AI Data Engineer.
Knoxville.
$139,000
median salary, 10% below the national average
$106,000 to $182,000. Last updated April 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median AI Data Engineer salary in Knoxville is $139,000, 10% below the national average. Entry level starts near $106,000. Experienced professionals push past $182,000. Knoxville benefits from the presence of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. That spread is your negotiation window.
Salary range
Where do you fall?
Salary by experience
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $125,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$90,000
to $111,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$118,000
to $146,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$153,000
to $181,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$174,000
to $215,000
Salary trend
+8% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $58,000 to the total package.
Base
$139,000
Equity
$35,000
Bonus
$15,000
Signing
$8,000
Estimated total: $197,000
How Knoxville compares
Knoxville, TN
$139,000
Cost of living: 11% below average
National Average
$155,000
Knoxville is $16,000 below
AI Data Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in Knoxville
What you should know
If you are interviewing for AI Data Engineer roles in Knoxville, here is what you are walking into. Knoxville benefits from the presence of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The national lab drives strong demand for research scientists, engineers, and data analysts. No state income tax and affordable living make it an attractive value proposition. 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 Knoxville, your dollars stretch further. Cost of living runs 11% below the national average, which means even a median salary buys a stronger lifestyle.
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: tennessee has no state income tax on wages. Knoxville has no city income tax. This zero income tax environment combined with very affordable housing creates excellent purchasing power. When someone quotes you $139,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight Oak Ridge National Lab and DOE experience. National lab affiliations and security clearances command significant premiums in the Knoxville area. The range for AI Data Engineers in Knoxville runs from $106,000 to $182,000. 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 Cybersecurity Engineer in Knoxville earns $140,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in Knoxville is Distinguished Engineer at $305,000
Common questions.
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