Prompt Engineering Salary: A 2024 Guide

Prompt engineering is the development of prompts to use with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools and chatbots. These tools are designed to work like the human brain and need carefully crafted instructions to produce the best results. As a prompt engineer, you can earn a salary as high as six figures.

Although prompt engineering is a relatively new role, it's part of the growing field of generative AI and chatbots, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini. Currently, demand for people who can write effective prompts for these models is high, and if you're a creative person with solid communication skills—and some knowledge of how large language models work, you may enjoy a career as a prompt engineer.

What is a prompt engineer?

A prompt engineer creates instructions and questions to guide generative AI tools and technology to give optimal outputs to the user. These prompts are more than simple questions or a set of instructions. They include additional information and specific language that helps the non-human model understand the human's search intent and respond accurately.

As a prompt engineer, you guide the AI to deliver the best results possible. For example, as a user, you may ask the AI model to write an email. Without context, the model will likely produce an email about a random topic. Adding additional details like the topic, intended audience, and tone gives the model the information it needs to create a more precise response. 

"This is going to be the interface to computing of the future," said Dr. Jules White on the Coursera Podcast. White teaches Vanderbilt's Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT course on Coursera. "You're going to use generative AI to control computing and solve problems with computing."

Here's a closer look at the typical elements within the prompts you write:

• Instructions: You may ask questions or give instructions, such as "summarize this email" or "write a conclusion for this blog post."

• Context: You can provide context like the background, intended audience, or setting. For example, "write a conclusion for this blog post that directs the reader to purchase a product."

• Data: Adding relevant data to your instructions can help ensure the model uses appropriate information. For example, you could give the model information about the product you want the reader to purchase after reading the blog post.

• Examples: You may find it helpful to give the model an example of the tone or writing style you want it to use. For example, you can share a previous blog post and tell the model to mimic its style and structure. 

Prompt engineer vs. AI engineer

Although prompt engineers and AI engineers work with artificial intelligence models, they have different but connected roles. AI engineers use machine learning and deep neural networks to construct AI models in programs, applications, and tools. In contrast, a prompt engineer creates and optimizes prompts to use with those applications and tools.

AI engineers typically have extensive technical knowledge in programming, machine learning, and data science. To succeed in this role, you will likely need programming skills, experience with neural networks and a background in statistics. Prompt engineers tend to rely more on communication and critical thinking skills. Understanding how artificial intelligence and machine learning work is also helpful, but your work requires determining what the end user wants to do and how to translate that into language the model can process.

How much does a prompt engineer make?

According to Glassdoor, a prompt engineer's average annual base salary is $178,114 as of October 2024 [1]. Users on the site report additional pay between $71,000 and $132,000 per year, making this a lucrative career. Highly skilled experts can earn even more money.

Prompt engineers are also in high demand. The need for prompt engineers and other AI professionals should continue to grow, as the global artificial intelligence market will surpass $1.3 billion by 2030 [2]. Specifically, the global chatbot market's value was more than $5.1 million in 2022 and is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.3 percent through 2030 [3].

What is the average prompt engineering salary?

According to job sites ZipRecruiter and Glassdoor, prompt engineers earn between $62,977 and $176,778 per year [1,2]. Prompt engineering is a relatively new job, so salary information is limited. However, reports on Glassdoor indicate you can likely expect to earn more than the national median wage of $65,470 [4]. 

Factors that affect salary

Your salary will vary depending on several factors, such as location, employer, experience level, and qualifications. When deciding where to work as a prompt engineer, consider these factors and how they influence your expected salary.

Experience

As you gain experience as a prompt engineer, you may qualify for more advanced positions and a larger salary. For example, the average base salary for a beginning prompt engineer with zero to one year of experience is $96,366 annually [1]. This increases to $109,257 for prompt engineers with up to three years of experience [1]. With between four and six years of experience, you may earn around $120,177 per year. In a senior-level position, your median salary could reach $125,932 [1].

Education

According to Zippia, 63 percent of AI specialists hold a bachelor’s degree, while 17 percent earn a master’s [5]. However, working as a prompt engineer without a degree is possible. Knowledge of natural language processing, machine learning, data analysis, and programming skills may give you an advantage over other candidates.

Industry

AI prompt engineers work in various industries, including health care, government organizations, finance and banking, marketing, pharmacies, media, and automakers. The industry you choose to work in may affect your base salary, as you can see in the following list.

• Agriculture: $163,815 [1]

• Financial services: $192,852 [1]

• Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology: $175,858 [1]

• Arts, entertainment, and recreation: $161,855 [1]

• Legal: $147,424 [1]

Location

Where you decide to live and work can impact your earnings, as the cost of living and demographics influence salaries. In the following cities, annual salaries for a prompt engineer tend to be much higher than the national average. 

• San Jose, California: $148,628 [6]

• San Francisco, California: $141,672 [7]

• Seattle, Washington: $129,863 [8]

• New York, New York: $134,101 [9]

• Chicago, Illinois: $118,458 [10]

• Charlotte, North Carolina: $112,811 [11]

Company

The company you work for is a significant factor in the salary you earn as a prompt engineer, as some have larger budgets than others. According to Glassdoor, Google pays prompt engineers an estimated median salary of $249,000. See how this median salary compares to what other companies pay:

• Meta: $265,000

• Equinor: $134,000

• DataAnnotation: $67,000

• Anthropic: $114,000

Job outlook

Specific information about the job outlook for prompt engineers is unavailable, but the US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects an increase in computer and information research scientists—as many as 44,800 jobs by 2032 [12]. Gartner expects the majority of organizations will have at least tried implementing generative AI by 2026, which potentially can create more job opportunities for prompt engineers [13]. 

Getting started in prompt engineering with Coursera

Prompt engineers write instructions to guide generative AI models. It's an exciting, potentially lucrative career for creative individuals with strong communication skills and artificial intelligence knowledge. You can explore what prompt engineers do through courses like Vanderbilt University's Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT on Coursera. It's part of the Prompt Engineering Specialization, designed to help you learn how to use generative AI to automate tasks and improve productivity.