Key findings
- 2
Math & STEM roles stated a rate most often (91.5%), AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) roles least often (60.8%).
- 3
20 of the 62 platforms with enough open roles to read on their own stated a rate on every role; Sigma AI stated one on none of its 81 roles.
- 6
The widest advertised ranges were in Multilingual & Localization (top 8.13x the bottom) and the narrowest in Agentic Tasks & RL Environments (1.33x).
Figure 1
How often roles state an hourly rate, by kind of work
Which kinds of AI training work tell you what they pay before you apply?
| Kind of work | Roles stating an hourly rate | Open roles |
|---|---|---|
| Math & STEM | 91.5% | 247 |
| Law, Medicine & Finance | 90.3% | 1,551 |
| Coding & Software Evaluation | 89.0% | 309 |
| Red-Teaming & AI Safety | 87.3% | 55 |
| Agentic Tasks & RL Environments | 83.1% | 124 |
| Writing & Content | 82.4% | 34 |
| Multilingual & Localization | 77.7% | 880 |
| Data Annotation & Labeling | 72.3% | 238 |
| Transcription, Audio & Speech | 69.6% | 638 |
| Research Studies & Surveys | 61.1% | 18 |
| Robotics & Physical-AI Data | 61.0% | 100 |
| AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) | 60.8% | 189 |
Sample. 4,383 roles open on 31 Oct 2026; 3,567 state an hourly rate.
A role states pay when its posting gives an hourly figure or range. Roles paid per task or per project, or that state no figure, do not.
Rows with fewer than 15.5 open roles are marked as a small sample and not ranked: below that the average of the rows weighs more than a row's own open roles (the weight fitted on the rows' own counts).
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition.
Figure 2
How often roles state an hourly rate, by platform
Which platforms publish their rates, and which leave pay until after you qualify?
Sample. 4,383 roles open on 31 Oct 2026.
No row with any open roles is a small sample: the rows differ so much that each reads on its own from its first.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition.
Figure 3
How advertised hourly rates are distributed
What share of AI training roles pay $50 an hour or more?
| Advertised rate | Open roles | Share of priced roles |
|---|---|---|
| Under $15/hr | 247 | 6.9% |
| $15 to $25/hr | 379 | 10.6% |
| $25 to $35/hr | 425 | 11.9% |
| $35 to $50/hr | 927 | 26.0% |
| $50 to $75/hr | 523 | 14.7% |
| $75 to $100/hr | 548 | 15.4% |
| $100 to $150/hr | 335 | 9.4% |
| $150/hr or more | 183 | 5.1% |
Sample. 3,567 roles open on 31 Oct 2026 that state an hourly rate.
Each role counts once, at the middle of its advertised range.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition.
Figure 4
How wide advertised pay ranges are, by kind of work
When a role gives a range, how far apart are the top and the bottom?
| Kind of work | Top of range / bottom | Median width |
|---|---|---|
| Multilingual & Localization | 8.13x | $57 |
| Math & STEM | 8.13x | $57 |
| Transcription, Audio & Speech | 2.50x | $35 |
| Coding & Software Evaluation | 2.00x | $35 |
| Law, Medicine & Finance | 2.00x | $40 |
| Red-Teaming & AI Safety | 2.00x | $60 |
| AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) | 2.00x | $24 |
| Robotics & Physical-AI Data | 2.00x | $15 |
| Writing & Content | 2.00x | $40 |
| Data Annotation & Labeling | 1.76x | $20 |
| Research Studies & Surveys | 1.72x | $50 |
| Agentic Tasks & RL Environments | 1.33x | $15 |
Sample. Roles open on 31 Oct 2026 that state an hourly rate; medians over the roles that give a range (top above bottom).
A ratio of 2.00x means the top of a typical range is twice its bottom: where a worker lands inside it is decided after they qualify.
Medians need at least 3 roles giving a range.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition.
Figure 5
Change in the advertised median over the window
Are advertised rates for AI training work rising or falling?
| Kind of work | Median on 1 Oct 2026 | Median on 31 Oct 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All kinds of work | $35 | $35 | 0.0% |
| Red-Teaming & AI Safety | $40 | $70 | +75.0% |
| Agentic Tasks & RL Environments | $60 | $65 | +8.3% |
| Transcription, Audio & Speech | $30 | $30 | 0.0% |
| Law, Medicine & Finance | $75 | $75 | 0.0% |
| Multilingual & Localization | $35 | $35 | 0.0% |
| Robotics & Physical-AI Data | $20 | $20 | 0.0% |
| Math & STEM | $35 | $35 | 0.0% |
| Research Studies & Surveys | $75 | $70 | -6.7% |
| Coding & Software Evaluation | $60 | $55 | -8.3% |
| Writing & Content | $60 | $55 | -8.3% |
| Data Annotation & Labeling | $30 | $25 | -16.7% |
| AI Evaluation & Rating (RLHF) | $55 | $45 | -18.2% |
Sample. Roles stating an hourly rate that were open at the start of 1 Oct 2026 and at the end of 31 Oct 2026, on the platforms tracked throughout.
