Typical comp shape
Prompt engineers usually earn ppus, rsu, or options. Common employers include Anthropic, OpenAI, Scale AI, Cohere. New role category where equity offers vary wildly between AI labs. Verify the instrument type, public vs pre-IPO, and liquidity mechanics before accepting.
What California changes
In California, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 13.3% state tax on top of federal. For a senior prompt engineer with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
State AMT for ISO holders
If your prompt engineer role grants ISOs (common at pre-IPO startups, uncommon at post-IPO mega-caps), be aware that California runs its own AMT calculation. An ISO exercise-and-hold here generates AMT at two layers, not one.
Planning cadence
For a prompt engineer in California, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at both federal and state), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).