AI Red Teamer.
Minneapolis.
$197,000
median salary, 5% above the national average
$147,000 to $260,000. Updated for 2026.
The numbers.
Everything you need to negotiate with confidence.
If you are evaluating a AI Red Teamer offer in Minneapolis, MN, here is the reality: $147,000 to $260,000, with $197,000 as the midpoint. 5% above the national average. Salary is driven by expertise in adversarial attacks against ML systems and ability to identify novel vulnerability classes. Do not accept the first number.
Salary range
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How Minneapolis compares
Minneapolis, MN
$197,000
Cost of living: 5% above average
National Average
$188,000
Minneapolis is $9,000 above
What you should know
The AI Red Teamer landscape in Minneapolis is not what most salary sites will tell you. Minneapolis is a Fortune 500 powerhouse with Target, UnitedHealth Group, Best Buy, and 3M headquartered in the metro. The city's strong corporate base creates consistent demand across finance, healthcare, retail tech, and supply chain roles. Quality of life is high, and employers offer competitive salaries to offset the cold winters. 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 Minneapolis, 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 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: minnesota's top income tax rate is 9.85%, one of the highest state rates. There is no city income tax in Minneapolis, but the state burden significantly reduces take home pay. When someone quotes you $197,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Emphasize retention risk when negotiating. Minneapolis employers know that remote opportunities from warmer, lower tax states are a constant competitive threat. The range for AI Red Teamers in Minneapolis runs from $147,000 to $260,000. 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 Minneapolis
Negotiating in Minneapolis
Emphasize retention risk when negotiating. Minneapolis employers know that remote opportunities from warmer, lower tax states are a constant competitive threat.