Salary Guide 2025

AI & Machine Learning Salary Guide
2025

Comprehensive salary data for AI professionals. Compare salaries by role, location, experience level,
and company type.

AI Salaries by Role (2025)

Machine Learning Engineer

🔥 Very High Demand
Entry

$120K

Mid-Level

$165K

Senior

$220K+

AI Research Scientist

🚀 Extremely High
Entry

$150K

Mid-Level

$200K

Senior

$300K+

Data Scientist (AI)

📈 High Demand
Entry

$110K

Mid-Level

$145K

Senior

$190K

Computer Vision Engineer

🔥 Very High
Entry

$130K

Mid-Level

$175K

Senior

$240K

NLP Engineer

🚀 Extremely High
Entry

$135K

Mid-Level

$180K

Senior

$250K

MLOps Engineer

📈 Growing Fast
Entry

$125K

Mid-Level

$170K

Senior

$230K

AI Product Manager

📈 High Demand
Entry

$140K

Mid-Level

$190K

Senior

$280K+

Prompt Engineer

🆕 Emerging Role
Entry

$100K

Mid-Level

$140K

Senior

$200K

AI Salaries by Location

Location significantly impacts AI salaries. Here's what mid-level ML engineers earn in major tech hubs:

🥇 San Francisco Bay Area

COL: Very High

$190K-$250K

🥈 Seattle

COL: High

$170K-$230K

🥉 New York City

COL: Very High

$165K-$220K

⭐ Boston

COL: High

$155K-$210K

⭐ Los Angeles

COL: High

$150K-$200K

⭐ Austin

COL: Medium

$145K-$190K

💡 Denver

COL: Medium

$135K-$180K

💡 Chicago

COL: Medium

$130K-$175K

🌐 Remote (US)

COL: N/A

$135K-$185K

💡 Pro Tip: While SF/NYC offer highest salaries, cost-of-living adjusted income may be better in Austin, Denver, or remote roles. A $140K remote salary can provide similar buying power to $200K in San Francisco.

Salaries by Company Type

FAANG (Meta, Google, Amazon, Apple, Netflix)

Base Salary

$180K-$250K

Total Comp

$280K-$500K+

Equity/Bonus

40-60% of comp

Highest total compensation, significant stock grants

Elite Tech (OpenAI, Anthropic, Scale AI)

Base Salary

$200K-$300K

Total Comp

$300K-$600K+

Equity/Bonus

30-50% of comp

Cutting-edge AI work, potential huge equity upside

Unicorn Startups (valued $1B+)

Base Salary

$150K-$220K

Total Comp

$220K-$400K

Equity/Bonus

Stock options

Higher risk, potential for large equity gains

Finance/Consulting (McKinsey, JPM, Goldman)

Base Salary

$150K-$230K

Total Comp

$220K-$400K

Equity/Bonus

Bonuses 30-50%

High bonuses, prestige, demanding hours

Early-Stage Startups

Base Salary

$110K-$160K

Total Comp

$140K-$220K

Equity/Bonus

0.1-1% equity

High bonuses, prestige, demanding hours

Impact of Experience & Education

By Years of Experience (ML Engineer)

0-1 years (Entry)

25th-75th percentile

$100K-$140K

1-3 years

25th-75th percentile

$130K-$180K

3-5 years

25th-75th percentile

$160K-$220K

5-8 years (Senior)

25th-75th percentile

$200K-$300K

8+ years (Staff/Principal)

25th-90th percentile

$250K-$500K+

By Education Level

Bachelor's in CS/Engineering

Baseline

$120K-$160K

Master's in AI/ML

+$15K-$30K

$135K-$190K

PhD in AI/ML

+$30K-$90K

$150K-$250K

Self-taught/Bootcamp

-$10K-$20K

$100K-$140K

🎓 Education ROI: A master's degree pays for itself in 2-3 years through higher starting salary and faster promotions. PhDs command premium for research roles but may not increase earnings for engineering positions.

Understanding Total Compensation

AI salaries consist of multiple components. Here's how a typical $200K total compensation package breaks down:

Mid-Level ML Engineer at FAANG

Base Salary

$160,000

Sign-On Bonus (Year 1)

$40,000

Annual Bonus (15%)

$24,000

RSUs (4-year vest)

$80,000/year

Total Comp (Year 1)

$304,000

Senior ML Engineer at Startup

Base Salary

$170,000

Sign-On Bonus

$25,000

Annual Bonus

$20,000

Stock Options (0.25%)

$15,000

Total Comp (Year 1)

$230,000

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