How Much Do AI Engineer Jobs Pay in the USA? (September 2026)
As of September 2026, the median AI Engineer salary in the USA is $215,802 a year. Most roles pay between $151,800 and $300,000 (the 10th–90th percentile), drawn from 484 live salaried listings across 229 companies. All figures are converted to annual US dollars so different sources compare like-for-like.
How pay has moved
Median base salary by the month each role was posted, across current live listings. A monthly snapshot builds a firmer long-run trend over time.
Highest-paying employers
- Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator)Research Engineer, Chip Design RL (Reinforcement Learning)Research Engineer, Code RL (Reinforcement Learning)Research Engineer, Computer UseResearch Engineer, Model EvaluationsAll Anthropic roles →
- All OKX roles →
- Staff Applied Scientist - Agentic InterfacesStaff Applied Scientist - DashboardsSenior Staff GenAI Engineer - Application Performance Monitoring (APM)Staff GenAI Engineer - Application Performance Monitoring (APM)All Datadog roles →
- Helix AI Engineer, AndroidHelix AI Engineer, Backend Helix AI Engineer, Generative AIHelix AI Engineer, Localization and MappingHelix AI Engineer, ModelingAll Figure AI roles →
- All Scout AI roles →
Employers ranked by median advertised base among those with at least two salaried listings in the USA; each one’s best-paying open roles are listed beneath it.
Methodology: AI Engineer listings in the USA with a published salary, updated daily. Figures come from roles that are open right now. Ranges and single figures are converted to an annual US-dollar midpoint; hourly rates are annualised and out-of-band values dropped. Salary data is self-reported by employers and covers the roles that disclose pay — treat it as a directional guide, not a guarantee.