Machine learning engineer salary in Los Angeles, CA
Employers in the Los Angeles metro offered machine learning engineers a median of $159,099 a year on approved H-1B applications. That is 10.8% below the US median for machine learning engineers, and 1.3% above offers to software engineers in Los Angeles.
Median offer
$159,099
US median offer: $178,350
The middle half
$156,281 – $198,750
25th to 75th percentile
After cost of living
$140,090
Los Angeles prices: 13.6% above US average
Open machine learning engineer jobs
17
In Los Angeles, from 12 companies
Pay range
The top 10% of machine learning engineer offers in Los Angeles were above $288,500 a year. The bottom 10% were below $129,857.
10th percentile $129,857, 25th $156,281, 75th $198,750, 90th $288,500.
10th percentile $113,000, 25th $142,105, 75th $220,000, 90th $264,514.
10th percentile $98,270, 25th $127,530, 75th $191,540, 90th $223,150.
Line: 10th to 90th percentile. Box: the middle half (25th to 75th). Dark mark: the median. Machine learning engineers: salaries offered on H-1B applications. All software engineers: salaries paid, from the BLS.
How far the pay goes in Los Angeles
Prices in Los Angeles are 13.6% above the US average, which makes the median offer worth $140,090 in US-average dollars. Housing costs 70.4% more than the US average.
Black line: US average = 100. Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024.
Machine learning engineers and other engineering jobs in Los Angeles
Median salary offered on approved H-1B applications in the Los Angeles metro, for every engineering job type with at least 30 applications.
| Job | Applications | Median offer |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering managers | 175 | $163,550 |
| Machine learning engineers | 52 | $159,099 |
| All software engineers | 1,834 | $157,123 |
| Data engineers | 138 | $135,000 |
| AI engineers | 32 | $133,166 |
| DevOps engineers | 38 | $132,113 |
All software engineers: every application filed under the BLS software developer job code, whatever its title. Backend and full-stack engineers: left out, since a plain "Software Engineer" title counts as both.
Experience level of these offers
From October 2025 to June 2026, the Department of Labor approved 52 H-1B applications for machine learning engineers in the Los Angeles metro, from 32 employers. Level IV offers were the most common.
Applications
52
Employers
32
Most experienced (Level IV)
38.5%
Applications by wage level
- Level I (entry): 3
- Level II: 12
- Level III: 16
- Level IV (most experienced): 20
- Not stated: 1
These are salaries offered on approved applications, not salaries paid. Each application lists only its main work site.
17 open machine learning engineer jobs in Los Angeles right now
From 12 companies. 1 was posted in the past week.
Machine learning engineer jobs nearby: Costa Mesa, Hawthorne, Long Beach, Irvine, El Segundo, Torrance
What counts as a machine learning engineer
The BLS has no machine learning engineer category, so these figures come from job titles. An H-1B application or a job on hiredaemon counts as a machine learning engineer job when its title names machine learning work, such as "Machine Learning Engineer", "ML Engineer" or "MLOps Engineer". AI engineers are counted separately.
Sources and notes
- Machine learning engineer offers: US Department of Labor, H-1B application data, October 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Approved H-1B applications whose job title names machine learning work and whose work site is in Los Angeles or Orange county.
- Software engineer pay: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (published May 15, 2026), Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim metro.
- Cost of living: US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Open jobs: counted on hiredaemon as this page loads.