Speech AI Engineer.
Nashville.
$167,000
median salary, 2% below the national average
$125,000 to $218,000. Last updated April 2026.
Get the job.
Data points to own the conversation.
Nashville is 0% cheaper than the national average. For Speech AI Engineers, that shakes out to a median of $167,000, with the full range spanning $125,000 to $218,000. Proficiency in automatic speech recognition, text to speech synthesis, and speaker diarization drives pay. 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 $150,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$109,000
to $134,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$142,000
to $175,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$184,000
to $217,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$209,000
to $259,000
Salary trend
+7% YoYTotal compensation
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $47,000 to the total package.
Base
$167,000
Equity
$27,000
Bonus
$17,000
Signing
$3,000
Estimated total: $214,000
How Nashville compares
Nashville, TN
$167,000
Cost of living: at average
National Average
$170,000
Nashville is $3,000 below
Speech AI Engineer salary by city
Salary by role in Nashville
What you should know
Here is what the Speech AI Engineer market actually looks like in Nashville. Nashville has diversified well beyond music into healthcare, finance, and technology. The city is home to HCA Healthcare and a growing corridor of health tech startups. Nashville's moderate cost of living, combined with Tennessee's lack of state income tax on wages, makes it increasingly popular for corporate relocations and remote workers. Proficiency in automatic speech recognition, text to speech synthesis, and speaker diarization drives pay. Engineers who optimize real time streaming pipelines for low latency voice applications command premiums. Experience with multilingual acoustic models and noise robust architectures adds further value in global product teams.
Junior speech engineers start at $100,000 to $130,000. Mid level engineers with production ASR experience earn $150,000 to $190,000. Senior speech AI engineers reach $195,000 to $245,000. Principal engineers leading voice platforms at major tech companies can exceed $300,000 in total compensation. In Nashville, 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 grants at voice technology startups add 15 to 30% of total compensation. Performance bonuses of 10 to 20% are standard. Signing bonuses of $15,000 to $40,000 are common. Benefits often include conference travel and GPU compute budgets. And on the tax side: tennessee has no state income tax on wages or salaries. This gives Nashville workers a meaningful take home advantage over peers in states with 5 to 10% income tax rates. When someone quotes you $167,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Use the healthcare industry concentration as leverage. Nashville healthcare employers are accustomed to national pay scales and will often match or beat coastal health sector offers. The range for Speech AI Engineers in Nashville runs from $125,000 to $218,000. 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 AI Engineer in Nashville earns $168,000 (1% more)
- The highest-paying role in Nashville is Chief AI Officer at $298,000
Common questions.
Speech AI Engineer salary in other cities
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