Data science and AI salaries by city in India, 2026: six cities compared.

The short answer

Which Indian city pays the most for data science and AI work depends on the role. Here is the highest-paying city for each of seven roles, on AmbitionBox’s figures read on 22 October 2026.12

Source: AmbitionBox, all experience levels in each city, as of 22 Oct 2026.12 Cities compared: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Gurugram, Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi and Noida.

The gap between the top city and the next is often a lakh or less, and a top spot can rest on a few hundred salaries. Bengaluru has the most salaries reported for every one of the seven roles, so its figures are the steadiest.

Pay by role and city

Here are seven roles across eight cities, all from one source, so the cities compare like with like. The analyst roles first.1

Source: AmbitionBox, typical yearly pay across all experience levels in each city (Data Analyst about 0–6 years, Business Analyst 1–9, Power BI Developer 2–5), as of 22 Oct 2026.1

Then the scientist and engineer roles.2

Source: AmbitionBox, typical yearly pay across all experience levels in each city (about 1–8 years), as of 22 Oct 2026.2 AI Engineer figures rest on about 1,500 salaries in Bengaluru and a few hundred or fewer elsewhere: read them as rough.

Read across a row and the role moves pay far more than the city: in every one of these cities, Data Scientists earn more than twice what Data Analysts do. For each role’s pay by experience, see our Data Scientist and AI/ML Engineer salary guides.

City by city

Bengaluru (Bangalore)

Data Scientists in Bengaluru earn ₹15.9–17.6 lakh a year and Data Analysts ₹6.9–7.6 lakh, on more salaries than any other city (18,700 and 35,000).12 It pays ML Engineers the most of any city, at ₹13.5–14.9 lakh.2 foundit calls Bengaluru India’s highest-paying market for AI roles: senior AI professionals there earn ₹61.70–91.25 LPA, roughly 10–15% more than in NCR or Mumbai.6 In September 2026, hiring in Bengaluru rose 4% on the year, and its GCC hiring 3%.4

Hyderabad

Hyderabad pays Business Analysts the most of any city, at ₹10.2–11.3 lakh, and Data Scientists ₹15.4–17 lakh.12 It led the metros on hiring in September 2026, up 9% on the year, with GCC hiring up 23% and IT hiring up 3% while it was flat in Bengaluru and fell in the other metros.4 foundit names it the closest challenger to Bengaluru for AI pay, backed by growing GCC and product engineering investment.6

Pune

Pune pays Data Scientists ₹14.8–16.4 lakh and Data Engineers ₹10.6–11.8 lakh, below Bengaluru on both.2 It’s the lowest of these eight cities for ML Engineers, at ₹10.2–11.3 lakh, while AI Engineers there show ₹13.5–14.9 lakh (574 salaries).2 Hiring in Pune was flat on the year in September 2026, while its GCC hiring rose 11%.4

Gurugram and Delhi NCR

Gurugram tops four of the seven roles: Data Scientists earn ₹16.9–18.6 lakh, Data Engineers ₹13–14.4 lakh and Data Analysts ₹7.1–7.9 lakh.12 New Delhi and Noida pay less than Gurugram for every role, and AI Engineers show ₹10.7–12.8 lakh in New Delhi and ₹10–12.6 lakh in Noida, on fewer than 200 salaries each.12 Delhi NCR’s hiring fell 6% on the year in September 2026, and its GCC hiring was flat.4

Mumbai

Mumbai pays AI Engineers the most of any city, at ₹16.2–18.7 lakh, though on just 229 salaries; Data Scientists there earn ₹15.3–16.9 lakh.2 Its analyst pay is on the low side: Power BI Developers show ₹6.2–6.9 lakh, the lowest of the six big cities, and Data Analysts ₹6.4–7.1 lakh.1 Hiring in Mumbai fell 6% on the year in September 2026, and GCC hiring declined.4

Chennai

Chennai pays Data Scientists ₹15.3–16.9 lakh and Data Engineers ₹10.8–12 lakh, a little below Bengaluru, but its AI Engineer figure is the lowest of the six big cities, at ₹11.2–12.4 lakh.2 foundit found senior AI pay in Bengaluru up to 40% higher than in Chennai.6 Hiring is rising: up 6% on the year in September 2026, with GCC hiring up 13%.4

Why the sources disagree

Indeed puts a different city first for every one of the six roles it covers, because it counts something else: the pay stated in job postings, not salaries people report.3

Sources: AmbitionBox, typical yearly pay, as of 22 Oct 2026,12 and Indeed, average base salary in job postings from the past 36 months, pages updated 28 Sep–11 Oct 2026 and read 22 Oct 2026.3 Indeed’s national figures rest on 51 (ML Engineer) to 997 (Data Engineer) salaries.

