Neural Architecture Search Engineer.
Indianapolis.
$148,000
median salary, 12% below the national average
$115,000 to $185,000. Last updated April 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
A Neural Architecture Search Engineer in Indianapolis earns a median of $148,000 in 2026. That is 12% below the national average. The range runs from $115,000 to $185,000, and where you land depends on your experience, your skills, and how well you negotiate. Compensation reflects the deep expertise needed in both ML theory and systems optimization.
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
+3% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $42,000 to the total package.
Base
$148,000
Equity
$24,000
Bonus
$15,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $190,000
How Indianapolis compares
Indianapolis, IN
$148,000
Cost of living: 9% below average
National Average
$168,000
Indianapolis is $20,000 below
Neural Architecture Search Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in Indianapolis
What you should know
The Neural Architecture Search Engineer landscape in Indianapolis is not what most salary sites will tell you. Indianapolis has a diversified economy led by healthcare, life sciences, and motorsports engineering. Eli Lilly's headquarters drives a major pharmaceutical and biotech cluster. The city's extremely affordable cost of living means that even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power, making it an underrated destination for professionals seeking financial stability. Compensation reflects the deep expertise needed in both ML theory and systems optimization. Engineers who can design efficient search spaces, optimize for hardware-specific constraints, and produce architectures that outperform hand-designed networks command premiums. Publication record and demonstrated production impact are major salary levers.
Junior NAS engineers start at $115,000 to $135,000 running predefined search experiments. Mid-level engineers designing search strategies reach $155,000 to $185,000. Senior engineers defining architecture search paradigms earn $195,000 to $240,000. Research leads at top labs can exceed $300,000 in total compensation. In Indianapolis, 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. Equity at AI efficiency companies adds $30,000 to $90,000 annually. Compute budgets are among the largest for any ML role due to the search-intensive nature of the work. Bonuses of 12% to 18% are standard. And on the tax side: indiana has a flat 3.05% state income tax, one of the lowest in the country. Marion County adds about 2.02% in local taxes. The combined rate remains well below most major metros. 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: Benchmark against pharmaceutical industry pay scales. Eli Lilly and the biotech cluster set high compensation floors that ripple across all professional roles in Indianapolis. The range for Neural Architecture Search Engineers in Indianapolis runs from $115,000 to $185,000. 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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- A Airline Pilot in Indianapolis earns $147,000 (1% less)
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Common questions.
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