AI engineers command 50-60% salary premium, report finds

The premium is a talent-allocation signal more than a pay story: cities scoring highest on the index are also where AI capability concentrates, which risks widening the gap between top-tier hubs and the excellence-tier cities trailing them. It matters most for employers outside Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, who face a structural cost disadvantage in competing for the same scarce skill set. Whether the excellence-tier cities can close the distance, or whether the premium hardens into a permanent geographic hierarchy, is the open question worth tracking in next year's index.