Staff AI Engineer salary (October 2026)
The median published US pay for Staff AI Engineer postings is $237K, from 238 postings with a pay range, as of October 24, 2026. That is +15% against the $206K median for AI Engineer postings at all levels (n=1,074); 22% of AI Engineer postings with pay are at this level. Among the 5 roles with enough staff / lead pay data, it ranks 3rd, and sits +1% against the $235K median for every data & AI posting at this level. The step up from senior ($200K) is +19%. The next level up, principal, has a median of $246K (+4%).
AI Engineer pay by level
| Level (from title) | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid (II) | — | 12 | — |
| Senior | $200K | 280 | -16% |
| Staff / lead | $237K | 238 | — |
| Principal | $246K | 42 | +4% |
| Level not stated | $200K | 486 | -16% |
Based on 1,058 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
Staff / lead pay across data & AI roles
| # | Role | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machine Learning Engineer | $264K | 195 | +11% |
| 2 | AI Research Scientist | $246K | 40 | +4% |
| 3 | AI Engineer | $237K | 238 | — |
| 4 | Data Scientist | $220K | 108 | -7% |
| 5 | Data Engineer | $190K | 75 | -20% |
| — | Data Analyst | — | 26 | — |
| — | Analytics Engineer | — | 16 | — |
| — | Data Governance & Quality | — | 14 | — |
Based on 712 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
How it is measured: median of the published pay range midpoint, US postings in USD, annualized (hourly × 2,080). Level comes from title words only. Medians are shown when n ≥ 30; “—” means fewer than 30 postings with pay. Data: CSV · JSON. See the methodology. Back to AI Engineer or all roles.