AI engineers now top tech pay at Lemon.io, report finds

By AI, Created 1:21 PM UTC, May 28, 2026, /AGP/ – AI engineers are now earning up to 41% more than traditional software developers, with Lemon.io’s review of more than 2,500 contracts showing average rates of $60 an hour versus $44 for senior developers. The findings point to a widening skills premium in AI hiring and a more selective, staged approach startups can use to control costs.

Why it matters: - AI talent now sits at the top of the tech pay scale, pushing startup hiring costs higher for teams building with machine learning and large language models. - The gap matters for founders because the wrong seniority or role choice can quickly burn budget before a product reaches market fit. - Lemon.io’s report frames AI hiring as a strategic decision, not just a recruiting one.

What happened: - Lemon.io reviewed more than 2,500 contracts from 2024 through 2026 for its Software Developer Rate Benchmark Report. - The average AI engineer rate reached $60 an hour. - The average senior software developer rate came in at $44 an hour. - AI engineers were earning up to 41% more than traditional software developers as of May 2026. - The report was released in New York.

The details: - AI engineers set the market ceiling at $79.20 an hour. - Lemon.io defines that top tier as broad-scope AI generalists who design and deploy machine learning systems, integrate large language models into production, and build the infrastructure needed to keep models reliable at scale. - ML engineers showed a split market, with senior talent at $54 an hour and strong senior talent at $77.20 an hour. - That jump represents a 43% premium for the stronger senior level. - MLOps engineers ranged from $38 an hour to $62 an hour, depending on seniority. - LLM developers earned up to $58.70 an hour. - A standard senior back-end developer averaged $42.80 an hour, below the AI-focused roles in the report. - Lemon.io says a senior web developer using Python costs about $43 an hour to $48.70 an hour and can handle basic data pipelines. - Lemon.io says a senior LLM developer at about $50 an hour is the better first hire for teams plugging existing models such as OpenAI into an app. - Lemon.io says a senior ML engineer at $54 an hour or more makes sense when a business needs to build and train a custom model from scratch.

Between the lines: - The report points to a shortage of workers who can combine software development, statistical modelling and cloud infrastructure. - That mix is not easy to scale quickly, which helps keep prices elevated. - AI-assisted developers are emerging as a lower-cost complement for teams that care more about speed than model depth. - The hiring ladder in the report suggests many startups can delay the most expensive AI roles until product needs justify them.

What’s next: - Lemon.io expects early-stage teams to keep using more targeted hiring plans rather than defaulting to the most expensive AI role. - The company says the market will likely reward teams that match role, seniority and product stage closely. - Startups building first versions of AI products will likely continue weighing whether to buy existing models, build custom systems, or mix both approaches.

The bottom line: - AI engineers are now the highest-paid specialization in the report, but Lemon.io’s core message is simple: most startups do not need the priciest AI hire on day one.