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Key Takeaways
- AI engineer salaries vary significantly by experience level and location, with US-based engineers commanding $88,000-$176,715 annually while equally skilled professionals in Latin America cost $42,000-$96,000, offering potential savings of up to 63%.
- Hiring offshore AI engineers can reduce costs without sacrificing quality, particularly in Latin America where time zone alignment facilitates real-time collaboration, along with other regions like India (median $22,000), the Philippines ($35,000), and Poland ($66,500).
- Beyond salary, AI engineer compensation is influenced by specialization, education, work arrangement (remote vs. on-site), and hiring model—understanding these factors helps companies create compelling offers that attract and retain top talent in this competitive field.
Hiring an AI engineer in 2025 doesn’t come cheap, but it also doesn’t come with a fixed price tag. Salaries vary widely depending on region, experience, and how you choose to hire. If you’re trying to build a team without overextending your budget, it pays to know what’s out there.
This guide breaks down the current AI engineer salary landscape, from the cost of US-based hires to how compensation compares globally. We’ll also explore what drives salary ranges and how to set a competitive salary.
Whether you’re hiring in-office or exploring remote options, this article will give you the clarity you need to plan ahead and pay smart.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire an AI Engineer in the US in 2025?
Hiring a full-time AI engineer in the US is a major investment that goes beyond the salary on paper.
In 2025, here’s what businesses are paying for in-house AI talent:
- Junior AI Engineer: $88,000 – $147,400
- Mid-Level AI Engineer: $134,000 – $159,500
- Senior AI Engineer: $145,000 – $176,715
But that’s only part of the equation. When you bring on a full-time employee, you’re also responsible for:
- Payroll taxes and contributions
- Health insurance and retirement benefits
- Equipment, software licenses, and onboarding
- Office space or remote work stipends
These costs can easily push your total spend 30–40% higher than your base salary alone. And if you’re hiring in a competitive tech hub like New York or the Bay Area, expect to pay a premium.
In other words, finding the right person is one thing. Budgeting for everything it takes to attract, hire, and retain them in the US is something else entirely and may make hiring for this role out of reach for small and mid-size businesses and startups.
This is why many companies explore offshore hiring—not just to save money but to scale more sustainably.
Offshore AI Engineer Salaries: How Pay Varies by Region
Hiring offshore opens up a world of opportunity, literally.
While AI engineers in the US command high salaries, teams willing to go global can often find top-tier talent with salary expectations at a fraction of the cost.
Here’s a snapshot of what AI engineers typically earn in Latin America and other popular hiring destinations like India, the Philippines, and Poland.
Latin America
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Latin America offers a compelling proposition for US companies hiring AI engineers. With time zone alignment that creates nearly a full day of overlap with US workdays, real-time collaboration becomes seamless.
Countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico have strong technical education systems producing engineers well-versed in modern AI frameworks and methodologies.
Beyond the significant cost savings shown above, Latin American engineers typically have strong English proficiency and cultural alignment with US business practices. Many have experience working with US companies, making integration into your existing team smoother.
The combination of cost savings, time zone compatibility, and quality talent makes LatAm particularly attractive for companies who want their AI engineers to collaborate directly with US-based teams during regular business hours.
For companies open to hiring beyond the US, Latin America stands out for its time zone alignment and talent pool, but it’s not the only offshore option.
India
India offers some of the most affordable AI engineering talent, with median compensation around $22,000. Top earners are around $57,000.
It’s a deep and growing talent pool. However, time zone gaps, communication friction, and senior-level retention challenges can add complexity for US-based teams.
Philippines
The Philippines provides AI engineers at competitive rates, with median salaries near $35,000. Strong English proficiency and a BPO-driven talent culture make communication smooth, even across borders.
That said, working across 12+ hour time zone differences is tricky. However, it can be ideal for cost-conscious teams willing to work asynchronously.
Poland
Poland has built a strong reputation for technical talent. AI engineers there earn a median salary of around $66,500.
While it’s pricier than other offshore options, Poland offers highly skilled engineers and high levels of English proficiency.
No matter the region, hiring globally lets you stretch your budget without lowering the bar. And if time zone overlap is a priority, Latin America offers the strongest balance of cost, high-quality talent, and real-time collaboration for US teams.
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What Influences AI Engineer Salaries?
Salaries can vary significantly depending on the nature of the role, where you’re hiring from, and what kind of expertise you’re after.
Here are the biggest factors that shape what you’ll pay:
- Experience level: Junior AI engineers typically command lower salaries because they are earlier in their careers, while senior engineers with several years of real-world deployment experience can command premium rates.
- Geographic location: Salaries in the US, UK, and Western Europe are substantially higher than those in Latin America, South Asia, or Southeast Asia. Local cost of living and market demand play a huge role.
- Specialization: Generalists earn less than those with niche AI/ML skills. Engineers experienced in NLP, computer vision, or LLM fine-tuning often see significantly higher offers.
- Education and certifications: While not always required, advanced degrees (MSc/PhD) in AI or machine learning can boost salary potential, especially for research-heavy roles.
- Remote vs. on-site roles: In-office hires often come with higher costs due to overhead like office space, equipment, and in-office perks (coffee, etc.). Remote roles can often offer savings and attract a wider pool of candidates, especially in competitive markets.
- Hiring model: Hiring via a freelance platform, staffing agency, or direct employment all come with different cost structures. A direct hire might save you commission fees, but only if you can handle sourcing, vetting, and payroll on your own.
Understanding these factors can help you set realistic expectations and make smarter offers that reflect marketing conditions without overextending your budget.
How to Set Competitive AI Engineer Salaries & Retain Top Talent
Hiring top AI talent is one thing. Keeping them is another.
With AI-related job postings hitting 16,000 per month in late 2024, candidates are seeing more opportunities (and weighing more offers) than ever before.
In a market this competitive, a solid salary gets you in the door. But it’s the full offer that seals the deal and keeps engineers around.
Here’s how to build an offer that attracts and retains the kind of AI talent your team actually needs:
- Do your homework: Start with real salary benchmarks (like the ones in this article) and adjust for your industry, location, and role. Knowing what the market pays helps you avoid underbidding or overextending.
- Lead with total compensation, not just salary: Top engineers look beyond the paycheck. Perks like remote flexibility, mental health days, equity, and education budgets can close the gap when you can’t match Big Tech numbers.
- Stay flexible in negotiations: Build in room to move. Even if you can’t stretch the salary, adding a signing bonus or offering a growth path can make your offer hard to walk away from.
- Review and adjust regularly: Don’t just set it and forget it. Revisit compensation every 6-12 months, especially in competitive fields like AI, where market rates move fast.
- Lean on local expertise when hiring globally: If you’re hiring in unfamiliar markets (like Latin America), partner with a recruitment firm that knows the landscape. They’ll help you tailor offers to local expectations and avoid cultural missteps.
A strong job offer shows candidates they’re valued before day one, and that’s what turns a great hire into a long-term teammate.
Final Thoughts
AI engineers are in high demand, and that’s not changing anytime soon. In fact, as of 2025, there are over 500,000 open roles globally for AI and ML engineers, with the highest concentrations in the US, India, and Western Europe.
That kind of competition means your hiring strategy can’t rely on guesswork or outdated benchmarks.
If you want to hire confidently (and cost-effectively), understanding salary trends, regional differences, and how to build a compelling offer is step one.
For the next steps, our hiring guide breaks down everything from sourcing to onboarding: Need to Hire an AI Engineer? Here’s What You Need to Know.
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