AI Degree Salary: What Jobs Pay and Where the Range Comes From

An AI degree has no salary of its own. Your pay depends on the job you take with it. The closest federal occupations had May 2025 median pay between $88,940 for operations research analysts, the nearest match for data analysts, and $140,300 for computer and information research scientists. Most of the other jobs land between $120,230 and $139,500.

Why Doesn’t an AI Degree Have One Salary?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics measures pay by occupation, meaning what a person does at work. It does not measure pay by major. Two people with the same AI degree can be a data analyst and a research scientist, and their paychecks have little in common.

So the useful question is “what do the jobs this degree leads to pay?” Our guide to AI jobs walks through ten of them. This page puts the pay side by side.

One caution about titles. BLS has no line for AI engineers, machine learning engineers, data engineers or business intelligence analysts. We use the closest occupation for each and say so, and those figures describe a wider group of workers than the title.

How Much Does Each AI Job Pay?

Each row shows the May 2025 national median for the BLS occupation in the last column, then the pay at the 10th and 90th percentiles. Ten percent of workers earn less than the first number, and ten percent earn more than the second.

Rows that repeat a number share a BLS line. That does not mean the jobs pay the same. It means the federal data can’t tell them apart.

What Do the Highest Paying AI Jobs Look Like?

Research scientists have the highest median, at a $140,300 median and a mean of $153,930. They are also a small group, about 37,200 jobs nationally. BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education, which is the highest bar on this page.

Data engineers come next. Database architects, the closest match, have a median of $139,500 and a mean of $144,440. Software developers have a median of $135,980, and they are by far the biggest group, with about 1,687,890 jobs. That size is why software and AI engineering are the most common targets for AI graduates.

Information security analysts have a median of $129,180 and a 10th percentile of $75,090. Our AI jobs guide covers what each of these jobs involves.

What Does Each Job Pay in Detail?

The table gives the edges. Here is the middle of each range for the occupations behind it, so you can see where a typical worker lands.

Research scientists. The mean is $153,930, higher than the median, which tells you a group at the top pulls the average up. The 25th percentile is $103,570 and the 75th is $188,700. Employment is about 37,200.

Software developers, which includes software and AI engineers. The mean is $148,100 and the median is $135,980. The 25th percentile is $105,210 and the 75th is $171,980. California, Texas, New York, Washington and Virginia have the most jobs.

Database architects, the match for data engineers. The mean is $144,440 and the median is $139,500. The 25th percentile is $109,370 and the 75th is $169,290. About 67,140 people hold these jobs.

Information security analysts. The mean is $132,510 and the median is $129,180, so the middle is close to the average here. The 25th percentile is $97,810 and the 75th is $163,500. About 190,650 people hold these jobs.

Engineers, all other, which includes robotics engineers. The mean is $125,330 and the median is $122,930. The 25th percentile is $90,970 and the 75th is $158,090. This group is a catch-all, so it covers more than robotics.

Data scientists, which includes machine learning engineers and business intelligence analysts. The mean is $126,800 and the median is $120,230. The 25th percentile is $85,660 and the 75th is $158,880. About 262,440 people hold these jobs.

Operations research analysts, the match for data analysts. The mean is $99,730 and the median is $88,940. The 25th percentile is $68,360 and the 75th is $125,990. About 108,510 people hold these jobs.

How Wide Is the Pay Range Within One Job?

Very wide. The median is the middle, not the typical starting point, and the gap between the bottom and top is often more than double.

For computer and information research scientists, the middle half of workers earns between $103,570 and $188,700. For software developers, the middle half earns between $105,210 and $171,980. For data scientists it is between $85,660 and $158,880.

What explains the spread? BLS does not say, but experience, employer, specialty and location all play a part. If you are new to the field, look at the 25th percentile as well as the median, since the median includes people with years of experience.

Which States Pay the Most?

Location moves pay a lot, and the best state depends on the job. These are annual mean wages from the May 2025 data.

