AI engineer salary by role
| Role | Range or median | Unit | Source | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI engineer (applied AI) | $200,000 to $320,000 | Annual salary | Anthropic posting, San Francisco or New York | Employer posting |
| AI engineer (forward deployed) | $182,000 to $250,208 | Annual, local pay range | Databricks posting, United States | Employer posting |
| Machine learning research engineer | $189,600 to $237,000 | Annual base | Scale AI posting, San Francisco, New York, Seattle | Employer posting |
| Machine learning research scientist | $165,600 to $207,000 | Annual base | Scale AI posting, San Francisco, New York, Seattle | Employer posting |
| Applied AI research engineer | $300,000 to $400,000 | Annual salary | Anthropic posting, San Francisco or New York | Employer posting |
| Machine learning engineer | $280,000 median ($200K to $385K middle half) | Annual total compensation | Levels.fyi, United States | Self-reported |
| Computer and information research scientist | $140,300 median | Annual wage, May 2025 | BLS | Government survey |
| Data scientist | $120,230 median | Annual wage, May 2025 | BLS | Government survey |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each employer's own page and the named data sources.
The Scale AI ranges are explicitly base salary: its postings say the range covers "the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries" and may span several career levels, with equity on top for eligible roles. See the ML research engineer posting and the ML research scientist posting. Databricks says it "anticipates utilizing the full width of the range" and that total pay may add a bonus and equity.
Pay by company
| Company | Role | Published or reported pay | Source | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Applied AI Engineer, Enterprise Tech | $200,000 to $320,000 annual salary | Greenhouse posting | Employer posting |
| Anthropic | Applied AI, Research Engineer | $300,000 to $400,000 annual salary | Greenhouse posting | Employer posting |
| Databricks | AI Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering | $182,000 to $250,208 local pay range | Databricks careers page | Employer posting |
| Scale AI | ML Research Engineer, ML Systems | $189,600 to $237,000 base | Greenhouse posting | Employer posting |
| Scale AI | ML Research Scientist, Evaluations | $165,600 to $207,000 base | Greenhouse posting | Employer posting |
| OpenAI | Software engineer (all levels) | $875,000 median total compensation; $249,423 at entry level L2 | Levels.fyi, 240 submissions | Self-reported |
Checked 17 October 2026 at each employer's own page and Levels.fyi.
The Databricks figure comes from its AI engineer posting, which also states that the role "is not intended for internship, new graduate, or entry-level applicants." The Anthropic research engineer range is on the Applied AI Research Engineer posting. The OpenAI line is from Levels.fyi's OpenAI software engineer page, which tracks 240 self-reported submissions and lists a median of $875,000 a year in total compensation, with $170,000 base at the entry level L2.
Base pay versus total compensation
Most of the confusion around AI engineer pay comes from mixing two different numbers.
- Base salary is the cash you are paid on a regular schedule. Employer postings in states with pay transparency laws publish this range, sometimes with bonus included for sales roles. Anthropic, for example, notes that for sales roles its range is on-target earnings.
- Total compensation adds the yearly value of stock grants and bonuses to base. Levels.fyi reports this figure; it says total compensation is "base salary plus annualized stock plus bonus," which is why its numbers run well above posted base ranges.
- Government medians from BLS are annual wages from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey and cover workers across all industries and regions, not only AI labs.
A worked example: the Levels.fyi entry-level OpenAI package is $249,423 a year, of which about $170,000 is base and about $78,800 is annualized stock. Compare the $170,000 with posted base ranges, not the $249,423.
US government data
BLS has no occupation called "AI engineer." The closest match for research-heavy AI roles is computer and information research scientists. Its Occupational Outlook Handbook page, updated 27 August 2026, gives a median annual wage of $140,300 in May 2025. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $82,200 and the highest 10 percent more than $230,630. Typical entry-level education is a master's degree, and employment is projected to grow 22 percent from 2025 to 2035.
For engineering roles that ship AI features, software developers is the better fit. The BLS software developers page gives a median annual wage of $135,980 in May 2025, with the lowest 10 percent below $82,460 and the highest 10 percent above $214,670.
For analytics and modeling roles, the BLS data scientists page reports a median of $120,230 in May 2025 and projects 35 percent employment growth from 2025 to 2035. That is the most useful federal anchor for an AI researcher salary outside the big labs.
