AI Engineering salary

49 market ranges · employer-stated pay · updated Oct 24, 2026

The best-evidenced figure here is for AI engineering roles at senior level across the United States: 443 postings where the employer stated pay put the middle half between $161,745 and $225,000, with a median of $194,670.

Pay rises with seniority across the United States: the medians run entry-level $90,650, mid-level $165,000, senior $194,670 and lead $236,875. Moving from entry-level to lead is worth roughly 161% more.

Every range here is counted from real postings, never modelled. 25 of the 49 ranges in the table rest on fewer than 10 postings and are marked hint: treat those as hints rather than benchmarks.

Every measured range

49 by market and level

Market	Level	Market range	Median	Sample
United States · country-wide	Entry	$75,510 – $101,450	$90,650	25
Canada · country-wide	Entry	CA$87,750	CA$87,750	5hint
United States · country-wide	Mid	$131,975 – $205,779	$165,000	380
Canada · country-wide	Mid	CA$100,000 – CA$150,000	CA$117,900	45
United Kingdom · country-wide	Mid	£54,125 – £91,875	£76,741	12
France · country-wide	Mid	€47,375 – €61,000	€55,750	8hint
United States · country-wide	Senior	$161,745 – $225,000	$194,670	443
Canada · country-wide	Senior	CA$128,600 – CA$189,675	CA$154,700	58
France · country-wide	Senior	€64,094 – €89,512	€75,000	11
Ireland · country-wide	Senior	€87,600 – €111,675	€104,400	6hint
United States · country-wide	Lead	$197,606 – $272,625	$236,875	80
Remote · United States	Mid	$138,750 – $216,763	$161,950	67
Remote · Canada	Mid	CA$106,101 – CA$141,125	CA$132,203	6hint
Remote · United States	Senior	$162,500 – $220,125	$193,300	109
Remote · Canada	Senior	CA$163,875 – CA$208,638	CA$172,105	8hint
Remote · United States	Lead	$207,009 – $264,713	$236,250	11
Atlanta	Mid	$131,000 – $195,500	$167,600	5hint
Atlanta	Senior	$150,803 – $191,075	$170,813	8hint
Austin	Mid	$118,350 – $140,400	$131,750	5hint
Austin	Senior	$148,775 – $247,250	$179,000	6hint
Boston	Mid	$136,625 – $169,100	$145,575	10
Boston	Senior	$191,400 – $216,250	$197,500	16
Chantilly	Mid	$166,850 – $184,900	$171,650	5hint
Charlotte	Mid	$134,237 – $141,400	$141,400	5hint
Chicago	Mid	$115,000 – $165,125	$132,700	10
Chicago	Senior	$134,425 – $169,215	$149,500	12
London	Mid	£77,500 – £137,500	£90,000	7hint
Mclean	Mid	$113,700 – $184,900	$162,000	5hint
Mclean	Senior	$185,713 – $222,326	$212,328	6hint
Mountain View	Mid	$156,250 – $172,500	$167,500	8hint
Mountain View	Senior	$205,625 – $271,625	$237,500	10
New York	Mid	$157,938 – $275,000	$195,000	51
New York	Senior	$180,000 – $236,625	$202,873	54
New York	Lead	$191,000 – $269,150	$245,000	21
Palo Alto	Senior	$192,800 – $230,300	$201,650	7hint
Paris	Senior	€70,000 – €80,000	€75,000	5hint
San Diego	Mid	$137,700 – $169,667	$148,450	5hint
San Francisco	Mid	$183,750 – $246,500	$215,000	47
San Francisco	Senior	$205,000 – $277,500	$232,500	53
San Jose	Mid	$162,369 – $300,000	$191,638	8hint
San Jose	Senior	$230,000 – $232,500	$230,400	9hint
Santa Clara	Senior	$194,306 – $242,225	$211,695	8hint
Seattle	Senior	$170,000 – $210,000	$208,550	5hint
Sunnyvale	Mid	$157,500 – $203,000	$186,000	7hint
Sunnyvale	Senior	$200,000 – $203,000	$200,750	8hint
Toronto	Mid	CA$106,250 – CA$167,125	CA$120,765	18
Toronto	Senior	CA$128,600 – CA$190,175	CA$152,100	26
Washington	Mid	$138,900 – $261,750	$162,000	12
Washington	Senior	$160,950 – $185,000	$183,350	5hint

Entry is junior titles. Mid is mid-level and manager titles. Senior is senior titles. Lead is director, VP and above. Rows marked hint rest on fewer than 10 postings: read them as a hint, not a benchmark.

Ranges span the 25th to 75th percentile of employer-stated base pay for the market and level. Median is the 50th percentile. Sample is the number of postings measured.

Every measured range

AI Engineering work from LinkedIn, X, Reddit and Upwork, in one list.

Pay by market

Open AI engineering roles · 48 with stated pay