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Staff AI Engineer salary: median $252,500 a year

Staff AI Engineer listings that state pay run from $230,000 to $265,000 for the middle half, based on 29 current job listings. 76 staff ai engineer roles are open now.

Staff AI Engineer pay range

From 29 open listings that state pay. Annual, in US dollars.

Lower quarter
$230,000
Median
$252,500
Upper quarter
$265,000

Do AI skills change staff ai engineer pay?

For Data & Analytics roles in general, as of October 26, 2026. This is the function’s figure, not one for staff ai engineer alone: one title rarely has enough listings on both sides.

Among Data & Analytics listings, those that ask for an AI skill advertise a median $210,000, against $137,500 for those that never mention AI (+52.7%). That raw gap is not matched on level or industry.

Listings that ask for an AI skill
$210,000
median, from 2,241 paid listings
Listings that never mention AI
$137,500
median, from 344 paid listings

Advertised pay only: the midpoint of the range an employer posted, on live U.S. postings read from the full text. “Asks for an AI skill” means the posting names a specific AI skill; “no AI” means it never mentions AI. A difference in what is advertised is not a promise of what you would be paid, and it does not show that learning a skill causes a raise.

See the AI-skill pay table for every function · Check your own pay against these listings

Open staff ai engineer jobs

Verified against the employer’s own career site within the last week.

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Related salaries

Staff AI Engineer salary questions

How much does a staff ai engineer make?
Among 29 open staff ai engineer listings that state pay, the median is $252,500 a year, and half of listings fall between $230,000 and $265,000.
Where does this staff ai engineer pay data come from?
From current job listings on employers’ own career sites that state a pay range. Hourly pay is converted at 2,080 hours a year, and a listing’s midpoint is used. Listed pay is what employers advertise, not what people are paid.
Which state pays staff ai engineers the most?
Of the states with enough listings, California has the highest median listed pay at $259,500.

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