Machine learning engineer salary in the US
What machine learning engineers are paid in the US, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.
Median annual pay
$120,230
Middle half earn
$85,660 to $158,880
People in this job, US
262,440
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Data Scientists, national, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $67,240
- 25th percentile
- $85,660
- Median
- $120,230
- 75th percentile
- $158,880
- 90th percentile
- $199,130
Counted under Data Scientists, the closest published occupation.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-2051. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
What machine learning engineers earn across the US
- The highest-paying large metros are San Jose, CA ($185,080), San Francisco, CA ($170,110), Seattle, WA ($164,740).
- At the other end are San Juan, PR ($80,280), Oklahoma City, OK ($91,240), Pittsburgh, PA ($96,670): the top metro's median is 131% higher than the lowest.
- 19 of the 50 metros listed below pay a median above the national figure.
- About 262,440 people are employed in this occupation across the US.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 3 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
By metro
Machine learning engineer pay by metro
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
BLS does not count machine learning engineers separately: they are part of Data Scientists, so the metro figures are the same for every title in it. Each metro page covers the whole occupation.
- San Jose, CA$185,080
- San Francisco, CA$170,110
- Seattle, WA$164,740
- New York, NY$135,980
- Baltimore, MD$134,320
- Charlotte, NC$132,460
- Washington, DC$132,200
- Boston, MA$132,040
- San Diego, CA$130,990
- Minneapolis, MN$129,780
- Los Angeles, CA$129,740
- Portland, OR$129,600
- Dallas, TX$127,750
- Miami, FL$127,450
- Austin, TX$127,360
- Hartford, CT$126,340
- Jacksonville, FL$122,680
- Richmond, VA$122,510
- Raleigh, NC$120,710
- Salt Lake City, UT$114,990
- Phoenix, AZ$114,540
- Riverside, CA$112,910
- Denver, CO$112,520
- Tampa, FL$109,990
- Philadelphia, PA$109,910
- Atlanta, GA$108,940
- Columbus, OH$107,950
- Chicago, IL$107,640
- Houston, TX$106,750
- Orlando, FL$106,590
- Milwaukee, WI$104,710
- Sacramento, CA$103,700
- Detroit, MI$103,330
- San Antonio, TX$103,290
- Nashville, TN$103,020
- Cincinnati, OH$102,650
- Providence, RI$102,440
- Buffalo, NY$102,250
- Memphis, TN$102,220
- Cleveland, OH$101,860
- Virginia Beach, VA$100,300
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$99,980
- Kansas City, MO$99,870
- St. Louis, MO$99,600
- Indianapolis, IN$99,110
- Las Vegas, NV$98,930
- Grand Rapids, MI$96,880
- Pittsburgh, PA$96,670
- Oklahoma City, OK$91,240
- San Juan, PR$80,280
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a machine learning engineer
The skills our machine learning engineer resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- Python
- PyTorch
- TensorFlow
- Model serving
- Feature stores
- MLflow
- Kubeflow
- Airflow
- Docker
- Kubernetes
See the full machine learning engineer resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $85,660 puts you in the bottom quarter for machine learning engineers in the US. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $120,230, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.
Asking for $158,880 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.
Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.
About the numbers
What these figures are
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Data Scientists, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.
They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living.
Questions
Questions about machine learning engineer pay in the US
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