Machine Learning Engineer Salary at Startups
What startups pay machine learning engineers, from the pay their live postings state: base salary as the employer writes it, on roles still taking applications.
256 of 896 live roles state payChecked dailyUpdated
Median base pay
$210Ka year
The median of 233 live machine learning engineer postings that state pay in US dollars, as of October 2026. Each posting counts at the middle of its range.
- Middle half of postings
- $180K–$256K
- One in ten pays over
- $297K
- A typical posted range
- $177K–$250K
- Under $140K: 11 postings
- $140K–$160K: 21 postings
- $160K–$180K: 24 postings
- $180K–$200K: 37 postings
- $200K–$220K: 31 postings
- $220K–$240K: 33 postings
- $240K–$260K: 19 postings
- $260K–$280K: 17 postings
- $280K–$300K: 18 postings
- $300K–$320K: 11 postings
- $320K–$340K: 2 postings
- $340K and up: 9 postings
By level
As the title states it: "Senior", "Staff" and so on. Mid-level is a title with no level in it.
MedianMiddle half10th to 90th percentile
- Mid-level$200K$162K–$232K · 110 postings
- Senior$206K$185K–$236K · 56 postings
- Lead$195K$180K–$225K · 9 postings
- Staff$276K$237K–$297K · 37 postings
- Principal$245K$195K–$275K · 9 postings
By city
Each in the currency its postings use. Pounds, euros and Canadian dollars aren't converted.
MedianMiddle half10th to 90th percentile
- Remote$210K$175K–$265K · 117 postings
- San Francisco$225K$200K–$250K · 45 postings
- New York$200K$185K–$224K · 19 postings
Who pays the most
Companies with at least three live machine learning engineer postings stating pay, by their median.
MedianMiddle half10th to 90th percentile
- Pinterest$306K$290K–$346K · 9 postings
- Anthropic$300K$300K–$338K · 6 postings
- Atoms$297K$297K–$298K · 3 postings
- SpaceX$285K$213K–$285K · 3 postings
- Lila Sciences$280K$260K–$287K · 3 postings
- Reddit$276K$276K–$287K · 8 postings
- Anduril Industries$256K$224K–$256K · 3 postings
- Prime Intellect$250K$250K · 4 postings
- Appian$225K$225K–$250K · 3 postings
- Coinbase$223K$208K–$237K · 4 postings
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Common questions
How much does a machine learning engineer make at a startup?
As of October 2026, the median base pay startups advertise for machine learning engineers is $210K a year, across 233 live postings that state it in US dollars. The middle half of those postings pay between $180K and $256K, and one in ten pays over $297K.
How much does a senior machine learning engineer make at a startup?
Postings with "senior" in the title have a median of $206K a year, across 56 of them, against $200K for titles that state no level. The middle half pay $185K–$236K.
Which companies pay machine learning engineers the most?
Among companies with at least three live postings stating pay, the highest medians are at Pinterest ($306K), Anthropic ($300K), Atoms ($297K) and SpaceX ($285K).
Where do machine learning engineers earn the most?
San Francisco, with a median of $225K a year across 45 postings, against $210K for remote roles.
Does a machine learning engineer at a startup get equity?
Often, though few postings say how much: 43% of the 994 machine learning engineer postings we've read mention equity. The figures on this page are base pay only.
Where do these figures come from?
From the postings themselves: the pay range each employer states, on roles still taking applications, which we check against the company's own careers page every day. Each posting counts once, at the middle of its range. Postings that don't state pay, and pay in other currencies, are left out of the main figures.