The median moves when the mix of open roles changes as much as when rates change: it describes what is advertised, not a raise for any one role.
Medians need at least 3 priced roles at each end.
Source. AITraining.jobs Research, How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition.
For labs, data vendors and researchers
Buy the data behind this report
The figures above are a summary. Behind them are records we collect ourselves, every day:
11,485 roles tracked, each with its history
Every role on 62 job boards, read since 13 Jul 2026 (every hour since 18 Oct 2026): its pay and place, and the first and last day it was open.
61,239 apply clicks in 28 days
Which roles people actually apply to, by field, pay and kind of work. It happens on this site, so nobody else can count it.
39 lab and vendor hiring boards
The job boards of 25 AI labs and 14 human-data vendors, read every day: who is hiring for human data, and who is hiring to buy it.
What you can buy
The records
The rows behind any figure, with their history, not only the totals.
A regular feed
The same figures every week or month, as files.
A custom cut or benchmark
Your countries, languages or fields, or your own platform against the market.
Building AI and need the experts behind this data? (you contract them yourself) or (we deliver the expert work).
Investing in AI-data companies? Hiring radar is these records role by role, every day, as files.
Method and definitions
The public job boards of the AI training platforms this site tracks, read every hour. Every figure is computed by one database query over the window shown, the same query for the live report and for every edition. Each figure states its sample beneath it.
- Stating pay
- A role states pay when its posting gives an hourly figure or range. Per-task or per-project pay, and postings with no figure, do not count.
- Advertised pay
- The hourly figure a posting states (the middle of a stated range), counted once per distinct rate as the job board counts it. The median and typical pay are the board's: typical pay runs from the 25th percentile of what roles pay (the middle of each advertised range) to the 90th-percentile advertised ceiling, stated from 3 distinct rates.
- Range ratio
- The top of an advertised range divided by its bottom, for roles that give a range.
- Open role
- A role listed by a given day and still in its platform's feed that day.
- Kind of work
- Each role is classified from its title and description into one of the twelve kinds of AI training work this site tracks, from AI evaluation and coding to multilingual and audio work. Every kind links to its own page.
- Window
- Live: the last 28 complete days, in UTC. Edition: one calendar month, in UTC.
What this data cannot tell you
- Platforms that recruit without a public job board are not counted. Several large ones invite workers to projects directly.
- A listing is not a hire. Some platforms keep evergreen roles open for months, and some post one listing per language or country.
- Pay is what postings advertise, not what workers are paid after bonuses, tiers or rejected tasks.
How the job feeds are read and roles are classified: site methodology. How fresh, complete and consistent the data is, checked every day: data quality and coverage.
Editions
The live report covers the last 28 complete days and changes every day. Each complete month is also published as an edition, frozen two days after the month ends, so a figure you cite from an edition never moves.
- Live dataLast 28 complete days, recomputed daily
- October 2026 edition (this page)Freezes on first reading
- September 2026 editionFrozen 10 Oct 2026
- August 2026 editionFrozen 10 Oct 2026
Cite and reuse
Free to quote, chart and republish under CC BY 4.0 with a link to this page. This edition is frozen, so its figures will read the same later.
Citation
AITraining.jobs (2026). How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition. https://aitraining.jobs/research/pay-transparency/2026-10
BibTeX
@misc{aitrainingjobs_pay_transparency_2026_10,
author = {{AITraining.jobs}},
title = {How AI Training Roles Advertise Pay, October 2026 edition},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://aitraining.jobs/research/pay-transparency/2026-10}},
}More research
- Where AI Training Work Is OpenWho may apply to AI training roles, country by country?Read the report
- AI Training Pay TrendsIs the advertised rate for each kind of AI training work rising or falling?Read the report
- What Raises AI Training PayWhich traits of an AI training role come with higher advertised pay, compared within the same kind of work?Read the report
- On-Site AI Training WorkHow much AI training work is on-site rather than remote, where is it, and what is it?Read the report
- How AI Training Work Is PaidHow is AI training work paid: by the hour, by the task or by salary, on what contract, and how often?Read the report
- The AI Training Rate CardFor the same kind of work, the same expertise and the same language, what does each platform advertise per hour?Read the report
- AI Training Pay Against the Local Minimum WageFor the roles a resident of each country may apply to, how does advertised AI training pay compare with that country's minimum wage?Read the report
- The State of AI Training PayWhat does AI training work pay, by kind of work and by platform?Read the report