# Lead AI Engineer Salary

> Lead AI Engineer roles pay a median of $250k a year, based on 34 live listings that disclose salary. The middle half earns $200k to $289k, and the top 10% more than $327k. 21% of these roles are remote. Highest median pay: Anthropic.

- **Median (USD):** $250k
- **25th to 75th percentile:** $200k to $289k
- **10th to 90th percentile:** $113k to $327k
- **Disclosed roles:** 34

## By city

| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| San Francisco | 10 | $253k | $304k | $327k |
| Boston | 5 | $220k | $225k | $270k |
| New York | 4 | $235k | $284k | $307k |
| Redwood City | 3 | $190k | $197k | $197k |

## By country

| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| USA | 29 | $220k | $265k | $293k |

## Remote vs on-site

| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| On-site / hybrid | 27 | $190k | $225k | $277k |
| Remote | 7 | $267k | $288k | $292k |

## Top-paying companies

Companies with at least three disclosed salaries here, by median.

| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Anthropic](https://aijobsgrid.com/companies/anthropic) | 4 | $315k | $338k | $351k |
| [OpenAI](https://aijobsgrid.com/companies/openai) | 4 | $289k | $292k | $299k |
| [Klaviyo](https://aijobsgrid.com/companies/klaviyo) | 6 | $221k | $225k | $259k |
| [C3 AI](https://aijobsgrid.com/companies/c3-ai) | 3 | $190k | $197k | $197k |
| [Braze](https://aijobsgrid.com/companies/braze) | 4 | $99k | $108k | $112k |

## Other roles

- [Lead Machine Learning Engineer Salary](https://aijobsgrid.com/salaries/machine-learning-engineer/lead)
- [Lead Data Engineer Salary](https://aijobsgrid.com/salaries/data-engineer/lead)
- [Lead AI Product Manager Salary](https://aijobsgrid.com/salaries/ai-product-manager/lead)

Every live listing here that discloses a number, in any currency. Converted to USD at ECB reference rates as of 2026-10-28. Hourly, weekly, and monthly figures are annualised (2,080 / 52 / 12). Where a salary is a range we use its midpoint. Live roles: [AI/LLM Engineer jobs](https://aijobsgrid.com/ai-jobs/ai-llm-engineer). Check an offer: https://aijobsgrid.com/salaries/calculator?role=ai-llm-engineer&facet=lead&offer=185000

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Source: AIJobsGrid (https://aijobsgrid.com). Listings come from each employer's own job board and are removed when the employer closes them. Apply through the employer link on each job.
Site map for AI tools: https://aijobsgrid.com/llms.txt