Foundation Model Engineer Salary.
Across 81 U.S. cities.
$141,000
estimated national base salary
$103,000 to $181,000. Last updated September 2026.
Orbyt prices 10 titles at this same figure, including Quantum Computing Researcher, Causal Inference Researcher, and Graph Neural Network Researcher. Orbyt does not hold title-level wage data that would separate them.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $140,300 for Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221) across the United States, based on 37,200 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$82,200
25th percentile
$103,570
Median
$140,300
75th percentile
$188,700
90th percentile
$230,630
Workers surveyed
37,200
What BLS published in each release
May 2024 release
$140,910
May 2025 release
$140,300
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.
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221) rather than Foundation Model 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 15-1221Highest Paying
$194,000
San Francisco, CA
Best Purchasing Power
$147,000
Newark, NJ
Lowest Paying
$107,000
Charleston, WV
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. Last updated September 2026. This role maps to BLS occupation code 15-1221. Full methodology.
Orbyt estimates the average Foundation Model Engineer salary in the United States at $141,000 in 2026, within a range of $103,000 to $181,000. 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. This figure is not specific to this title: Orbyt prices 10 titles at the same estimate. San Francisco is the highest of the 81 cities at $194,000, while Newark offers the best purchasing power after cost-of-living adjustments. This highly specialized role commands premium compensation driven by direct experience training or fine-tuning large language models and multimodal models.
Foundation Model Engineer salary by city.
Skills that increase Foundation Model Engineer pay.
The premiums below are Orbyt's modelled scenarios for Foundation Model Engineers, not effects measured from job postings: each is a fixed percentage applied to the estimated base. At the top premium that works out to $19,740 a year.
≈ +$19,740 per year
≈ +$18,330 per year
≈ +$16,920 per year
≈ +$15,510 per year
≈ +$14,100 per year
≈ +$14,100 per year
≈ +$14,100 per year
≈ +$12,690 per year
What you should know.
This highly specialized role commands premium compensation driven by direct experience training or fine-tuning large language models and multimodal models. Engineers who have participated in pre-training runs exceeding 1,000 GPU-hours earn 15 to 25% more. Expertise in training stability, data curation, and alignment techniques are the most valued differentiators in 2026 compensation negotiations.
ML engineers with large-scale training experience earning $140,000 to $190,000 advance to this specialized role at $160,000 to $280,000. Progression leads to Staff Foundation Model Engineer at $210,000 to $300,000 or research leadership. This is one of the most direct paths to Head of AI Research positions.
Total packages range from $300,000 to $550,000 with significant equity grants, research publication bonuses, and compute credits for personal projects. Frontier AI labs offer the highest total compensation, often 30 to 50% above enterprise employers for equivalent experience levels.
Total compensation breakdown.
Salary by company size
Remote salary adjustment
Remote Foundation Model Engineers typically earn $127,000 (10% less than on-site). This reflects location-adjusted pay policies at companies using geographic salary bands. Some companies pay flat national rates regardless of location.
Are you a Foundation Model Engineer?
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Common questions about Foundation Model Engineer pay.
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