AI Data Engineer.
Honolulu.
$184,000
median salary, 35% above the national average
$141,000 to $237,000. Last updated August 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
AI Data Engineer pay in Honolulu ranges from $141,000 to $237,000 in 2026. The median is $184,000, 35% above the national average. Honolulu's economy is driven by military spending, tourism, and healthcare. Every dollar in that range is negotiable if you come prepared. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for AI Data Engineer in Honolulu, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. BLS does not publish this occupation for this metro area, so the national published benchmark is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $139,500 for Database Architects (SOC 15-1243) across the United States, based on 67,140 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$86,240
25th percentile
$109,370
Median
$139,500
75th percentile
$169,290
90th percentile
$204,000
Workers surveyed
67,140
What BLS published in each release
May 2024 release
$135,980
May 2025 release
$139,500
These are two separate published estimates, not a time series. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not encourage the use of OEWS data for time-series analysis. Differences between releases reflect changes in occupational classification, survey methodology, and the three-year pooled sample as well as any change in pay, so the two figures should not be read as a rate of wage growth.
Why this differs from the estimate above. The Orbyt estimate of $184,000 is 32% higher than this published figure. That is usually not an error in either number: BLS reports by occupation code, and Database Architects covers a different population than the AI Data Engineer title as it is typically advertised. Both are shown, unreconciled, so you can judge which one describes the job you mean.
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Database Architects (SOC 15-1243) rather than AI Data Engineer specifically. The national range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 15-1243Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $165,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$120,000
to $147,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$156,000
to $193,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$202,000
to $239,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$230,000
to $285,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $76,000 to the total package.
Base
$184,000
Equity
$46,000
Bonus
$19,000
Signing
$11,000
Estimated total: $260,000
How Honolulu compares.
Honolulu, HI
$184,000
Cost of living: 30% above average
National Average
$136,000
Honolulu is $48,000 above
AI Data Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in Honolulu.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for AI Data Engineer roles in Honolulu, here is what you are walking into. Honolulu's economy is driven by military spending, tourism, and healthcare. The extremely high cost of living means employers must pay significant premiums. Federal and defense contractor roles offer the highest salaries, while the growing renewable energy sector is creating new technology positions. AI data engineers who build and maintain ML data pipelines earn premiums based on scale of data handled and complexity of feature engineering systems. Experience with streaming data platforms like Kafka alongside batch processing tools commands 10 to 20% higher pay. Cloud platform expertise in AWS, GCP, or Azure ML infrastructure is a baseline requirement.
Junior AI data engineers earn $118,000 to $140,000. Mid-level engineers with 3 to 5 years managing ML pipelines reach $155,000 to $200,000. Senior engineers and tech leads earn $205,000 to $270,000, while staff engineers and directors of ML infrastructure can command $290,000 to $380,000. In Honolulu, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 30% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Tech companies offer equity grants of 15 to 25% of base salary with four-year vesting. Annual bonuses range from 10 to 15%, and on-call compensation for maintaining production ML pipelines adds $5,000 to $15,000 annually at some firms. And on the tax side: hawaii has the highest top state income tax rate in the nation at 11%. Honolulu has no city income tax, but the state burden combined with high living costs requires careful salary planning. When someone quotes you $184,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Negotiate housing allowances alongside salary. Honolulu employers, especially federal contractors, often provide COLA adjustments and housing stipends that significantly increase total compensation. The range for AI Data Engineers in Honolulu runs from $141,000 to $237,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- An Optometrist in Honolulu earns $183,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in Honolulu is CTO at $398,000
- See all ai engineering roles tracked in Orbyt Intelligence
Common questions.
AI Data Engineer salary in other cities.
Other salaries in Honolulu.
Related salary pages
Jump to nearby roles and cities most relevant to AI Data Engineers in Honolulu.
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Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"AI Data Engineer Salary in Honolulu, HI." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/ai-data-engineer/honolulu
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