Median salary
$225,900
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$195k – $267.3k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
73.6%
681 of 925 roles
Live roles
925
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)
Software Engineer, ML Networking
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)
Machine Learning Engineer, Integrity
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Principal Engineer, Agentic AI Systems
Staff AI Security Engineer
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
OpenAI
|
$307,500 | 31 |
Databricks
|
$222,325 | 20 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 19 |
Nuro
|
$242,540 | 19 |
Figure
|
$300,000 | 15 |
|
Pinterest
|
$270,990 | 15 |
|
Anthropic
|
$415,000 | 14 |
Roku
|
$296,500 | 14 |
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How much do AI Engineer roles in California pay?
The median salary for AI Engineer roles in California is $225,900 per year. Most pay falls between $195,000 (25th percentile) and $267,333 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $160,700 to $307,500.
These figures are computed live from 925 active AI Engineer roles in California on JobsRadar, of which 681 (73.6%) publish a salary range. Pay is normalized to annualized USD so roles can be compared on equal terms; the highest-paying roles listed above show their original posted currency. Numbers refresh every few hours as new roles are posted and older ones close.
Employers currently hiring well-paid AI Engineer roles in California include Syntiant, Anthropic, OpenAI and Pinterest.
Salary transparency varies by employer and region, so the disclosing share above reflects only roles that publish pay — not every open position. Use it as a directional benchmark rather than an exact offer.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average AI Engineer salary in California?
- The median is $225,900 per year, with most pay between $195,000 and $267,333 (25th–75th percentile), based on 681 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the AI Engineer salary range in California?
- Pay ranges from about $160,700 to $307,500 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $225,900. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.