Foundation Model Engineer.
Burlington.
$219,000
median salary, 2% above the national average
$163,000 to $285,000. Last updated April 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Foundation Model Engineer salary in Burlington is $219,000, 2% above the national average. Entry level starts near $163,000. Experienced professionals push past $285,000. Burlington is Vermont's largest city and a small but growing hub for technology, healthcare, and sustainable industries. That spread is your negotiation window.
Salary range
Where do you fall?
Salary by experience
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $197,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$142,000
to $175,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$186,000
to $230,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$241,000
to $285,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$274,000
to $339,000
Salary trend
+6% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $51,000 to the total package.
Base
$219,000
Equity
$28,000
Bonus
$19,000
Signing
$4,000
Estimated total: $270,000
How Burlington compares
Burlington, VT
$219,000
Cost of living: 6% above average
National Average
$215,000
Burlington is $4,000 above
Foundation Model Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in Burlington
What you should know
Before you negotiate a Foundation Model Engineer offer in Burlington, understand the terrain. Burlington is Vermont's largest city and a small but growing hub for technology, healthcare, and sustainable industries. The University of Vermont drives education and research employment. The city attracts remote workers and small tech companies seeking New England quality of life at lower costs than Boston. This highly specialized role commands premium compensation driven by direct experience training or fine-tuning large language models and multimodal models. Engineers who have participated in pre-training runs exceeding 1,000 GPU-hours earn 15 to 25% more. Expertise in training stability, data curation, and alignment techniques are the most valued differentiators in 2026 compensation negotiations.
ML engineers with large-scale training experience earning $140,000 to $190,000 advance to this specialized role at $160,000 to $280,000. Progression leads to Staff Foundation Model Engineer at $210,000 to $300,000 or research leadership. This is one of the most direct paths to Head of AI Research positions. In Burlington, 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. Total packages range from $300,000 to $550,000 with significant equity grants, research publication bonuses, and compute credits for personal projects. Frontier AI labs offer the highest total compensation, often 30 to 50% above enterprise employers for equivalent experience levels. And on the tax side: vermont's top income tax rate is 8.75%, one of the highest in the nation. Burlington has no city income tax, but the state burden requires careful salary planning. When someone quotes you $219,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Negotiate remote work flexibility. Burlington's lifestyle appeal is a retention tool, but employers know they must offer competitive pay to offset Vermont's high tax rate. The range for Foundation Model Engineers in Burlington runs from $163,000 to $285,000. 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
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Common questions.
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