• Different people. AmbitionBox counts salaries employees report, by the thousand in the big cities; Indeed counts pay stated in job ads.
• Small samples. Indeed’s whole ML Engineer page rests on 51 salaries, so a few well-paid postings in Noida can put it first.3
• Employer mix. A city with a few large, well-paying employers can top a list on their own.
• What’s counted. Reported CTC, or the base pay a job ad states.

So compare cities within one source, as the tables above do, and treat a city at the top of a small sample as a lead to check, not a fact.

Beyond the big six, and remote work

Outside the big six, pay varies more from city to city. On AmbitionBox, Data Scientists earn ₹14.8–16.4 lakh in Kolkata but ₹9.6–10.6 lakh in Ahmedabad, and Data Engineers ₹9.6–10.6 lakh in Jaipur and ₹8.8–9.7 lakh in Kolkata.2

Hiring outside the metros moves in bursts. In June 2026, Naukri recorded hiring up 21% in Bhubaneswar, 15% in Indore and 10% in Coimbatore;5 by September, growth in emerging cities was largely flat.4 AI work is spreading too: Indore, Coimbatore, Kochi and Ahmedabad together contributed over 1,500 AI jobs on Naukri between April and June 2025.7 If you’re in a tier-2 or tier-3 city, our off-campus guide has a plan for landing the first job.

None of the salary pages we read publishes a separate figure for remote work. Judge a remote offer like any other: by the role, the employer and the fixed pay, not a city’s average.

What matters more than the city

The role and the employer move pay far more than the city. For Data Scientists on AmbitionBox:2

Source: AmbitionBox, Data Scientist salaries, all experience levels, as of 22 Oct 2026.2

Moving city changes a Data Scientist’s typical pay by about two lakh at most; moving from IT services to fintech, by nine to ten lakh. Global capability centres (GCCs), the in-house technology centres of global companies, are a big part of the higher end. NASSCOM counts 2,117 GCCs in India, employing 2.36 million people,8 and in September 2026 GCC hiring grew fastest in Hyderabad (23%), Chennai (13%) and Pune (11%).4

When you compare offers in two cities, compare the fixed pay left after rent and travel, not the headline CTC.

Your minimum salary assured, in any city

On our Data Science & AI Job Guarantee Program, no fee after placement is due until a job pays at least your plan’s minimum salary assured, and the bar is the same wherever the job is. In the words of our FAQ:

Enter your fixed annual pay to see your minimum on each plan. Our placement report shows where our learners were placed in 2025, city by city.

Questions

Sources

1. AmbitionBox, salaries by city for Data Analyst (page updated 19 Oct 2026), Business Analyst (20 Oct 2026) and Power BI Developer (21 Oct 2026), read 22 Oct 2026.
2. AmbitionBox, salaries by city for Data Scientist (page updated 19 Oct 2026), Data Engineer (20 Oct 2026), Machine Learning Engineer (19 Oct 2026) and AI Engineer (19 Oct 2026), read 22 Oct 2026.
3. Indeed, salaries in India for Data Analyst (9 Oct 2026), Business Analyst (11 Oct 2026), Data Scientist (8 Oct 2026), Data Engineer (11 Oct 2026), Machine Learning Engineer (28 Sep 2026) and AI Developer (10 Oct 2026), read 22 Oct 2026.
4. Naukri, JobSpeak, September 2026, 6 Oct 2026.
5. Naukri, JobSpeak, June 2026, 3 Jul 2026.
6. foundit salary report, reported by IANS in Telangana Today, 2 Sep 2026.
7. Naukri, AI Jobs Report, 16 Jul 2025.
8. NASSCOM, GCC Runway Monitor, 9 Oct 2026.