The 10 highest-paying AI jobs, and the massive salaries they command

Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) talent is exploding: Between June 2015 and June 2018, the number of job postings with “AI” or “machine learning” increased by nearly 100%, according to a Thursday report from job search site Indeed. The percent of searches for these terms on Indeed also increased by 182%, the report found.

“There is a growing need by employers for AI talent,” Raj Mukherjee, senior vice president of product at Indeed, told TechRepublic. “As companies continue to adopt solutions or develop their own in-house it is likely that demand by employers for these skills will continue to rise.”

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In terms of specific positions, 94% of job postings that contained AI or machine learning terminology were for machine learning engineers, the report found. And 41% of machine learning engineer positions were still open after 60 days.

SEE: IT leader’s guide to the future of artificial intelligence (Tech Pro Research)

Other in-demand job titles were data scientists (found in 75% of AI job postings), computer vision engineers (65%), and algorithm engineers (37%).

However, some AI jobs will get you a higher salary than others, the report found. Here are the 10 highest-paying AI jobs, and their average salary in the US, according to Indeed.

1. Director of analytics

Average salary: $140,837

2. Principal scientist

Average salary: $138,271

3. Machine learning engineer

Average salary: $134,449

4. Computer vision engineer

Average salary: $134,346

5. Data scientist

Average salary: $130,503

6. Data engineer

Average salary: $125,999

7. Algorithm engineer

Average salary: $104,112

8. Computer scientist

Average salary: $97,850

9. Statistician

Average salary: $83,731

10. Research engineer

Average salary: $71,600

The report also examined the cities with the highest concentration of AI jobs. New York came in at no. 1, with nearly 12% of all AI job postings concentrated there, followed by San Francisco (10%) and San Jose (9%). Washington, DC (8%) and Boston (6%) rounded out the top five, the report found.

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

• Between June 2015 and June 2018, the number of job postings with “AI” or “machine learning” increased by nearly 100%. — Indeed, 2018
• The highest paying jobs in AI are director of analytics, principal scientist, and machine learning engineer. — Indeed, 2018