LLM Fine-Tuning Engineer.

Where do you fall?

Salary trend

Estimated total: $245,000

Here is what the LLM Fine-Tuning Engineer market actually looks like in Knoxville. 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. Deep knowledge of parameter efficient fine tuning methods like LoRA, QLoRA, and adapter layers drives compensation. Engineers who can optimize training runs for cost and quality while managing GPU infrastructure are highly sought. Experience with evaluation frameworks, dataset curation, and domain specific model adaptation adds significant salary premiums.

Junior fine tuning engineers start at $120,000 to $150,000. Mid level engineers with production deployment experience earn $165,000 to $210,000. Senior engineers reach $210,000 to $270,000. Principal engineers at leading AI companies can exceed $350,000 in total compensation with equity. 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. Equity at AI startups typically adds 20 to 40% of total compensation. Performance bonuses of 15 to 25% are standard. Signing bonuses of $25,000 to $75,000 are common. Benefits frequently include cloud compute credits and conference attendance budgets. 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 $166,000, 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 LLM Fine-Tuning Engineers in Knoxville runs from $126,000 to $216,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.

Is your offer competitive?

Enter your LLM Fine-Tuning Engineer offer to see where you stand in Knoxville.

Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.

You have the data.

Now own the conversation.