Machine learning engineer salary, in real numbers

Posted ML engineer base bands come in three tiers: big-tech mid-level bands between roughly $140k and $280k — Amazon $143,700–$194,400, Google $147,000–$210,000 plus a 15% bonus, Meta $154,003–$217,000, Waymo $175,000–$215,000, Apple $150,400–$277,600, Pinterest $138,905–$285,982 — then the AI labs at $250,000–$445,000 (OpenAI) and $350,000–$500,000 (Anthropic) with specialist reqs reaching $850,000, and Netflix’s all-cash $466,000–$750,000. Equity does the rest where it exists: levels.fyi puts mid-level total compensation at $255k–$330k at Amazon, $279k–$340k at Google, $288k–$349k at Meta and $300k–$340k at Pinterest. Every band below comes from a live posting, levels.fyi or a dated public source.

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Every posted ML engineer salary band

Ordered by ranking. Click through to any company for the full band, sourcing, and hiring status.

#	Company	Base salary (posted)	Total comp (est.)
1	OpenAI	$250k–$445k	—
2	Anthropic	$350k–$500k	—
3	Google	$147k–$210k	$279k–$340k
4	Apple	$150k–$278k	$251k–$283k
5	Meta	$154k–$217k	$288k–$349k
6	NVIDIA	$124k–$242k	$211k–$305k
7	Amazon	$144k–$194k	$255k–$330k
8	Netflix	$466k–$750k	$540k–$585k
9	Waymo	$175k–$215k	—
10	Pinterest	$139k–$286k	$300k–$340k
11	Microsoft	$102k–$202k	—
12	Reddit	$217k–$303k	—

Posted base bands, compared

Netflix

$466k–$750k

Anthropic

$350k–$500k

OpenAI

$250k–$445k

$217k–$303k

$139k–$286k

Apple

$150k–$278k

NVIDIA

$124k–$242k

Common questions

For a mid-level ML engineer at a large US tech company, posted base bands centre on roughly $145k–$220k: Amazon MLE II $143,700–$194,400, Google SWE III AI/ML $147,000–$210,000, Apple ICT3 within $150,400–$277,600, Meta $154,003–$217,000 and Waymo L4–L5 $175,000–$215,000. levels.fyi medians with equity run from about $211k at NVIDIA IC2 through $285k at Amazon L5 and $312k at Google L4 to $335k at Pinterest IC14.

Netflix on posted base: $466,000–$750,000 for ML Engineer 5, all salary, with a levels.fyi 25th–75th of $540k–$585k. The labs are next — Anthropic $350,000–$500,000 on its core research engineer req and up to $850,000 on RL reqs, OpenAI $250,000–$445,000 and up to $850,000 on Foundations — both plus equity that levels.fyi cannot yet size. Among big tech, Meta E4 ($288k–$349k), Google L4 ($279k–$340k) and Pinterest IC14 ($300k–$340k) lead on reported total compensation.

At the same company and level, about the same on base and a little more in practice. Google posts the same $147,000–$210,000 band on Software Engineer III with or without the AI/ML tag, Meta’s ML engineer band matches its E4 software band, and Amazon’s MLE II sits on the SDE ladder. The premium shows up at the labs, where research engineer bands start at $250,000–$350,000, and in specialties — Anthropic’s RL and Computer Use reqs post $500,000–$850,000 and OpenAI’s Foundations req reaches $850,000.

No. Most bands span levels or locations: Apple’s $150,400–$277,600 covers ICT3–ICT4, NVIDIA posts $124,000–$195,500 at Level 2 and $152,000–$241,500 at Level 3 on the same req, Pinterest’s $138,905–$285,982 covers every US location tier, and Microsoft posts separate Bay Area and New York bands. OpenAI and Anthropic name no level on their research engineer reqs, so their bands span mid to Staff. Netflix is the exception: because it pays salary only, its band is effectively the whole offer.

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Machine learning engineer salary, in real numbers

Every posted ML engineer salary band

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