Discover Salaries

Select role
San Diego
Select skill
Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence startup salaries in San Diego in 2026

What is the expected salary for a software engineer in Artificial Intelligence startups in San Diego? The average expected salary for software engineers in Artificial Intelligence startups in San Diego is 117 per year, with a range from 1k to 263k. These amounts were gathered from Wellfound self-reported data and represent the median salary range. The salary range for a software engineer in Artificial Intelligence startup in San Diego varies depending on factors such as experience, skills, and startup stage.

117.5k

Average Salary

3 years

Average years of experience

Hiring data hero image

Salary

By quarter
The average salary in Artificial Intelligence startups in San Diego is$117,479, which is 3.0% higher than the average San Diego startup salary of $114,042. Salaries in Artificial Intelligence in San Diego are based on exclusive Wellfound data. All data is updated on a weekly basis. Factors that may influence salary include: years of experience, title, size of company, and skill-set.

Top of market

$184,771/yr

Range $122k - $263k

Average

$117,479/yr

Range $35k - $193k

Below Average

$69,229/yr

Range $1k - $147k


Industries

Use the filters above to discover compensation across companies similar to yours.

Tech Stack

The highest average salary in Artificial Intelligence in San Diego employees can get with Ruby, that is $197,500. This pay is 73.2% higher than the average salary in San Diego startups, which is $114,042. Salary range for specific skills will vary based on the supply and demand in the current market.
The top-paying developer skills in Artificial Intelligence startups in San Diego of 2026 are:
  • 1. Ruby

    $197.5k

  • 2. Ruby on Rails

    $197.5k

  • 3. Java

    $175k

  • 4. AWS

    $165k

  • 5. Node.js

    $160k

  • 6. Javascript

    $132k

  • 7. GraphQL

    $130k

  • 8. Android

    $125k

  • 9. DynamoDB

    $125k

  • 10. PostgreSQL

    $120k


Years of experience

Below Average

Average

Top of Market

The highest average salary in Artificial Intelligence in San Diego can get an employee with 10+ years of experience, that is $57,000. This pay is 50.0% lower than the average salary in San Diego startups, which is $114,042. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.