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AI Financial Engineer.

Salt Lake City.

$208,000

median salary, 1% below the national average

$153,000 to $267,000. Last updated August 2026.

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Data points to own the conversation.

The median AI Financial Engineer salary in Salt Lake City is $208,000, 1% below the national average. Entry level starts near $153,000. Experienced professionals push past $267,000. Salt Lake City anchors the Silicon Slopes tech corridor, home to companies like Qualtrics, Pluralsight, and Domo. That spread is your negotiation window. 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.

25th Percentile

$153,000

per year

Median

$208,000

per year

75th Percentile

$267,000

per year

Where do you fall?

$153,000$267,000

Orbyt estimate for AI Financial Engineer in Salt Lake City, 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 $97,520 for Financial and Investment Analysts (SOC 13-2051) in the Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT metropolitan area, based on 630 employed workers (May 2025 release).

10th percentile

$58,130

25th percentile

$70,980

Median

$97,520

75th percentile

$117,500

90th percentile

$138,150

Workers surveyed

630

Why this differs from the estimate above. The Orbyt estimate of $208,000 is 113% higher than this published figure. That is usually not an error in either number: BLS reports by occupation code, and Financial and Investment Analysts covers a different population than the AI Financial 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 Financial and Investment Analysts (SOC 13-2051) rather than AI Financial Engineer specifically. The Salt Lake City 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 13-2051

Salary by experience.

The gap between entry and lead level is typically $187,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.

Entry (0-2 yrs)

$135,000

to $166,000

Mid (3-5 yrs)

$177,000

to $218,000

Senior (6-9 yrs)

$229,000

to $270,000

Lead (10+ yrs)

$260,000

to $322,000

Total compensation.

Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $101,000 to the total package.

Base

$208,000

Equity

$62,000

Bonus

$27,000

Signing

$12,000

Estimated total: $309,000

How Salt Lake City compares.

Salt Lake City, UT

$208,000

Cost of living: 2% below average

National Average

$210,000

Salt Lake City is $2,000 below

AI Financial Engineer salary by city.

AI Financial Engineer salary comparison across 10 cities
CityMedianRangeCOLAdjusted
San Jose, CA$298,000$220,000 to $384,0001.38x$216,000
San Francisco, CA$281,000$207,000 to $361,0001.35x$208,000
Honolulu, HI$281,000$208,000 to $362,0001.30x$216,000
New York, NY$280,000$206,000 to $359,0001.28x$219,000
Seattle, WA$258,000$190,000 to $331,0001.24x$208,000
San Diego, CA$256,000$189,000 to $329,0001.17x$219,000
Washington DC, DC$252,000$186,000 to $324,0001.25x$202,000
Los Angeles, CA$250,000$185,000 to $322,0001.18x$212,000
Newark, NJ$250,000$185,000 to $322,0001.18x$212,000
Salt Lake City, UT$208,000$153,000 to $267,0000.98x$212,000

See all 81 cities for AI Financial Engineer →

Salary by role in Salt Lake City.

Salary comparison by role in Salt Lake City
RoleMedianRange
CTO$306,000$238,000 to $397,000
CEO$278,000$202,000 to $384,000
CFO$265,000$199,000 to $352,000
Technical Fellow$212,000$186,000 to $249,000
AI Risk Analytics Engineer$211,000$165,000 to $274,000
AI Financial Engineer$208,000$153,000 to $267,000
E6 Engineer$208,000$182,000 to $244,000
L7 Software Engineer$206,000$180,000 to $242,000

What you should know.

Before you negotiate an AI Financial Engineer offer in Salt Lake City, understand the terrain. Salt Lake City anchors the Silicon Slopes tech corridor, home to companies like Qualtrics, Pluralsight, and Domo. The region has attracted significant venture investment and tech relocations. Utah's business friendly environment, young educated workforce, and outdoor lifestyle make it a rising destination for tech professionals seeking affordability without sacrificing career growth. Pay depends on ability to apply ML models to quantitative finance problems like risk modeling, algorithmic trading, and fraud detection. Engineers combining deep finance domain expertise with advanced ML skills earn top-band compensation. Experience with real-time inference for trading systems and regulatory-compliant model development adds 20 to 30% to base salaries.

Junior quant ML engineers start at $120,000 to $150,000. AI financial engineers earn $155,000 to $210,000. Senior roles at top funds reach $250,000 to $350,000 base, and portfolio managers or heads of AI strategy at major firms command $500,000 to $1,000,000 or more in total compensation. In Salt Lake City, 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. Performance bonuses at hedge funds and trading firms can range from 50 to 200% of base salary. Equity is less common in finance but deferred compensation plans are standard. Banks offer structured bonus pools tied to desk profitability. And on the tax side: utah has a flat 4.65% state income tax. Salt Lake City imposes no additional city income tax. The moderate rate combined with affordable living costs results in strong net compensation. When someone quotes you $208,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.

On negotiation: Reference Silicon Slopes growth when negotiating. Local employers are increasingly matching 85 to 95% of Seattle or Bay Area salaries to compete for tech talent. The range for AI Financial Engineers in Salt Lake City runs from $153,000 to $267,000. 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

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$

25th

$153,000

Median

$208,000

75th

$267,000

Considering a related role?

Common questions.

Base salaries are 10 to 20% higher at hedge funds, but the real difference is in bonuses. Top-performing AI engineers at quantitative funds can earn 2x to 4x their base salary in annual bonuses, far exceeding typical tech company equity-based compensation.

Derivatives pricing, market microstructure, and credit risk modeling expertise combined with ML skills command the highest premiums. Engineers who can build models that directly generate alpha or reduce risk exposure are compensated based on measurable financial impact.

The national median for an AI Financial Engineer is $212,245. In Salt Lake City, cost of living adjustments push the median to $208,000. That discount reflects Salt Lake City's lower housing, transportation, and everyday costs.

Lead with data: AI Financial Engineers in Salt Lake City earn $153,000 to $267,000, so anchoring your ask near $267,000 gives room to land at the median. Reference Silicon Slopes growth when negotiating. Local employers are increasingly matching 85 to 95% of Seattle or Bay Area salaries to compete for tech talent. Never accept the first number without a conversation.

Utah has a flat 4.65% state income tax. Salt Lake City imposes no additional city income tax. The moderate rate combined with affordable living costs results in strong net compensation. When comparing offers across states, your take home pay matters more than the number on the offer letter. A lower salary in a no income tax state can net more than a higher one elsewhere.

AI Financial Engineer salary in other cities.

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"AI Financial Engineer Salary in Salt Lake City, UT." Orbyt Salary Explorer, August 2026. https://www.orbytlabs.ai/orbyt-jobs/salaries/ai-financial-engineer/salt-lake-city

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