AI Red Teamer.
Los Angeles.
$222,000
median salary, 18% above the national average
$165,000 to $293,000. Updated for 2026.
The numbers.
Everything you need to negotiate with confidence.
The median AI Red Teamer salary in Los Angeles is $222,000, 18% above the national average. Entry level starts near $165,000. Experienced professionals push past $293,000. Los Angeles blends a thriving entertainment industry with a growing tech and startup ecosystem, often called Silicon Beach. That spread is your negotiation window.
Salary range
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How Los Angeles compares
Los Angeles, CA
$222,000
Cost of living: 18% above average
National Average
$188,000
Los Angeles is $34,000 above
What you should know
If you are interviewing for AI Red Teamer roles in Los Angeles, here is what you are walking into. Los Angeles blends a thriving entertainment industry with a growing tech and startup ecosystem, often called Silicon Beach. The city's diverse economy spans aerospace, healthcare, fashion, and gaming. LA offers strong salaries that, while below San Francisco levels, pair with a broader lifestyle appeal and lower housing costs relative to the Bay Area. Salary is driven by expertise in adversarial attacks against ML systems and ability to identify novel vulnerability classes. Red teamers who discover high-impact exploits in production AI systems or publish influential security research command top compensation. Experience with prompt injection, model extraction, and training data poisoning techniques is essential for premium offers.
Junior AI security analysts start at $120,000 to $140,000 running standard evaluation suites. Mid-level red teamers designing custom attacks earn $165,000 to $188,000. Senior red team leads developing new attack methodologies reach $220,000 to $248,000, with principal roles exceeding $280,000. In Los Angeles, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 18% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Bonuses of 15 to 25% are standard, with some companies offering bug bounty-style rewards for critical findings. Equity at AI safety companies and major tech firms adds substantial value, often 25 to 50% of base salary in RSUs. And on the tax side: california's 13.3% top state income tax rate applies to LA earners as well. There is no city income tax, but the high state rate makes take home pay lower than cities in no income tax states. When someone quotes you $222,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight cross industry skills. LA employers value candidates who bridge entertainment and tech, so framing your experience across verticals can unlock higher offers. The range for AI Red Teamers in Los Angeles runs from $165,000 to $293,000. 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 Los Angeles
Negotiating in Los Angeles
Highlight cross industry skills. LA employers value candidates who bridge entertainment and tech, so framing your experience across verticals can unlock higher offers.