Artificial intelligence jobs in Washington pay an average of $161,654, the highest of any US state and more than twice the $76,468 average offered in North Dakota, according to new research.
AI video creation platform Revid AI analysed 11,305 AI-related job listings from Glassdoor across all 50 states to identify where workers can currently find the highest salaries. Of these listings, 10,535 included salary information.
To prevent large employers with numerous vacancies from disproportionately influencing a state’s results, the researchers included a maximum of five listings per employer in the salary calculations. This left 8,019 listings in the final salary analysis.
The 10 highest paying states for AI jobs
| Rank | State | AI listings | Average salary | Median salary | Minimum salary | Maximum salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | 427 | $161,654 | $156,000 | $44,720 | $733,200 |
| 2 | California | 1,400 | $159,001 | $157,500 | $15,000 | $608,000 |
| 3 | West Virginia | 42 | $139,314 | $132,500 | $30,285 | $275,000 |
| 4 | Massachusetts | 554 | $135,382 | $133,037 | $33,800 | $356,500 |
| 5 | New York | 664 | $132,923 | $112,500 | $34,320 | $600,000 |
| 6 | Maryland | 370 | $130,991 | $124,800 | $31,200 | $425,000 |
| 7 | Alabama | 141 | $128,091 | $109,000 | $37,440 | $750,000 |
| 8 | Virginia | 714 | $126,959 | $123,000 | $29,120 | $300,000 |
| 9 | Colorado | 357 | $124,005 | $117,250 | $31,200 | $756,500 |
| 10 | Nebraska | 74 | $123,987 | $101,500 | $41,059 | $300,000 |
The 10 lowest paying states for AI jobs
| Rank | State | AI listings | Average salary | Median salary | Minimum salary | Maximum salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 28 | $76,468 | $69,716 | $42,536 | $180,000 |
| 2 | South Dakota | 34 | $80,527 | $74,880 | $49,005 | $128,635 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 105 | $83,477 | $71,344 | $29,120 | $199,099 |
| 4 | Montana | 30 | $84,537 | $59,196 | $33,280 | $202,000 |
| 5 | Mississippi | 34 | $87,547 | $77,002 | $33,280 | $171,500 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | 50 | $88,319 | $75,000 | $34,938 | $197,000 |
| 7 | Maine | 47 | $92,748 | $75,000 | $34,320 | $167,970 |
| 8 | Wyoming | 12 | $94,957 | $71,989 | $51,501 | $179,500 |
| 9 | Kentucky | 73 | $95,932 | $73,906 | $21,840 | $275,000 |
| 10 | Louisiana | 78 | $96,369 | $86,872 | $40,560 | $185,900 |
The $85,186 gap between Washington and North Dakota is greater than the entire average salary offered for AI jobs in four states. Washington and California form a clear top tier, with both averaging more than $159,000, but there is then a drop of almost $20,000 between California in second place and West Virginia in third.
California remains the largest AI employment market by some distance, with 1,400 listings, nearly twice the 714 recorded in Virginia, which had the second-highest number of opportunities. New York, Illinois, and Texas also recorded more than 650 listings each.
However, a high volume of opportunities does not necessarily translate into higher salaries. Illinois had 666 AI listings but ranked 25th for pay, with an average of $112,029. Pennsylvania recorded 565 listings but ranked 37th, with an average salary of $101,376.
Some of the biggest gaps between average and median pay appeared in smaller markets. Vermont ranked 13th for average salary at $117,797, but its median was just $68,750. The state’s maximum reported salary of $700,000 appears to have pushed the average considerably higher.
Washington also recorded a high individual salary of $733,200, ranking behind only Colorado and Alabama among the three highest individual salaries identified in the study.
Thibault Louis Lucas, Founder and CEO of Revid AI, said: “Washington and California stand out because both their average and median salaries are extremely strong. That suggests these are not simply markets with one or two highly paid executive roles. Competitive pay appears to extend across a much broader share of their AI vacancies.”
The ranking also shows why candidates should look beyond average salaries. Vermont, Alabama, and Nebraska all have sizeable differences between their average and median pay, which can occur when a small number of specialist or senior positions sit well above the rest of the market. Lucas said the median is often a better guide to what a typical applicant is likely to encounter.
“California’s listing volume confirms that the traditional tech hubs still offer the greatest number of opportunities, but the top 10 is no longer limited to the usual coastal markets,” Lucas added. “West Virginia, Alabama, and Nebraska all feature, showing that demand for AI skills is spreading into a much wider range of industries and locations.”
Small samples should still be treated with caution, Lucas noted. West Virginia’s third-place result is encouraging, but it is based on just 25 salaried listings after the employer limit was applied. Lucas said it provides a useful indication of the opportunities available rather than a definitive salary benchmark for every AI worker in the state.