AI job salaries: what the listings actually show

Of the 50,447 live listings on TixelJobs, 6,979 state a salary. That is about 14%. The rest give no figure at all, and the people applying through TixelJobs are not avoiding those: 90% of the roles that received an apply click since February 2026 listed no salary. If you filter for listings with pay, you filter out most of the market.

The listings that do show a number cluster where you would expect. Pay transparency laws in several US states and cities require a range on the posting, so listings from companies hiring in those places are far more likely to include one. Remote roles open to candidates there often carry a range for the same reason.

Among the listings on TixelJobs that state a yearly figure in US dollars, the distribution is:

So the largest band is $150K to $200K, and 4,433 listings, nearly two thirds of those with a stated figure, sit at $150K or above. Treat that with care: it describes the listings that chose to publish a number, which skew toward US employers and senior levels, not the whole market. It says nothing about the 43,000 or so listings that are silent.

• $200K and up: 1,706 listings
• $150K to $200K: 2,727 listings
• $100K to $150K: 1,744 listings
• Under $100K: 802 listings

A posted range is a compliance artifact first and a negotiating signal second. A few things to keep in mind:

• The range is usually the whole band for the level, and the bottom is where most offers land for someone new to the level. The top is reserved for candidates already doing the job elsewhere.
• A very wide range, say $120K to $250K, often means the role is open at more than one level. Ask which level you are being considered for.
• Base salary is what the range covers. Bonus, equity and signing bonus sit on top, and at larger companies they can be a large share of total compensation.
• If the range is in a different currency from where you live, convert it and then check local norms; a number that looks high in one market can be ordinary in another.

Equity is where offers differ most and where listings say least. At a public company it is usually restricted stock units with a known value and a four year vesting schedule. At a private company it is options or RSUs with a value that depends on the last funding round and on whether the company ever has a liquidity event.

When you get an equity number, ask for the count of shares, the total shares outstanding, the strike price if they are options, the latest preferred price and the vesting schedule including any cliff. A grant described only as a dollar value is not enough to evaluate.

Many companies pay by location tier, and remote roles inherit the tier of where you live rather than where the company is. A listing that shows a range for a headquarters city may adjust down for a cheaper city or a different country. Ask whether the range you see applies to your location, and if not, what the adjusted range is, before you spend a week on interviews.

Since most listings say nothing, you will be asking. The moment to do it is the first recruiter call, after they have described the role and before you have given a number of your own.

• Ask directly: "What is the budgeted range for this role at the level you have in mind for me?" Recruiters expect the question and most will answer.
• If they ask your expectation first, give a range anchored to the market for the level, and say you want to understand the full package before settling on a figure.
• Ask about the mix: base, bonus target, equity and any signing bonus. A role with lower base and meaningful equity can be the better offer, or a much worse one.
• Write it down. Verbal ranges drift between the first call and the offer, and a note with a date is useful.

The ML engineer jobs hub and the senior AI jobs hub on TixelJobs are where most of the listings with a stated range sit, and the AI jobs in the USA page is where transparency laws make ranges most common. The remote AI jobs page and the full search let you narrow further by level and country. Browsing is free. Membership is $9 a year or $4.90 every three months and unlocks the apply link and the full description on every job. Cancel any time from your billing page.