AI Data Scientist.
Wilmington.
$115,000
median salary, 2% above the national average
$80,000 to $165,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
AI Data Scientist pay in Wilmington ranges from $80,000 to $165,000 in 2026. The median is $115,000, 2% above the national average. Wilmington is a corporate law and financial services hub, home to most U. 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 Scientist in Wilmington, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $109,910 for Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, based on 6,480 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$67,950
25th percentile
$83,010
Median
$109,910
75th percentile
$152,700
90th percentile
$181,560
Workers surveyed
6,480
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) rather than AI Data Scientist specifically. The Wilmington range at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such. Wilmington is reported by BLS within the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area.
View the BLS source for SOC 15-2051Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $103,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$75,000
to $92,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$98,000
to $121,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$127,000
to $150,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$144,000
to $178,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $54,000 to the total package.
Base
$115,000
Equity
$33,000
Bonus
$14,000
Signing
$7,000
Estimated total: $169,000
How Wilmington compares.
Wilmington, DE
$115,000
Cost of living: 2% above average
National Average
$113,000
Wilmington is $2,000 above
AI Data Scientist salary by city.
Salary by role in Wilmington.
What you should know.
Before you negotiate an AI Data Scientist offer in Wilmington, understand the terrain. Wilmington is a corporate law and financial services hub, home to most U.S. credit card companies thanks to Delaware's favorable incorporation laws. The city's compact size belies its outsized role in banking, legal services, and corporate governance. Chemical and pharmaceutical companies also maintain a strong presence. AI data scientists who combine statistical modeling with production ML deployment earn the highest salaries. Industry sector matters significantly, with finance and healthcare paying 15 to 25% above retail or media. Proficiency in both Python and cloud ML platforms like SageMaker or Vertex AI is increasingly expected and adds 10 to 15% to offers.
Junior AI data scientists earn $115,000 to $135,000 with a master's degree. Mid-level scientists with 3 to 5 years reach $152,000 to $198,000. Senior data scientists earn $200,000 to $260,000, while principal scientists and directors of data science can command $280,000 to $380,000. In Wilmington, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Total compensation at tech companies includes RSUs worth 15 to 30% of base salary and annual bonuses of 10 to 20%. Financial services firms substitute higher cash bonuses of 25 to 50% in lieu of equity, making total compensation comparable. And on the tax side: delaware has a top income tax rate of 6.6% but no state sales tax. Wilmington has a city wage tax of 1.25%. The no sales tax benefit partially offsets the income tax burden. When someone quotes you $115,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Leverage Delaware's corporate density. Banks and legal firms here pay competitively to retain talent that might otherwise commute to Philadelphia or New York. The range for AI Data Scientists in Wilmington runs from $80,000 to $165,000. 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?
- A Reinforcement Learning Engineer in Wilmington earns $113,000 (2% less)
- The highest-paying role in Wilmington is CTO at $318,000
- See all ai research roles tracked in Orbyt Intelligence
Common questions.
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Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
"AI Data Scientist Salary in Wilmington, DE." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/ai-data-scientist/wilmington
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