Mistral AI's median filed base salary is $280,000, the highest in this database. That is the midpoint of 62 certified labor condition applications filed by Mistral AI, Inc. and decided between January 23, 2025 and June 24, 2026, as of the FY2026 Q3 disclosure file. It beats OpenAI by $10,000 and Meta AI by $75,402.
Key takeaways
- 62 certified H-1B filings, median filed base $280,000, p25 to p75 of $205,000 to $314,250 (Visionary Talks analysis of DOL LCA disclosure data, FY2026 Q3).
- It is the highest median filed base of the 11 companies tracked, above xAI at $275,000 and OpenAI at $270,000.
- The number is real. Mistral anchors at the legal prevailing wage on 1.6% of filings, one of the lowest rates here, so the filed base is a chosen figure rather than a floor.
- AI Scientist is the dominant title: 38 of 62 filings at a $285,000 median, running from $128,000 to $386,000.
- 87.1% of filings are California worksites. The US arm of a French company hires almost entirely in the Bay Area.
This article is based on primary sources: the US Department of Labor Office of Foreign Labor Certification LCA disclosure files for FY2025 Q1 through Q4 and FY2026 Q3, which we processed in full. Every salary figure below is computed from those workbooks. Full source list at the bottom.
The Highest Median Here, And It Holds Up
Most of the top of this league table needs an asterisk. Anthropic looks mid-table because half its filings report a legal floor. Anysphere looks cheap for the same reason.
Mistral needs no asterisk. It files a salary band on 98.4% of applications, but it sets the bottom at the prevailing wage on only 1.6% of them, a single filing. Both ends of a Mistral band are numbers Mistral picked.
That makes $280,000 the highest genuinely chosen median filed base in the AI Salary Database, $80,000 above the pooled median of $200,000 across all 11 companies.
It is worth being clear about what this does and does not mean. Sixty-two filings is a small programme, and a company that sponsors only senior researchers will post a higher median than one sponsoring a full workforce. Mistral is not paying more than Meta for the same job. It is sponsoring a different, narrower set of jobs.
Roles And What Each One Filed
| Job title | Filings | Median base | Range within title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Scientist | 38 | $285,000 | $128,000 to $386,000 |
| Applied AI Engineer | 6 | $180,000 | $150,000 to $322,000 |
| Research Engineer | 5 | $310,000 | $185,000 to $330,000 |
| Applied AI Scientist | 2 | $247,500 | $225,000 to $270,000 |
| Applied Scientist | 2 | $205,000 | $205,000 to $205,000 |
| Solution Architect (AI Deployment Strategist) | 2 | $150,000 | $150,000 to $150,000 |
| AI Researcher | 1 | $348,000 | $348,000 to $348,000 |
| Software Engineer | 1 | $235,000 | $235,000 to $235,000 |
| Solutions Architect | 1 | $230,000 | $230,000 to $230,000 |
| Human Resource Generalist | 1 | $165,000 | $165,000 to $165,000 |
Sixty-one percent of Mistral's US sponsorship is a single title, AI Scientist, at a $285,000 median. Research Engineer, on five filings, is the highest-paid repeated title at $310,000.
Unlike OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Perplexity, Mistral does not hide behind Member of Technical Staff. Its titles say what the jobs are, which makes this one of the few companies here where the role table is directly readable.
The bottom of the table is the giveaway about strategy. Solution Architect at $150,000 and Human Resource Generalist at $165,000 are the only non-research roles in 62 filings. Mistral's US operation, as far as the visa record shows, is a research hiring vehicle with a thin commercial layer attached.
A Steady 3.7%
Mistral's median filed base went from $270,000 in FY2025 across 14 filings to $280,000 in FY2026 across 48, a rise of 3.7%. Its band share moved 2.1 points between the two years, so the comparison is sound.
More striking than the pay movement is the volume. Filings more than tripled, from 14 to 48, while the median rose slightly. A company scaling headcount without cutting its median is a company that found more people at its price, which in the 2025 to 2026 AI labour market is not the common pattern. xAI's median fell 20.0% over the same period while its volume rose.
What The Filings Say About Strategy
Mistral AI is a French company. The entity filing these applications is Mistral AI, Inc., its US arm, and every one of the 62 filings names it.
The geography is the interesting part. 87.1% of filings are California worksites, with 8.1% in New York, 3.2% in Washington and a single filing in Texas. A European lab frequently framed as the sovereign alternative to American AI is, on this evidence, competing for staff in San Francisco at San Francisco prices, and paying more per filing than any American lab in this set.
That is a costly way to hire, and 62 filings over 21 months suggests it is deliberately small. Compare OpenAI, which filed 311 in the same window, or Meta AI at 1,411.
FAQ
What is the average salary at Mistral AI?
The median filed base is $280,000 across 62 certified US filings decided between January 2025 and June 2026, with the middle half between $205,000 and $314,250. Individual filings run from $128,000 to $386,000. Base only, no equity. These are US filings and say nothing about pay in France.
Does Mistral pay more than OpenAI?
On median filed base, yes, by $10,000: $280,000 against $270,000. Both companies file mostly chosen figures rather than legal floors, so the comparison is fair. It covers 62 Mistral filings against 311 at OpenAI, and excludes equity entirely.
What does an AI Scientist earn at Mistral?
The 38 filings with that title have a median filed base of $285,000, ranging from $128,000 to $386,000, as of the FY2026 Q3 file.
Is this total compensation?
No. Labor condition applications disclose base wage only. Equity in a private company is not in this data.
Sources
1. LCA Disclosure Data, FY2026 Q3, US Department of Labor OFLC: dol.gov performance data. Decisions from October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.
2. LCA Disclosure Data, FY2025 Q1 to Q4, US Department of Labor OFLC: dol.gov performance data. Decisions from October 1, 2024 to September 30, 2025.
3. LCA Record Layout, FY2026 Q3, US Department of Labor OFLC: dol.gov performance data. Defines EMPLOYER_NAME, WAGE_RATE_OF_PAY_FROM and PREVAILING_WAGE, the fields used above.