Machine Learning Engineer jobs: skills and pay (October 2026)
1,977 open Machine Learning Engineer postings (15.0% of data & AI postings) as of October 18, 2026. Median published US pay: $222K (n=795).
Machine Learning Engineer pay by level
| Level (from title) | Median pay | Postings with pay (n) |
|---|---|---|
| Entry / junior | — | 9 |
| Mid (II) | $185K | 15 |
| Senior | $208K | 231 |
| Staff / lead | $261K | 202 |
| Principal | $259K | 39 |
| Manager | — | 2 |
| Director+ | — | 1 |
| Level not stated | $200K | 296 |
Median of the published range midpoint, US postings in USD, annualized. Shown only when n ≥ 10; “—” means fewer.
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Top skills in Machine Learning Engineer postings
Share of Machine Learning Engineer postings that mention each skill.
| # | Skill | Share of Machine Learning Engineer postings | Postings | Companies | Week over week | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Python language | 79.1% | 1,564 | 2,580 | needs more history | |
| 2 | PyTorch ml | 51.4% | 1,016 | 850 | needs more history | |
| 3 | LLMs genai | 41.0% | 810 | 1,791 | needs more history | |
| 4 | MLOps mlops | 33.3% | 659 | 851 | needs more history | |
| 5 | AWS cloud | 32.1% | 634 | 1,452 | needs more history | |
| 6 | Deep learning ml | 29.2% | 577 | 594 | needs more history | |
| 7 | TensorFlow ml | 29.2% | 577 | 555 | needs more history | |
| 8 | A/B testing & experimentation analytics | 28.5% | 563 | 1,076 | needs more history | |
| 9 | Streaming / real-time concept | 28.3% | 560 | 1,077 | needs more history | |
| 10 | Statistics analytics | 27.9% | 552 | 1,449 | needs more history | |
| 11 | Kubernetes infra | 27.5% | 544 | 891 | needs more history | |
| 12 | AI agents genai | 26.1% | 516 | 1,583 | needs more history | |
| 13 | CUDA / GPU ml | 24.7% | 489 | 439 | needs more history | |
| 14 | Fine-tuning genai | 23.0% | 454 | 720 | needs more history | |
| 15 | APIs / REST infra | 22.3% | 441 | 1,554 | needs more history | |
| 16 | Docker / containers infra | 21.5% | 425 | 839 | needs more history | |
| 17 | CI/CD infra | 21.3% | 421 | 1,178 | needs more history | |
| 18 | Google Cloud cloud | 21.2% | 420 | 931 | needs more history | |
| 19 | C++ language | 19.5% | 386 | 355 | needs more history | |
| 20 | Computer vision ml | 17.4% | 344 | 300 | needs more history | |
| 21 | Azure cloud | 16.7% | 330 | 809 | needs more history | |
| 22 | Generative AI genai | 16.2% | 321 | 720 | needs more history | |
| 23 | SQL language | 15.8% | 313 | 1,953 | needs more history | |
| 24 | Recommendation systems ml | 15.7% | 311 | 336 | needs more history | |
| 25 | Apache Spark processing | 15.5% | 306 | 699 | needs more history |