AI Salary Report.

AI roles continue to command significant premiums over general tech positions. The median AI role in San Francisco pays $178,000, with total compensation (including equity, bonus, and signing) averaging $260,496 across all 411 tracked roles.

The highest-paying AI role remains Data Science Director at $375,000 base in San Francisco ($554,000 total comp). Demand for AI safety, governance, and alignment roles has accelerated, with these positions now commanding salaries comparable to core ML engineering.

This report analyzes 411 AI and machine learning roles across 81 U.S. metropolitan areas. The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay.

The published wage data Orbyt holds is Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Department of Labor H-1B Labor Condition Application filings, which record a filed minimum visa base wage rather than market pay. Where BLS publishes a wage for the occupation a role maps to, it is shown on that role's page as a separate benchmark, labelled with its occupation code, metro area and the number of employed workers it covers. Total compensation estimates include base salary, equity (RSU/options), annual bonus, and signing bonus. Employer-specific ranges reflect mid to senior level positions.

This report is published annually and was last revised in August 2026.

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Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.