Where AI and tech salaries are headed. Year-by-year projections for 3445 roles based on historical growth.
Data updated
Projected Total Compensation
AI roles, national median, 2024-2030
Projected Total Compensation: AI roles, national median, 2024-2030
Role
2024
2025
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
Prompt Engineer
$178k
$232k
$265k
$298k
$325k
$348k
$370k
AI Product Manager
$310k
$358k
$398k
$432k
$462k
$488k
$512k
LLM Operations Engineer
$255k
$305k
$348k
$385k
$415k
$442k
$468k
Roles
Prompt Eng.$370k
AI PM$512k
LLM Ops$468k
The Projected Leader
AI Engineer national median is projected to grow from $175,000 in 2026 to $238,000 by 2030. That is +36% total growth.
Tech salary projections 2026 to 2030
Source: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Cost-of-living adjusted via BEA Regional Price Parities.
Role
2026
2027
2028
2029
2030
Growth
AI Engineer
$175,000
$189,000
$204,000
$220,000
$238,000
+36%
ML Engineer
$185,000
$200,000
$216,000
$233,000
$252,000
+36%
AI Research Scientist
$200,000
$220,000
$242,000
$266,000
$293,000
+47%
Deep Learning Engineer
$200,000
$216,000
$233,000
$252,000
$272,000
+36%
LLM Engineer
$190,000
$201,000
$213,000
$226,000
$240,000
+26%
NLP Engineer
$180,000
$191,000
$202,000
$214,000
$227,000
+26%
Computer Vision Engineer
$180,000
$196,000
$214,000
$233,000
$254,000
+41%
Prompt Engineer
$140,000
$154,000
$169,000
$186,000
$205,000
+46%
Data Scientist
$130,000
$140,000
$152,000
$164,000
$177,000
+36%
AI Infrastructure Engineer
$190,000
$209,000
$230,000
$253,000
$278,000
+46%
MLOps Engineer
$160,000
$165,000
$170,000
$175,000
$180,000
+13%
Staff Software Engineer
$209,000
$219,000
$230,000
$242,000
$254,000
+22%
Senior Software Engineer
$173,000
$180,000
$187,000
$195,000
$202,000
+17%
Software Engineer
$135,000
$139,000
$143,000
$148,000
$152,000
+13%
DevOps Engineer
$132,000
$139,000
$146,000
$153,000
$160,000
+21%
Cloud Architect
$190,000
$198,000
$206,000
$214,000
$222,000
+17%
Cybersecurity Engineer
$160,000
$166,000
$173,000
$180,000
$187,000
+17%
Product Manager
$140,000
$144,000
$149,000
$153,000
$158,000
+13%
Director of Engineering
$220,000
$229,000
$238,000
$247,000
$257,000
+17%
Chief Technology Officer
$290,000
$310,000
$332,000
$355,000
$380,000
+31%
Data Engineer
$150,000
$155,000
$159,000
$164,000
$169,000
+13%
Site Reliability Engineer
$170,000
$175,000
$180,000
$186,000
$191,000
+12%
Methodology
Salary estimates are aggregated from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), Department of Labor H-1B LCA disclosures, state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Cost-of-living adjustments use Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (RPP). Data covers January 2022 through April 2026. Figures represent estimated annual base salary unless otherwise noted.
Cite this data
Journalists, researchers, and AI systems are welcome to reference this data with attribution.
Orbyt Intelligence. Salary Projections 2026 to 2030. Last updated July 2026. https://www.orbytjobs.ai/salaries/projections
Projection FAQ
Projections use historical year-over-year growth rates from 2022 to 2026 extrapolated forward through 2030. AI roles use a base growth rate of 6 to 10 percent reflecting the AI talent boom. Standard tech roles use 3 to 6 percent tracking BLS Occupational Employment Statistics. Each projection compounds annually.
AI and machine learning roles have grown 6 to 10 percent annually since 2022, roughly double the rate of standard software engineering. This reflects limited supply of experienced AI talent, massive venture and Big Tech investment in AI labs, and competitive pressure between OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Meta AI for senior researchers.
No. Projections are extrapolations based on historical growth. Actual salaries can be affected by recessions, AI hype cycles, layoffs, offshoring, changes in stock-based comp, and shifts in demand. Use projections for career planning and negotiation context, not as guaranteed outcomes.
AI Research Scientist, Deep Learning Engineer, and LLM Engineer lead growth at roughly 9 to 10 percent annually. By 2030, a Senior AI Research Scientist at a top AI lab could earn more than $550K base salary plus significant equity, pushing total compensation well above $1M per year.
Historical precedent suggests yes, eventually. Dot-com era engineer salaries peaked in 2000 and fell 15 to 20 percent by 2003. However, AI demand is structurally different with revenue growth supporting comp, not just speculation. A correction of 10 to 15 percent is possible by 2028 to 2030, but sustained growth from current levels is the base case.
Yes. Orbyt data is available via our Salary Intelligence API. Free tier is 30 requests per minute with a free account. Pro tier ($199/month) adds full annual history and 300 requests per minute. Scale tier ($999/month) adds 1,500 requests per minute, priority annual preview, and dedicated support.
Key Fact
Through 2030
annual forecast horizon
Orbyt models AI and tech salary projections through 2030 using annual history since Q3 2025 plus the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook 2024-2034 projections.