Inference and ML systems engineer salary

The median posted base pay for inference and ML systems jobs is $225K a year, from 3,522 open jobs at 999 companies. The middle half of the jobs is from $190K to $268K. One job in ten has posted pay above $315K.

Data of Nov 9, 2026. This is posted base pay, not total pay. It does not include stock or a bonus.

Median posted base pay: $225K
Middle half of the jobs: $190K to $268K
10th to 90th percentile: $160K to $315K
Open jobs with posted pay: 3,522
Companies: 999

Inference and ML systems engineer pay by level

Posted base pay for inference and ML systems jobs, by the level in the job title. A level needs 20 or more jobs with posted pay.

Entry level31 jobs$164K$146K to $193K
Level not stated1,754 jobs$220K$180K to $270K
Senior914 jobs$212K$185K to $238K
Staff505 jobs$254K$225K to $281K
Principal178 jobs$260K$218K to $303K
Director+126 jobs$276K$235K to $306K

Each band goes from the 10th to the 90th percentile. The darker part is the middle half of the jobs. The line is the median. This is posted base pay, not total pay.

Pay bands by level, inference and ML systems. Posted base pay in US dollars for each year.
Level	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Jobs with pay
Entry level	$138K	$146K	$164K	$193K	$220K	31
Level not stated	$150K	$180K	$220K	$270K	$330K	1,754
Senior	$162K	$185K	$212K	$238K	$269K	914
Staff	$203K	$225K	$254K	$281K	$331K	505
Principal	$178K	$218K	$260K	$303K	$369K	178
Director+	$200K	$235K	$276K	$306K	$350K	126

Top-paying companies for inference and ML systems jobs

The companies with the highest median posted base pay for inference and ML systems jobs. A company name opens its levels in the pay explorer.

1Anthropic$425K79 jobs
2Thinking Machines Lab$413K29 jobs
3Magic$413K6 jobs
4Aaru$376K6 jobs
5OpenAI$360K67 jobs
6Datadog$360K5 jobs
7Mirendil$350K11 jobs
8Wayve$341K12 jobs
9Mercor$340K8 jobs
10Pinterest$337K5 jobs
11Odyssey$336K6 jobs
12Lambda$331K30 jobs
13Harvey$327K16 jobs
14Hark$315K14 jobs
15Perplexity$313K11 jobs
16Character.AI$313K5 jobs
17Roblox$312K29 jobs
18Runway$310K7 jobs
19Roku$302K6 jobs
20Institute of Foundation Models$300K16 jobs

The median posted base pay of each company for inference and ML systems jobs. We use the middle point of each posted range. A company needs 5 or more jobs with posted pay. This is posted base pay, not total pay.

Inference and ML systems engineer pay by US region

The median posted base pay for inference and ML systems jobs in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs.

Bay Area1,983 jobs+8%$243K
New York721 jobs+7%$240K
US remote556 jobs−6%$212K
Other US cities1,142 jobs−6%$212K

The median posted base pay for inference and ML systems in each US region, compared with the median of all US jobs ($225K). A job that lists two regions counts in each region. A region needs 20 or more jobs. This is posted base pay, not total pay.

Pay by region, inference and ML systems. Posted base pay in US dollars for each year.
Region	Median posted base pay	Against the US median	Jobs with pay
Bay Area	$243K	+8%	1,983
New York	$240K	+7%	721
US remote	$212K	−6%	556
Other US cities	$212K	−6%	1,142
All US jobs	$225K	0%	3,349

Open jobs

Other levels

By place

Other job types

How we compute these numbers

We read each job from the job board of the company and check it every day. We use only open jobs that state a yearly pay range in US dollars. One job counts with the middle point of its posted range. The median is the middle value of these amounts: half of the jobs are above it and half are below it.

We do not use a range with a bottom below $15,000, a top above $1,000,000, or a top that is more than four times the bottom. A role page needs 20 or more open jobs with posted pay. In the bar chart, a company needs 5 or more jobs with posted pay.

The numbers are base pay as the company posted it. They are not the pay of a person, and they do not include stock, a bonus or benefits. For the stock and the bonus that people reported, see Reported pay.