Data Analyst vs ML Engineer

Put two roles head to head — any role, in any location or worldwide-remote.

Side A

Side B

ML Engineer pays about 87% more at the median.

Side-by-side distribution

Data Analyst ML Engineer
$110k
$205.8k
$36.2k box = 25th–75th · whiskers = 10th–90th $319.5k

Data Analyst

$110,000

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▼ -8.3%
$120,000 $110,000
$85k 25th
$110k Median
$145.2k 75th
$55.7k
$175k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $10.4k – $999k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
32%
Live roles
1,188

ML Engineer

$205,841

median · per year, annualized USD

Median over time ▲ +2.5%
$200,800 $205,841
$175k 25th
$205.8k Median
$250.8k 75th
$142.8k
$300k
Box 25th–75th · whiskers 10th–90th Full range $5.3k – $1,000k · outliers off-axis
Disclosing
42.4%
Live roles
1,747

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Anduril Industries $130,500 11
Air Apps $65,766 9
Burson $55,000 8
Launch Potato $135,000 6
Klaviyo $155,000 5
Accenture Federal Services $106,400 5
Lyft $93,150 5
Brigit $150,000 4

Top companies hiring

Company Median Roles
Reddit $276,000 18
Pinterest $260,867 18
Motional $185,500 17
Roblox $297,743 14
Airbnb $274,500 14
Torc Robotics $249,000 10
Nuro $242,540 10
Applied Intuition $173,500 10

Data Analyst salary by location

Location Median Roles
Seattle $193,000 10
San Francisco $132,983 24
Boston $130,500 17
Denver $128,750 10
New York $125,000 79
Austin $121,800 9
Los Angeles $113,400 12
Chicago $98,706 14
Toronto $93,389 20
Atlanta $81,250 18

ML Engineer salary by location

Location Median Roles
San Francisco $240,000 169
Austin $230,000 12
New York $225,000 104
Seattle $212,872 40
Los Angeles $205,000 11
Boston $200,000 42
Toronto $191,513 28
Paris $185,000 6
Denver $175,000 5
Atlanta $174,825 8

Data Analyst vs ML Engineer: which pays more?

The median for Data Analyst is $110,000 per year (typically $85,000–$145,161), versus $205,841 for ML Engineer ($175,000–$250,750). That puts ML Engineer about 87% ahead at the median.

Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Data Analyst and ML Engineer are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.

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