Resources/Salaries

Recruiter, HR, Sales and Engineering Salaries: 2027 Pay Data by Role

What recruiting, HR, sales and engineering hiring roles get paid in the US, from the latest government wage survey and, for new titles like forward deployed engineer, real job postings.

  • 8roles
  • Sourcedevery figure
  • Freeto use

Jump to

Pay data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, or from real job postings where the government has none, with the source on every page.

Pay data for recruiting, HR, sales and the engineering and AI roles recruiters fill most, in the US. Where the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes figures, each page shows the median and the lowest and highest 10 percent with the source and reference date, plus pay by industry and the job outlook where BLS reports them. Where the government groups roles together, as it does with recruiters and HR generalists, we say so plainly rather than inventing a split. For new titles the government does not track, such as forward deployed engineer, we use posted pay ranges from real job postings and link every one.

Recruiting roles

RecruiterWhat recruiters earn: BLS median pay, agency commission versus in house salary, and which industries pay most.Median $75,940

HR roles

HR generalistWhat HR generalists earn: median pay, the low and high end, top paying industries and job outlook.Median $75,940HR managerMedian pay, the low and high end, top paying industries and the job outlook for HR managers.Median $149,280

Sales roles

Sales managerMedian pay including commission, the low and high end, top paying industries and job outlook for sales managers.Median $148,270

Engineering and AI roles

AI engineerAI engineer and ML engineer pay by specialty, level and city, from Levels.fyi and BLS data.Median $160,000 (AI engineer title)Forward deployed engineerPosted base pay for forward deployed engineers at 8 AI and software companies, from the job postings themselves.Median posted midpoint $214,452Robotics engineerWhat robotics engineers earn, using the government group they are counted in, plus how electrical and electronics engineers compare.Median $104,110Robotics technicianWhat robotics technicians earn: government median pay and the low and high end, plus how it compares with robotics engineers.Median $73,900

Where does this salary data come from?

Government figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, published through the Occupational Outlook Handbook, for May 2025, the latest release. It surveys employers, not individuals, so it is not affected by people over or under reporting their own pay. It excludes the self employed and counts commissions and production bonuses as wages.

Why do recruiters and HR generalists show the same numbers?

BLS counts both in one occupation, human resources specialists (SOC 13-1071), and does not publish a figure for each title. We show the official number on both pages and explain where each role tends to fall within the range.

Why do some pages use job postings instead of government data?

BLS classifies jobs by occupation, not by job title, so new titles like forward deployed engineer have no government figure. For those pages we collect base pay ranges that employers publish in their own job postings, link each posting and give the date we checked it. Posted ranges show what employers plan to pay, not what people actually earn, and they leave out equity.

Frequently asked questions

How often is this salary data updated?

BLS publishes new occupational wage data once a year, usually in the spring, and we update the government based pages when each release comes out. Pages built from job postings are rechecked more often, because postings close and ranges change.

Is this base salary or total pay?

BLS wages include commissions and production bonuses but not overtime premiums or equity, so for sales and agency recruiting roles they reflect total cash pay rather than base alone. Pages built from job postings show base pay only.

Does this cover pay outside the US?

No. These pages use US data only.

Sources

Written by recruiters at Work Insiders. Updated November 4, 2026. How we make money.