Artificial Intelligence Engineer Salary: What You’ll Make and Why
Artificial intelligence engineers make around $98,098 to $164,769 on average in the US, depending on experience, location, skills, and other factors.
According to various salary aggregate websites, an artificial intelligence engineer’s average salary in the US ranges between $98,098 and $164,769. As of March 2022, the average base salaries for artificial intelligence engineers are as follows:
| Payscale | ZipRecruiter | Indeed | Salary.com | Glassdoor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $112,130 | $164,769 | $98,098 | $112,122 | $111,453 |
Keep in mind: Salary aggregate websites typically rely on data submitted anonymously by individuals using their site. Some websites may have received larger amounts of data of either higher or lower than average salaries, which may affect the site’s calculated average.
Read more: What Is an Artificial Intelligence Engineer? How to Become One
What influences a salary?
The salary of an AI engineer is determined by many factors, including experience, education, skills, and location. In this article, we will discuss how these factors impact the salary of an AI engineer.
Years of experience
Salary increases are generally tied to your experience level. In general, the more years you spend working as an artificial intelligence engineer, the more you can expect to earn. Here’s how experience can impact your artificial intelligence engineer salary, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Compensation Survey.
| Level of experience | Salary |
|---|---|
| Entry-level (less than 1 year) | $75,224 |
| Early career (1 to 4 years) | $95,396 |
| Mid career (5 to 9 years) | $123,297 |
| Experienced (10 to 19 years) | $145,803 |
| Late career (20+ years) | $179,739 |
Location
Where you live can also impact how much you can make as an artificial intelligence engineer. Typically, working in a large metropolitan area correlates to a higher salary, as well as a higher cost of living.
Here is a list of some major cities with their corresponding average artificial intelligence engineer salary according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
| City | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| San Francisco, CA | $150,989 |
| Portland, OR | $138,749 |
| Seattle, WA | $135,911 |
| Washington DC, DC | $135,375 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $134,848 |
| Detroit, MI | $95,328 |
| Nashville, TN | $95,227 |
| Tampa Bay, FL | $92,241 |
| Salt Lake City, UT | $91,270 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $78,365 |
How does this compare to similar jobs?
Here’s how an artificial intelligence engineer’s salary stacks up against similar jobs.
| Related Jobs | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Data Scientist | $119,413 |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $130,530 |
| Deep Learning Engineer | $176,549 |
| Data Engineer | $121,938 |
| Software Engineer | $99,729 |
| Research Scientist | $81,838 |
| Big Data Engineer | $130,674 |
| Backend Developer | $100,281 |
| Full Stack Developer | $102,744 |
How to increase your artificial intelligence engineer salary
Now that you have a better idea of what you could expect to earn as an artificial intelligence engineer, let’s look at ways to boost your salary.
1. Strengthen your skills
Pursuing and improving in-demand skills could make you more competitive for promotions and higher-paying positions. These skills include:
- Supervised Learning: Understand how to train models using labeled data
- Unsupervised Learning: Know how to find patterns in data without labels
- Reinforcement Learning: Train models by providing positive or negative feedback
- Natural Language Processing: Be able to process and interpret human language
- Deep Learning: Use artificial neural networks to teach computers to perform complex tasks
2. Take more responsibilities
If you’re looking to increase your salary as an AI engineer, one way to do so is to take on more responsibilities. This could involve leading a team of engineers, working on more complex projects, or taking on a management role. By showing that you’re capable of handling more than just the engineering work, you’ll be in a better position to negotiate for a higher salary.
3. Grow your network
In order to command a higher salary as an AI engineer, it’s important to be well-connected. Attend industry events, join relevant online communities, and make an effort to meet other professionals in your field. The more people you know, the more likely you are to hear about high-paying opportunities.
Article Sources
1. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “National Compensation Survey, https://www.bls.gov/ncs/.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
2. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Occupational Employment and Wages, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes151221.htm.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
3. Payscale. “Machine Learning Engineer Salary, https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Machine_Learning_Engineer/Salary.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
4. Ziprecruiter. “Artificial Intelligence Engineer Annual Salary, https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Artificial-Intelligence-Engineer-Salary.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
5. Indeed. “Indeed Salary Finder, https://www.indeed.com/career/salaries.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
6. Salary.com. “Artificial Intelligence Engineer Salary, https://www.salary.com/research/salary/hiring/artificial-intelligence-engineer-salary.” Accessed March 23, 2022.
7. Glassdoor. “Artificial Intelligence Engineer Salaries, https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/artificial-intelligence-engineer-salary-SRCH_KO0,32.htm.” Accessed March 23, 2022.