Natural Language Processing Salary: Your 2025 Guide

Natural language processing (NLP) is a field of artificial intelligence where you create and train machine learning models, enabling computers to understand and respond to human language. You can find many types of NLP jobs that pay higher-than-average salaries in the United States. Explore different careers within the field and the NLP salary you can expect in each role. 

What is natural language processing?

Natural language processing is the ability of computers, robots, and AI models to understand spoken or written human language. NLP is the technology that allows you to command an AI assistant with your voice or write a text prompt to get a response from an AI chatbot. 

NLP programming is a set of skills that can command a higher-than-average salary. Payscale reports the average salary for professionals with NLP skills is $119,000 annually [1]. Your job title is one of the biggest factors impacting how much you earn. You can find many different roles that require NLP skills. A common job title in the field is “NLP engineer,” but you can also work with NLP as a:

• Machine learning engineer

• NLP scientist

• Data scientist

• Applied AI scientist

• Product manager for an AI- or NLP-based product

Natural language processing engineer salary and job outlook 

If you want to work on NLP technology to create new applications that can solve problems and make life easier for your customers, you might want to become an NLP engineer. According to several job websites, the average natural language processing engineer base salary ranges from $107,282 to $170,000. Explore how these websites report the data [2, 3, 4]: 

*All salary data as of March 2025

The exact amount you can expect to earn as an NLP engineer will depend on factors like where you live, your experience in the field, and which company you work for. 

Natural language processing jobs

Your exact job title is one of the biggest factors impacting how much you earn in NLP. You may find many roles in machine learning and AI that involve NLP, such as the following:

1. NLP research scientist

Average base salary (US): $135,235 [5]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 26 percent [6]

As a NLP research scientist, you will advance NLP technology. You can work in a variety of settings, such as educational institutions, research firms, and industries like finance and technology. The main distinction between a research scientist and an applied scientist is that research scientists tend to work on new technology and find ways to make technology more powerful. In contrast, an applied scientist focuses on applying technology to existing problems. 

2. Applied AI scientist

Average base salary (US): $139,815 [7]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 26 percent [6]

As mentioned above, an applied scientist is different from a research scientist because an applied scientist works to apply current technology to problems in new ways. As AI is still, in some ways, an emerging field, you may see an overlap between job responsibilities and these titles used interchangeably. In this role, you will use NLP and machine learning to create applications and programs that solve problems in the real world. 

3. Machine learning engineer

Average base salary (US): $122,743 [8]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 26 percent [6] 

As a machine learning engineer, you will use machine learning principles and data science to design, create, and develop machine learning programs and software to solve problems. In this role, you can work in many different industries that require machine learning solutions, like entertainment, transportation, health care, and more. 

4. Data scientist

Average base salary (US): $117,987 [9]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 36 percent [10]

As a data scientist, you will use data to help companies and organizations learn actionable insights from the data they collect. You could work with other professionals like NLP engineers to create, maintain, train, and use NLP applications. 

5. NLP or AI product manager

Average base salary (US): $124,787 [11]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2023 to 2033): 8 percent [12]

As an NLP or AI product manager, you will oversee the design, creation, marketing strategy, implementation, and product launch of a product that uses NLP or AI. You will help guide the strategies and vision for how the product will work, how users will interact with the product, and how you will reach customers with your brand and marketing strategy. 

How to increase natural language processing salary

If you want to increase your salary in the NLP field, consider looking for a career with a job title that earns a higher average salary. You can gain experience in the field, consider working for different industries, and look for companies that pay higher than average. 

Experience

Your years of experience in the field can make a big difference in how much you earn. For example, Glassdoor lists the average NLP engineer base salary as $123,286, but they also offer a breakdown of how this average changes at different levels of experience [2]:

• 0–1 years: $116,728

• 1–3 years: $124,379

• 4–6 years: $132,4908

• 7–9 years: $138,759

• 10–14 years: $144,524

• 15+ years: $150,446

Industry

Another way you can earn a higher salary is by looking for work using NLP in different industries. For example, you can consider how Glassdoor breaks down the average NLP engineer salary working in different industries [2]: 

• Legal: $125,601

• Agriculture: $131,499

• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology: $127,272

• Management and consulting: $130,055

• Personal consumer services: $118,053

• Financial services: $149,339

• Health care: $115,974

• Manufacturing: $126,27541

• Retail: $137,741 

Company

You may also find that working for different companies can greatly impact how much you earn. For example, explore the median salaries of NLP engineers at a top-paying company [2]:

• Google: $261,000

• Apple: $239,000

• Adobe: $188,000

• Stealth Startup: $187,000

• Drift: $176,000

• Applify AI: $175,000

• Amazon: $167,000

• Causeway Capital Management: $167,000

• Yandex: $164,000

Learn natural language processing on Coursera

NLP is a field where you can help create programs that understand human language patterns while earning an above-average salary. If you are considering a career using NLP, you can learn new skills on Coursera to help you qualify for the job you’d like. For example, if you want to become a machine learning engineer, you can enroll in the Machine Learning Specialization offered by Stanford and Deep Learning.AI to develop practical machine learning skills. Depending on your career goals, you may prefer the IBM AI Developer Professional Certificate to build job-ready skills.