AI engineer salaries 2026
2026 AI salary benchmark: LLM engineer, MLOps, data scientist, ML engineer. SF vs national, junior vs senior — Ganloss listing data.
US AI salaries keep climbing in 2026, driven by GenAI and LLM production work. Here are ranges seen on Ganloss job posts.
Ranges by role (full-time, annual)
Mid LLM engineer: $165–220k in SF, $140–190k nationally. MLOps: $150–210k. Data scientist: $120–175k. ML engineer: $145–200k. Junior (0–2 years): roughly $25–40k below mid levels.
| Role | Junior | Mid | Senior |
|---|---|---|---|
| LLM engineer | $120–150k | $165–220k | $220–300k+ |
| MLOps | $125–155k | $150–210k | $210–280k |
| Data scientist | $95–120k | $120–175k | $175–240k |
SF vs national markets
SF/Bay Area premiums are often $25–50k for the same level. Fully remote roles sometimes pay national bands; scarce LLM/MLOps profiles can still command coastal packages.
Beyond base pay
Equity is common at scale-ups. Finance and insurance may add 10–20% bonus. Hybrid/remote and PTO are standard perks. Use Ganloss salary tools when negotiating base.
Keep exploring
FAQ
- What do junior AI engineers earn in 2026?
- Roughly $95–150k base depending on role and city. LLM and MLOps tend to pay at the top of the band early.
- Does remote lower AI pay?
- Sometimes 5–10% vs on-site in the same city, but many fully remote posts now keep coastal compensation for hard-to-hire skills.
AI jobs you may like
Home feed and discovery ranking models for Spotify listeners worldwide.
GenAI tooling for podcast creators — Boston tech hub.
Kernel and inference optimizations for LLM serving — Austin AI research lab.
Graph neural networks for drug target discovery — SF biotech partnerships.
Real-time voice agents and telephony LLM integrations — Denver engineering office.
Sources: US AI/tech market data (2026), Ganloss job listings, public training catalogs.