the nearest tracked occupation.

Rank	State	Median	90th pct
1	California	$170,910	≥$239,200
2	Washington	$166,910	≥$239,200
3	New York	$161,260	$223,480
4	Massachusetts	$150,520	$208,220
5	Maryland	$137,890	$218,190
6	District of Columbia	$136,040	$203,560
7	Oregon	$135,260	$211,750
8	Delaware	$135,160	$169,070
9	Colorado	$134,540	$210,760
10	Virginia	$134,470	$208,480
11	New Hampshire	$132,420	$199,160
12	New Jersey	$132,400	$205,420
13	North Carolina	$131,000	$173,660
14	Connecticut	$130,870	$203,160
15	Vermont	$130,720	$203,530
16	Texas	$130,500	$174,710
17	Nevada	$129,030	$203,840
18	Georgia	$128,920	$173,650
19	Arizona	$128,690	$186,280
20	Rhode Island	$128,660	$168,020
21	Illinois	$127,770	$172,020
22	Utah	$127,390	$176,990
23	Florida	$126,550	$174,030
24	Minnesota	$124,540	$166,910
25	Pennsylvania	$123,740	$167,290
26	New Mexico	$120,820	$179,270
27	Hawaii	$119,880	$194,220
28	Alaska	$119,600	$196,500
29	Tennessee	$117,340	$164,420
30	Nebraska	$116,420	$146,310
31	Missouri	$114,550	$163,270
32	Maine	$113,800	$170,700
33	Alabama	$113,020	$176,060
34	Wyoming	$112,590	$163,840
35	Iowa	$109,850	$169,200
36	South Carolina	$108,690	$179,670
37	Idaho	$107,900	$168,060
38	Michigan	$107,820	$161,850
39	Ohio	$107,690	$165,640
40	Oklahoma	$107,420	$167,040
41	Kansas	$106,660	$163,670
42	Kentucky	$106,200	$164,770
43	Indiana	$103,570	$151,450
44	West Virginia	$103,550	$160,660
45	Wisconsin	$103,360	$162,220
46	Louisiana	$102,290	$154,220
47	Montana	$100,190	$216,250
48	North Dakota	$98,550	$153,280
49	Arkansas	$96,820	$160,700
50	South Dakota	$87,770	$130,610
51	Mississippi	$86,460	$136,390

Mapped from the nearest tracked occupation; treat as an estimate.

AI Engineer salary — frequently asked questions

How much does an AI engineer make?

The median AI engineer salary in the U.S. is about $133,080 per year. Most AI engineers earn between $79,850 and $211,450, and top earners (90th percentile) make $211,450 or more. AI Engineer is a newer title that standard salary surveys don't track on its own, so these figures are labeled, mapped estimates benchmarked against closely related engineering work.

What is the highest AI engineer salary?

Top-earning AI engineers (90th percentile) make about $211,450 or more nationally. In the highest-paying metros, estimated pay can run even higher — for example around $208,270 in San Jose. Metro figures are cost-of-labor estimates, not direct BLS metro data.

How much do entry-level AI engineers make?

Entry-level AI engineers (0–2 years) earn about $104,000 per year, rising to roughly $143,500 at mid-level and $179,500+ at the principal/staff level. These by-experience figures are modeled estimates based on typical engineering career progression.

Do AI engineers make good money?

Yes. The median AI engineer salary of $133,080 is 11% above the roughly $120,395 median across engineering occupations, and experienced AI engineers can earn $211,450 or more.

Which cities pay AI engineers the most?

Estimated AI engineer pay is highest in San Jose ($208,270), San Francisco ($174,910), and Seattle ($169,340). These are cost-of-labor estimates that adjust the national baseline by local wage levels — not direct BLS metro wages.

How can an AI engineer earn more?

AI Engineer pay rises most with frontier-lab vs. application-layer roles, research vs. applied engineering, and years of experience and rare specialization. Moving to a higher-cost metro, specializing, and taking on senior or lead scope are the biggest levers — the salary calculator lets you model each one.

Source details

AI Engineer is not a BLS-tracked title; demand has pushed pay above the software baseline. BLS does not publish a separate wage for this title, so the figures shown are the published wage for BLS SOC 15-1252 Software Developers — the closest tracked occupation. Actual pay for this specialization can sit above or below it.

Benchmarks come from published government wage data via BLS OEWS. Local and emerging-role figures are labeled estimates. Full methodology →