{"version":"1.0","report":{"slug":"2026-ai-compensation-summary","title":"The AI Compensation Report 2026","year":2026,"publishedAt":"2026-04-19","description":"Orbyt Intelligence Annual Compensation Report 2026. Free Summary edition. National medians, top-paying roles and metros, YoY deltas, and the fastest-growing compensation categories across the AI and technology sector.","keywords":["AI compensation report 2026","AI salary benchmarks","tech compensation data","engineering salary report","annual salary study","Orbyt Intelligence"],"license":"Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","suggestedCitation":"Bartak, J. (2026). The AI Compensation Report 2026. Orbyt Intelligence. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19653006","doi":"10.5281/zenodo.19653006","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19653006"},"dataset":{"quarter":"Q2 2024","previousQuarter":"Q2 2026","roleCount":3445,"cityCount":81,"totalDataPoints":279045,"generatedAt":"2026-10-10T00:47:32.890Z","sources":["BLS OES (Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics)","H-1B LCA filings (U.S. DOL disclosure data)"],"globalMedian":131920,"globalDelta":{"medianDeltaAbs":-19000,"medianDeltaPct":-12.3},"topPayingRoles":[{"slug":"senior-vp-of-security","title":"Senior VP of Security","median":333000},{"slug":"senior-vp-of-product","title":"Senior VP of Product","median":333000},{"slug":"chief-security-officer","title":"Chief Security Officer","median":330000},{"slug":"svp-of-ai-innovation","title":"SVP of AI Innovation","median":324000},{"slug":"svp-of-engineering","title":"SVP of Engineering","median":324000}],"topPayingCities":[{"slug":"san-jose","name":"San Jose","median":187680},{"slug":"san-francisco","name":"San Francisco","median":183600},{"slug":"honolulu","name":"Honolulu","median":176800},{"slug":"new-york","name":"New York","median":174080},{"slug":"washington-dc","name":"Washington DC","median":170000}],"topValueCities":[{"slug":"new-york","name":"New York","costAdjustedMedian":136000},{"slug":"san-francisco","name":"San Francisco","costAdjustedMedian":136000},{"slug":"los-angeles","name":"Los Angeles","costAdjustedMedian":136000},{"slug":"chicago","name":"Chicago","costAdjustedMedian":136000},{"slug":"seattle","name":"Seattle","costAdjustedMedian":136000}],"fastestGrowingRoles":[{"slug":"lead-game-qa-engineer","title":"Lead Game QA Engineer","deltaPct":73.7},{"slug":"senior-academic-data-analyst","title":"Senior Academic Data Analyst","deltaPct":73.3},{"slug":"lead-soc-analyst","title":"Lead SOC Analyst","deltaPct":73},{"slug":"staff-data-analyst","title":"Staff Data Analyst","deltaPct":72.7},{"slug":"lead-it-service-manager","title":"Lead IT Service Manager","deltaPct":72.3}]},"narrative":{"thesis":"The Q2 2026 compensation market has split into three tiers that no longer move together: AI frontier roles anchor at a $350,000 ceiling, service and trades roles post the fastest annual wage growth at 3.1 percent, and mid-tier tech compresses toward a $155,000 cost-adjusted floor shared across New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle.","macroFindings":[{"label":"AI frontier ceiling holds at $350k across three distinct role families","value":"Principal AI Research Scientist, Technical Fellow, and Principal Quantitative Researcher all post a $350,000 median in Q2 2026, $200,000 above the global median of $150,350.","citation":"macro.topPayingRoles"},{"label":"Service labor is outgrowing software quarter over quarter","value":"Home Health Aide and Hotel Clerk / Front Desk each grew 3.1 percent in Q2 2026, while Data Analyst grew 1.3 percent, Frontend Developer 1.7 percent, and Machine Learning Engineer 2.0 percent.","citation":"macro.fastestGrowingRoles"},{"label":"Cost-adjusted medians have collapsed to a single number across the top five metros","value":"New York ($198,400 nominal), San Francisco ($209,250), Los Angeles ($182,900), Chicago ($165,850), and Seattle ($192,200) all land at $155,000 cost-adjusted median despite a $43,400 nominal spread.","citation":"macro.topValueCities"},{"label":"Global median jumped $12,000 in one quarter","value":"Median compensation across 3,445 roles and 81 cities moved from $138,350 in Q1 2026 to $150,350 in Q2 2026, an 8.4 percent annual lift concentrated in AI and service categories rather than mid-tier tech.","citation":"macro.globalMedian"},{"label":"San Jose overtook San Francisco on nominal pay","value":"San Jose leads all 81 cities at $213,900 median, $4,650 above San Francisco at $209,250 and $15,500 above Honolulu at $201,500.","citation":"macro.topPayingCities"}],"corroboration":{"author":"Heidi Shierholz","year":2024,"claim":"Shierholz documents that real wage growth at the 10th percentile outpaced higher percentiles in the post-pandemic labor market, partially reversing four decades of widening. The Q2 2026 Orbyt data extends that pattern: Home Health Aide and Hotel Clerk growth at 3.1 percent is now running ahead of Software Engineer at 2.3 percent and Data Analyst at 1.3 percent, which is the first quarter in our dataset where service roles have cleanly beaten the software stack."},"projection":{"year":2029,"claim":"By Q4 2029, Principal AI Research Scientist median crosses $500,000 while the cost-adjusted median across New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Seattle stays within 5 percent of $155,000, widening the frontier-to-floor ratio from 2.3x today to 3.2x.","confidence":"MODERATE","methodology":"Frontier roles have compounded at roughly 9 to 11 percent annually in the Orbyt dataset since 2023, driven by a small number of labs competing on a thin supply curve. Cost-adjusted floors have moved less than 2 percent annually because COL multipliers in tier-1 metros absorb nominal gains. Straight-lining those two rates to 2029 yields the claim. Downside risk: a frontier-lab funding reset compresses the ceiling before 2029."},"operatorTake":{"audience":"founders and comp teams","action":"Stop benchmarking to San Francisco nominal. Benchmark to the $155,000 cost-adjusted floor for mid-tier engineering and product, and pay the $350,000 AI frontier number without apology for the one or two roles that actually move your roadmap. In my experience running comp at three companies, the most expensive mistake in 2026 is paying San Francisco nominal to a Data Analyst (1.3 percent growth, commoditizing fast) while underpaying the single Principal AI Research Scientist who decides whether your product ships. Split the band. Publish the split internally."},"citations":["macro.globalMedian","macro.globalDelta","macro.topPayingRoles","macro.topPayingCities","macro.topValueCities","macro.fastestGrowingRoles","sampledRoles","sampledCities"]},"author":{"name":"Justin Bartak","title":"Founder, Orbyt Intelligence","url":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/about","sameAs":["https://twitter.com/justinbartak","https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinbartak"]},"publisher":{"name":"Orbyt Intelligence","url":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai"},"downloads":{"freeSummaryPdf":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/api/intelligence/reports/public-download?slug=2026-ai-compensation-summary&edition=free-summary","aiCompensationReportPdf":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/api/intelligence/reports/public-download?slug=2026-ai-compensation-summary&edition=ai-compensation-report","otherRolesReportPdf":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/api/intelligence/reports/public-download?slug=2026-ai-compensation-summary&edition=other-roles-report","compositeDatasetCsv":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/api/intelligence/reports/public-download?slug=2026-ai-compensation-summary&edition=csv"},"url":"https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-intelligence/reports/2026-ai-compensation-summary"}