Roles › Machine Learning Engineer
Staff Machine Learning Engineer salary (October 2026)
The median published US pay for Staff Machine Learning Engineer postings is $264K, from 195 postings with a pay range, as of October 24, 2026. That is +18% against the $222K median for Machine Learning Engineer postings at all levels (n=768); 25% of Machine Learning Engineer postings with pay are at this level. Among the 5 roles with enough staff / lead pay data, it ranks 1st, and sits +12% against the $235K median for every data & AI posting at this level. The step up from senior ($208K) is +27%. The next level up, principal, has a median of $259K (-2%).
Machine Learning Engineer pay by level
| Level (from title) | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid (II) | — | 15 | — |
| Senior | $208K | 218 | -21% |
| Staff / lead | $264K | 195 | — |
| Principal | $259K | 39 | -2% |
| Level not stated | $200K | 291 | -24% |
Based on 758 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
Staff / lead pay across data & AI roles
| # | Role | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machine Learning Engineer | $264K | 195 | — |
| 2 | AI Research Scientist | $246K | 40 | -6% |
| 3 | AI Engineer | $237K | 238 | -10% |
| 4 | Data Scientist | $220K | 108 | -17% |
| 5 | Data Engineer | $190K | 75 | -28% |
| — | Data Analyst | — | 26 | — |
| — | Analytics Engineer | — | 16 | — |
| — | Data Governance & Quality | — | 14 | — |
Based on 712 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
How it is measured: median of the published pay range midpoint, US postings in USD, annualized (hourly × 2,080). Level comes from title words only. Medians are shown when n ≥ 30; “—” means fewer than 30 postings with pay. Data: CSV · JSON. See the methodology. Back to Machine Learning Engineer or all roles.