Pay by location
| Location | Machine learning engineer median total compensation | 25th to 75th percentile | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay Area | $327,860 | $250K to $413K | Updated 17 Oct 2026 |
| Greater Seattle Area | $325,000 | $250K to $483K | Updated 13 Oct 2026 |
| United States overall | $280,000 | $200K to $385K | Updated 17 Oct 2026 |
| New York City Area | $277,000 | $205K to $374K | Updated 17 Oct 2026 |
Checked 17 October 2026 at Levels.fyi's own pages. All figures are self-reported annual total compensation.
The San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle medians sit $45,000 to $48,000 above the national median for this machine learning engineer salary data. Employer postings reflect the same pattern: Scale AI states one range for San Francisco, New York and Seattle, while Databricks posts a "local pay range" and maps other US locations to different zones.
Prompt engineer salary
Prompt engineer salary questions usually lead to AI engineer postings, because that is where the skill is listed and paid. Anthropic's Applied AI Engineer posting asks for "advanced prompt engineering, agent development and frameworks, evaluation frameworks" and pays $200,000 to $320,000. If prompt work is your strength, target applied AI and solutions roles; our prompt engineering career path covers how to position it.
Not every well-paid AI role is an engineering one. Our AI product manager career guide and guide to AI ethics and governance careers cover two roles that pay well without a machine learning background.
How to raise your pay
- Benchmark the base first. Pull two or three live postings for your exact title and city, and note the base range. Postings are the only figures here that an employer has committed to in writing.
- Ask where you sit in the range. Scale AI and Databricks both say ranges span several levels. Ask the recruiter which level the offer maps to.
- Price the equity separately. Use Levels.fyi to see what stock adds at your target company and level, and remember it is self-reported.
- Move toward customer-facing applied AI. Anthropic's applied AI postings pay $200,000 to $400,000 for engineers who combine LLM production experience with client work.
- Build evaluation and deployment evidence. Postings at Anthropic, Databricks and Scale AI all ask for production LLM experience, evaluations or distributed training. Our guide on how to become an AI engineer lays out a portfolio for each.
- Consider a research degree for research roles. BLS lists a master's as the typical entry level for research scientists, and Scale AI's research scientist posting asks for a PhD or master's.
To see which of these roles are hiring now, use our list of machine learning jobs and boards, and for the wider market start at the AI jobs hub.
Sources
- Anthropic job postings for Applied AI Engineer, Enterprise Tech and Applied AI Research Engineer
- Databricks posting for AI Engineer, Forward Deployed Engineering
- Scale AI postings for ML Research Engineer and ML Research Scientist
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: computer and information research scientists, software developers, data scientists (May 2025 wage data)
- Levels.fyi machine learning engineer pages (US, San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, New York) and OpenAI software engineer page
How we researched this
On 17 October 2026 we opened live postings on Anthropic's and Scale AI's Greenhouse boards and on Databricks' careers site and recorded each published pay range, its unit and its location. We took federal medians from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook pages updated 27 August 2026, which report May 2025 wages. Total compensation figures come from Levels.fyi and are labelled self-reported throughout. Our general method is on how we rank.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average AI engineer salary in 2026? Posted base ranges at major AI employers run $182,000 to $320,000 a year, based on Anthropic and Databricks postings checked 17 October 2026. Self-reported total compensation for machine learning engineers has a US median of $280,000 on Levels.fyi.
What does BLS say AI engineers earn? BLS has no AI engineer category. Its closest match, computer and information research scientists, had a median annual wage of $140,300 in May 2025.
What is the machine learning engineer salary in the US? Levels.fyi shows a self-reported median of $280,000 a year in total compensation, with the middle half between $200,000 and $385,000.
What is the AI researcher salary? Scale AI posts $165,600 to $207,000 base for an ML research scientist, and Anthropic posts $300,000 to $400,000 for an applied AI research engineer. The BLS median for research scientists is $140,300.
How much do entry-level AI engineers make? Levels.fyi reports $249,423 a year in total compensation at OpenAI's entry level, self-reported. Many AI engineer postings, including Databricks', say they are not for new graduates.
Why are Levels.fyi numbers higher than job postings? Levels.fyi reports total compensation, which adds annualized stock and bonus to base. Job postings usually list base salary only.
Which city pays AI engineers the most? On Levels.fyi, the San Francisco Bay Area has the highest machine learning engineer median at $327,860, just ahead of Seattle at $325,000.
Do AI engineers need a master's degree? Not for most engineering roles. Anthropic asks for a bachelor's or equivalent experience, while BLS lists a master's as typical for research scientists.