• Research scientists: Oregon at $215,420, New York at $203,370 and Washington at $194,360.
• Software developers: California at $186,770, Washington at $171,040 and New York at $163,820.
• Data scientists: Washington at $158,040, California at $156,000 and Maryland at $144,080.
• Information security analysts: Washington at $156,080, Massachusetts at $151,000 and Maryland at $149,940.

Small states can rank high because few people hold the job there, so pair these with employment numbers before you move anywhere. Remote work also complicates the picture, since some employers pay by where you live and others pay one rate.

Does Degree Level Change What You Earn?

BLS doesn’t publish pay by degree for these jobs, so we can’t give you a number for a master’s versus a bachelor’s. What the data does show is which jobs ask for which level.

BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education for research scientists, the highest-paid job here. For software developers, data scientists, information security analysts, operations research analysts and database architects, it lists a bachelor’s degree. O*NET describes a bachelor’s as typical for robotics engineers.

In plain terms, a master’s can qualify you for the research job and may help with modeling-heavy roles. For the rest, a bachelor’s gets you in the door, and your skills and experience take over from there. Browse the online master’s in AI list or the best online AI degrees list for options at each level.

What About Job Growth?

Pay is only half the picture. BLS projects employment growth from 2025 to 2035 of 35 percent for data scientists, 22 percent for computer and information research scientists, 21 percent for information security analysts, 12 percent for operations research analysts and 10 percent for software developers. Database architects are projected at 9 percent. BLS calls each of those much faster than average.

Robotics is the outlier. O*NET projects slower than average growth of 1% to 2% for robotics engineers from 2024 to 2034.

Projections are estimates, and they get revised. They tell you where demand is expected to rise, not how any single hiring market will behave.

What Does Hourly Pay Look Like?

If you are comparing an AI job with an hourly one, the May 2025 hourly medians help. They are $67.45 for research scientists, $67.07 for database architects, $65.38 for software developers, $62.11 for information security analysts, $59.10 for engineers, all other, $57.80 for data scientists and $42.76 for operations research analysts.

Most of these jobs are salaried, so the hourly figure is just the annual median divided by a standard work year. It is useful for comparing against a job you hold now, not for predicting an offer.

What Doesn’t the Data Tell You?

Good data has limits, and it is better to know them before you plan around it.

BLS counts everyone in an occupation, including people who have held the job for twenty years. It does not separate new graduates, and it does not report bonuses or stock pay, which can be a large share of total pay at some employers. It also doesn’t tell you how a title like AI engineer is paid inside a particular company.

The data also lags. The wage figures are from May 2025, and the outlook is a projection through 2035. Both are the most recent federal numbers we have, but they will be revised.

Finally, none of it measures the effect of your degree. People enter these jobs from computer science, math, engineering and self-study as well as AI programs. An AI degree is one way in, and what employers see is your skills, your projects and your experience.

What Should You Compare Before Picking a Program?

Once you know the job and its pay range, compare programs on what matters for your situation. Three questions help.

First, does the program match the job? If you want to build products, the AI engineering degree list fits. If modeling and prediction appeal to you, see the machine learning degree list. If you want business analysis, try the AI for business list.

Second, what will it cost, and how long will it take? The accelerated list and the cheapest list show both, with the data behind each ranking on every program page.

Third, can you fit it around your life? The working adults list and the part-time list are built for people who keep their jobs while they study.

Where Do Career Changers Fit?

If you already work in another field, your current pay matters as much as the pay on this page. A move into data analysis may start below what an experienced professional earns today, while a move into engineering may pay more once you have a track record.

Our list of AI degrees for career changers shows programs built for that switch. Look at the preparation courses they offer, and ask each school what graduates actually do next.

How Should You Use These Numbers?

Treat them as a map, not a promise. Pick two or three jobs that fit what you like doing, then compare their medians and low-end pay against what a degree would cost you.

Our cheapest online AI degrees list helps with the cost side, and the is an AI degree worth it guide shows how to weigh price against pay. For title-specific numbers, see the AI engineer salary page and the machine learning engineer salary page.

One last thing worth saying plainly. These are pay figures for people already working in each occupation. They include people with a decade or more of experience, and they don’t guarantee what a new graduate earns.