AI Data Engineer.
North Charleston.
$144,000
median salary, 7% below the national average
$110,000 to $188,000. Last updated April 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
Here is what AI Data Engineers actually make in North Charleston: $110,000 at the 25th percentile, $144,000 at the median, and $188,000 at the 75th. That is 7% below the national average. North Charleston is the industrial and manufacturing heart of the Lowcountry, home to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner assembly facility and the Charleston Naval Complex. The number on your offer letter will depend on what you bring and how you ask.
Salary range
Where do you fall?
Salary by experience
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $129,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$94,000
to $115,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$122,000
to $151,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$158,000
to $187,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$180,000
to $223,000
Salary trend
+8% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $60,000 to the total package.
Base
$144,000
Equity
$36,000
Bonus
$15,000
Signing
$9,000
Estimated total: $204,000
How North Charleston compares
North Charleston, SC
$144,000
Cost of living: 6% below average
National Average
$155,000
North Charleston is $11,000 below
AI Data Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in North Charleston
What you should know
Before you negotiate a AI Data Engineer offer in North Charleston, understand the terrain. North Charleston is the industrial and manufacturing heart of the Lowcountry, home to Boeing's 787 Dreamliner assembly facility and the Charleston Naval Complex. The area has attracted significant defense, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing investment. Growth in logistics driven by the expanding port continues to drive employment. AI data engineers who build and maintain ML data pipelines earn premiums based on scale of data handled and complexity of feature engineering systems. Experience with streaming data platforms like Kafka alongside batch processing tools commands 10 to 20% higher pay. Cloud platform expertise in AWS, GCP, or Azure ML infrastructure is a baseline requirement.
Junior AI data engineers earn $118,000 to $140,000. Mid-level engineers with 3 to 5 years managing ML pipelines reach $155,000 to $200,000. Senior engineers and tech leads earn $205,000 to $270,000, while staff engineers and directors of ML infrastructure can command $290,000 to $380,000. In North Charleston, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
Base salary is not the full picture. Tech companies offer equity grants of 15 to 25% of base salary with four-year vesting. Annual bonuses range from 10 to 15%, and on-call compensation for maintaining production ML pipelines adds $5,000 to $15,000 annually at some firms. And on the tax side: south Carolina's top income tax rate is 6.4%. North Charleston has no city income tax. The moderate state rate is offset by affordable housing and strong employer demand. When someone quotes you $144,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight aerospace manufacturing experience. Boeing and defense contractors in North Charleston pay nationally competitive rates for specialized engineering skills. The range for AI Data Engineers in North Charleston runs from $110,000 to $188,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: SEC filings, H-1B LCA (DOL), BLS OES, 50+ job posting platforms. COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified April 8, 2026. Full methodology
Considering a related role?
- A AI Enablement & Literacy Lead in North Charleston earns $143,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in North Charleston is Distinguished Engineer at $301,000
Common questions.
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