AI Fraud Detection Engineer.
Richmond.
$148,000
median salary, 2% above the national average
$112,000 to $189,000. Last updated April 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Richmond is 1% more expensive than the national average. For AI Fraud Detection Engineers, that shakes out to a median of $148,000, with the full range spanning $112,000 to $189,000. Compensation reflects the direct financial impact of fraud prevention systems. Know the range before you walk in.
Salary range
Where do you fall?
Salary by experience
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $133,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$96,000
to $118,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$126,000
to $155,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$163,000
to $192,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$185,000
to $229,000
Salary trend
+7% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $71,000 to the total package.
Base
$148,000
Equity
$43,000
Bonus
$19,000
Signing
$9,000
Estimated total: $219,000
How Richmond compares
Richmond, VA
$148,000
Cost of living: 1% above average
National Average
$145,000
Richmond is $3,000 above
AI Fraud Detection Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in Richmond
What you should know
The AI Fraud Detection Engineer landscape in Richmond is not what most salary sites will tell you. Richmond combines a strong government and defense sector with growing technology and financial services industries. Capital One's headquarters drives significant fintech employment. The city's proximity to Washington DC creates spillover demand for federal contractors and tech workers seeking lower living costs. Compensation reflects the direct financial impact of fraud prevention systems. Engineers who can build real-time transaction scoring models with low false positive rates earn premiums. Experience with graph neural networks for fraud ring detection, anomaly detection at scale, and adversarial robustness against evolving fraud tactics drives higher salaries.
Junior fraud detection engineers start at $95,000 to $115,000. Mid-level engineers building production fraud scoring systems reach $135,000 to $165,000. Senior engineers designing enterprise fraud platforms earn $170,000 to $210,000. Directors of fraud AI at financial institutions can reach $230,000 to $290,000 in total compensation. In Richmond, 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. Performance bonuses of 15% to 25% tied to fraud loss reduction are common. Equity at fintech companies adds $20,000 to $70,000 annually. Some organizations offer bonuses based on the dollar value of fraud prevented. Benefits include financial services industry certifications and conference budgets. And on the tax side: virginia's top income tax rate is 5.75%. Richmond has no city income tax. The moderate rate and reasonable cost of living create solid net compensation. When someone quotes you $148,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Leverage DC corridor salary benchmarks. Richmond employers compete with Northern Virginia and DC for talent, especially in fintech and government contracting. The range for AI Fraud Detection Engineers in Richmond runs from $112,000 to $189,000. 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 Controller in Richmond earns $147,000 (1% less)
- The highest-paying role in Richmond is Distinguished Engineer at $323,000
Common questions.
AI Fraud Detection Engineer salary in other cities
Other salaries in Richmond
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