Scale AI's median filed base salary is $210,000. That is the midpoint of 135 certified labor condition applications filed by Scale AI, Inc. and decided between October 3, 2024 and June 29, 2026, as of the FY2026 Q3 disclosure file. The middle half runs $175,000 to $245,000, and the median top of its filed ranges is $250,000.
Key takeaways
- 135 certified H-1B filings, median filed base $210,000, p25 to p75 of $175,000 to $245,000 (Visionary Talks analysis of DOL LCA disclosure data, FY2026 Q3).
- Scale AI files a salary range on 100% of filings but anchors the bottom at the legal prevailing wage on only 3.7% of them. Almost alone in this database, its filed range is genuinely its own.
- Median filed base rose 17.0% year over year, from $188,000 in FY2025 to $220,000 in FY2026, with filing behaviour unchanged across both years.
- Software Engineering Manager is the top-paying title at a $270,000 median across 3 filings. Machine Learning Research Scientist follows at $250,000.
- 38 filings were withdrawn after the Department of Labor had already certified them, against 135 that stood. No other company here comes close to that ratio.
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.
A Range That Actually Means Something
Every company in the AI Salary Database that files salary ranges does one of two things with the bottom number. Most set it at the prevailing wage, the federal minimum for that job in that county, which makes their filed base a legal artefact. Databricks does this on 54.5% of filings, Anysphere on 82.1%, Perplexity on 88.5%.
Scale AI files a range on all 135 of its filings and sets the bottom at the prevailing wage on 5 of them, 3.7%. The other 130 ranges are numbers Scale AI chose at both ends.
That makes this one of the few pages here where the p25 to p75 spread of $175,000 to $245,000 describes actual offer bands rather than the distance between a government floor and a company ceiling. Scale AI's median filed base of $210,000 sits $10,000 above the pooled median of $200,000 across all 11 tracked companies, and that comparison is cleaner than most in this dataset.
Roles And What Each One Filed
| Job title | Filings | Median base | Range within title |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software Engineer | 22 | $215,000 | $162,000 to $250,000 |
| Strategic Projects Lead | 11 | $175,000 | $130,000 to $210,000 |
| Machine Learning Research Engineer | 10 | $225,000 | $156,000 to $290,000 |
| Machine Learning Research Scientist | 5 | $250,000 | $220,000 to $270,000 |
| Strategic Projects Associate | 5 | $120,000 | $115,000 to $120,000 |
| Machine Learning Research Engineer, MLDG | 3 | $215,000 | $215,000 to $265,000 |
| Product Manager, Enterprise | 3 | $200,500 | $164,800 to $200,800 |
| Software Engineering Manager | 3 | $270,000 | $227,000 to $300,000 |
| Applied AI Engineer | 2 | $199,500 | $185,000 to $214,000 |
| Engagement Manager, Gen AI | 2 | $175,000 | $175,000 to $190,000 |
Two things stand out. The first is that Scale AI uses real job titles with real seniority markers, unlike OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI and Thinking Machines, all of which hide levels behind Member of Technical Staff. Strategic Projects Associate at $120,000 and Strategic Projects Lead at $175,000 is a visible $55,000 rung on a visible ladder.
The second is the floor. Strategic Projects Associate filings run $115,000 to $120,000, which is the lowest consistent band of any role at any frontier-adjacent AI company in this database. Scale AI's business has always involved managing large volumes of human data work, and the payroll shows a tier of staff that the model labs simply do not employ.
The 17% Rise, And Why You Can Believe It
Scale AI's median filed base went from $188,000 in FY2025 across 63 filings to $220,000 in FY2026 across 72, a rise of 17.0%.
Most year-over-year moves in this data are worthless because companies change how they fill in the form and the reported median lurches without any pay changing. Scale AI's band share moved 0.0 points between the two years. The measurement was identical and the number still moved 17.0%.
That is the largest genuine increase of any company in the database with more than 50 filings, ahead of Meta AI at 10.8% and against declines at OpenAI, xAI and Databricks over the same period.
The Withdrawals
There is one more number worth putting on the record. Across the period, 38 Scale AI filings were certified by the Department of Labor and then withdrawn by the company, against 135 that were certified and stood.
Withdrawals happen for ordinary reasons: a candidate declines, a role is cancelled, a location changes. What is unusual is the rate. Databricks withdrew 21 certified filings against 809 that stood. OpenAI withdrew 2 against 311. Meta AI withdrew 1 against 1,411.
We are reporting the count, not a cause. The filings record that a certified application was pulled; they do not record why. But a company withdrawing more than one certified filing for every four that stand is a company whose hiring plans changed materially during the period, and that is a fact about Scale AI in 2025 and 2026 that its salary median alone does not tell you.
Where It Sits
Scale AI's median filed base of $210,000 puts it fourth in the database, below OpenAI at $270,000 and above Waymo at $205,000 and Meta AI at $204,598.
The comparison with Meta AI is the interesting one, because the two figures are almost identical and are produced in opposite ways. Meta files one exact salary on every filing and never uses a band. Scale AI uses a band on every single filing. Two companies, two filing philosophies, a $5,402 gap in median filed base, and 1,411 filings against 135.
FAQ
What is the average salary at Scale AI?
The median filed base is $210,000 across 135 certified filings decided between October 2024 and June 2026, with the middle half between $175,000 and $245,000. Individual filings run from $115,000 to $400,000. Base only, no equity.
What does a machine learning engineer earn at Scale AI?
Machine Learning Research Engineer filings have a $225,000 median across 10 filings, and Machine Learning Research Scientist $250,000 across 5, as of the FY2026 Q3 file. Plain Software Engineer sits at $215,000 across 22 filings.
Is Scale AI's pay rising?
Its median filed base rose 17.0% between FY2025 and FY2026, from $188,000 to $220,000, and the company's filing style did not change between the two years, so the comparison is like for like.
Is this total compensation?
No. Labor condition applications disclose base wage only. Equity and bonus are 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 the CASE_STATUS values, including the distinction between Certified and Certified - Withdrawn used above.