AI/ML Data Analyst.
Raleigh.
$124,000
median salary, 1% below the national average
$94,000 to $163,000. Updated for 2026.
The numbers.
Everything you need to negotiate with confidence.
If you are evaluating a AI/ML Data Analyst offer in Raleigh, NC, here is the reality: $94,000 to $163,000, with $124,000 as the midpoint. 1% below the national average. Compensation varies based on proficiency with ML-specific data pipelines, feature engineering, and model evaluation metrics. Do not accept the first number.
Salary range
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How Raleigh compares
Raleigh, NC
$124,000
Cost of living: 1% below average
National Average
$125,000
Raleigh is $1,000 below
What you should know
Here is what the AI/ML Data Analyst market actually looks like in Raleigh. Raleigh sits at the heart of the Research Triangle, one of America's premier tech and life sciences corridors. Cisco, Red Hat, Epic Games, and numerous biotech firms drive strong demand for engineering, research, and product roles. The combination of top tier universities and moderate living costs creates an exceptionally favorable salary to expense ratio. Compensation varies based on proficiency with ML-specific data pipelines, feature engineering, and model evaluation metrics. Analysts who can build automated data quality monitoring for training datasets earn more. Experience with large-scale data platforms like Databricks or Snowflake adds 10 to 15% to offers.
Junior ML data analysts start at $70,000 to $90,000. Mid-level analysts earn $95,000 to $125,000. Senior analysts reach $140,000 to $165,000, and those who transition into ML engineering or data science roles can exceed $180,000 to $220,000. In Raleigh, 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. Bonuses typically range from 5 to 15% of base salary. Equity is less common than in pure engineering roles but increasingly offered at AI-first startups, usually valued at $10,000 to $30,000 annually. And on the tax side: north Carolina's flat 4.5% income tax keeps the burden low. Raleigh has no city income tax, and the Triangle's affordable housing amplifies your take home purchasing power. When someone quotes you $124,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Cite Research Triangle talent competition in your negotiation. Employers here compete directly with each other and with remote offers, creating favorable leverage for candidates. The range for AI/ML Data Analysts in Raleigh runs from $94,000 to $163,000. 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 Raleigh
Negotiating in Raleigh
Cite Research Triangle talent competition in your negotiation. Employers here compete directly with each other and with remote offers, creating favorable leverage for candidates.