Pay index
What AI projects pay, by field
The hourly rates on every open role on Tier1 that publishes one, grouped by field and by language. The figures are recalculated every hour from the roles open at that moment, so they move as projects open and close.
- Open roles
- 934
- With an hourly rate
- 699
- Median hourly rate
- $70
- Middle half of rates
- $50–$98
Hourly rates by field
| Field | Open roles | Median | Middle half | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software | 139 | $80 | $65–$110 | $250 |
| Language & audio | 108 | $48 | $30–$50 | $100 |
| AI & data | 106 | $50 | $20–$85 | $250 |
| Science & research | 86 | $85 | $70–$114 | $250 |
| Engineering | 85 | $80 | $53–$93 | $250 |
| Law | 83 | $116 | $88–$253 | $270 |
| Medicine | 72 | $109 | $61–$174 | $400 |
| Business & operations | 63 | $65 | $58–$75 | $250 |
| Arts & design | 55 | $60 | $35–$78 | $100 |
| Finance | 50 | $100 | $83–$108 | $250 |
| Humanities | 4 | $53 | $51–$58 | $63 |
| Education | 1 | - | - | $28 |
Hourly rates by language
Roles that ask for a language other than English, whatever their field. A role that asks for two languages counts under both.
| Language | Open roles | Median | Middle half | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spanish | 18 | $60 | $44–$80 | $180 |
| German | 13 | $65 | $50–$75 | $120 |
| French | 9 | $49 | $44–$50 | $75 |
| Japanese | 9 | $45 | $36–$48 | $49 |
| Korean | 8 | $43 | $29–$45 | $48 |
| Dutch | 6 | $43 | $20–$48 | $50 |
| Mandarin Chinese | 6 | $63 | $60–$80 | $120 |
| Thai | 6 | $43 | $29–$45 | $48 |
| Chinese | 5 | $45 | $36–$48 | $50 |
| Hindi | 5 | $28 | $20–$43 | $48 |
| Portuguese | 5 | $18 | $15–$43 | $48 |
| Russian | 5 | $45 | $36–$81 | $180 |
| Turkish | 5 | $25 | $20–$36 | $48 |
How these numbers are made
Each role counts once, at the middle of the hourly range it publishes: a role paying $40 to $60 an hour counts as $50. Roles that pay per task, per month or per year, or that publish no rate, are counted as open roles but left out of every rate.
The median is the rate half the roles pay more than. The middle half is the range between the lowest and highest quarter of rates, which is what most roles in a field actually pay. A median is only shown where at least three roles publish a rate.
Rates are in US dollars, as published. They are set by each project and are what the role pays you, before any tax. Last calculated .
A snapshot of every figure is kept each day, starting 25 September 2026. Over those 45 days the overall median has moved from $70 to $70 an hour. The full series, by field and by language, is available as CSV.
You are welcome to quote these figures under CC BY 4.0. Please link to this page so readers see the current numbers.
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