AI Data Quality Engineer.
Tampa.
$134,000
median salary, 4% below the national average
$101,000 to $178,000. Updated for 2026.
The numbers.
Everything you need to negotiate with confidence.
If you are evaluating a AI Data Quality Engineer offer in Tampa, FL, here is the reality: $101,000 to $178,000, with $134,000 as the midpoint. 4% below the national average. AI data quality engineers ensure training and serving data meets standards for ML model reliability. Do not accept the first number.
Salary range
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How Tampa compares
Tampa, FL
$134,000
Cost of living: 4% below average
National Average
$140,000
Tampa is $6,000 below
What you should know
The AI Data Quality Engineer landscape in Tampa is not what most salary sites will tell you. Tampa's economy combines a strong financial services sector with growing tech, healthcare, and defense industries. The city has attracted remote workers and corporate relocations seeking Florida's tax advantages. Tampa offers a favorable salary to cost of living ratio, with compensation levels that have risen significantly as the metro continues to grow. AI data quality engineers ensure training and serving data meets standards for ML model reliability. Salary is driven by experience with data validation frameworks, drift detection systems, and automated quality monitoring at scale. Engineers working in regulated industries like healthcare and finance earn 12 to 20% premiums due to compliance requirements.
Junior AI data quality engineers earn $105,000 to $125,000. Engineers with 3 to 5 years of ML data quality experience reach $140,000 to $185,000. Senior engineers and quality team leads earn $190,000 to $248,000, while directors of data quality at enterprise AI companies can command $255,000 to $330,000. In Tampa, 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. Tech companies provide equity grants of 12 to 22% of base salary. Bonuses range from 10 to 15% annually. Some firms offer additional compensation for maintaining critical data quality SLAs, adding $5,000 to $12,000 for on-call responsibilities. And on the tax side: florida has no state income tax, which is Tampa's biggest compensation advantage. There are no local income taxes either. Property taxes and insurance costs are the main financial considerations. When someone quotes you $134,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Frame your salary expectations against the no income tax benefit. Tampa employers know candidates are factoring in the tax savings, so be explicit about how it shapes your number. The range for AI Data Quality Engineers in Tampa runs from $101,000 to $178,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Top industries in Tampa
Negotiating in Tampa
Frame your salary expectations against the no income tax benefit. Tampa employers know candidates are factoring in the tax savings, so be explicit about how it shapes your number.