Salary Range for AI Professionals in 2025-26: Across Experience Levels in the US

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming industries and job markets at a rapid pace. As per a recent report, the AI software market is estimated to reach $126 billion by 2025. With such immense growth, AI skills are in high demand, and companies are willing to pay top dollar for qualified candidates. This article explores artificial intelligence engineer salary in the US in 2025-26 at various levels of experience.

The Booming AI Industry

The artificial intelligence industry, witnessing monumental growth over the last decade, has significantly impacted the artificial intelligence engineer salary landscape. AI is being utilized across sectors like healthcare, education, finance, transportation, manufacturing, and more. 

Companies leverage AI and machine learning algorithms not only to draw insights, automate processes, improve efficiency, and boost revenues but also to value and compensate the AI engineers who make these advancements possible. It’s anticipated that the AI industry will be reaching an impressive $2,025.12 billion by the year 2030.

Do Artificial Intelligence (AI) Jobs Pay Well?

Yes, AI jobs pay well in the US and exceptionally so! These professionals often earn six-figure salaries, well above the national average. The primary reason for such high compensation is the strong demand for skilled AI professionals across industries, particularly technology, healthcare, and finance.

The most critical factors influencing such high salaries for these professionals are:

• Experience Level
• Location
• Specialization
• Industry
• Skills

All these factors affect these salaries in unique ways. For example, more experience means higher pay in this domain, as is the case with virtually every other of this ilk in the country. Senior AI professionals with specialized skills earn much more than their counterparts at the start of their careers.

You earn more in AI jobs in the prominent tech hubs such as San Francisco, Seattle, and New York. These cities typically offer them the highest salaries due to factors such as cost of living and demand for these professionals.

If you are an expert in high-demand areas such as generative AI, machine learning operations (MLOps), or large language models (LLMs), you will earn premium salaries.

Key Factors That Determine AI Salaries in USA

Several factors impact artificial intelligence salaries in the US, such as:

• Years of experience
• Specific job roles and responsibilities
• Level of technical expertise
• Domain knowledge
• Academic qualifications
• Company size and industry
• Geographic location

Understanding these parameters can help artificial intelligence engineer salary negotiations for AI professionals, ensuring better salary packages.

AI Salary by Experience

The following table enumerates the salaries of top AI professionals in the US based on their experience:

Sources: Glassdoor, as of April 10, 2025

AI Salary by Location

The table below lists the salaries of various AI professionals in the US based on their location:

Sources: Indeed, as of November 17, 2025

How to Increase Your Salary as an AI Professional

If you want to increase your salary as an AI professional in the US, you can try the following steps:

1. Developing High-Demand Specialized Skills

• LLMs and Generative AI
• Deployment and MLOps
• Cloud Platform Expertise
• Niche Domains

2. Building a Portfolio and Gaining Practical Skills

• Leading Impactful Projects
• Creating a Strong Portfolio
• Contributing to Open Sources

3. Pursuing Advanced Education and Certifications

• Industry Certifications
• Advanced Degrees

4. Mastering Job Search Strategies and Negotiation

• Knowing Your Market Value
• Documenting Your Value
• Negotiating Total Compensation
• Leveraging Competing Offers
• Targeting High-Paying Companies and Locations

You need to proceed differently for all these steps and sub-steps. For example, in terms of developing specialized, high-demand skills, LLMs and generative AI are prominent options. If you have skills like LLM fine-tuning, prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, and diffusion models, you will earn the highest salaries in these roles.

Conclusion

The artificial intelligence industry is poised for tremendous growth in the coming years, leading to a substantial increase in artificial intelligence engineer salary. Consequently, skilled AI professionals are in great demand across sectors. With the right skill set and strategy, AI engineers can expect to earn very high salaries in 2025-26 and beyond.

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