Side-by-side distribution
Data Scientist
$170,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 41.4%
- Live roles
- 3,158
ML Engineer
$202,500
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.2%
- Live roles
- 3,332
Highest-paying jobs
Data Scientist (Growth Team)
Data Scientist, Identity
Data Scientist, Ads Demand
Data Scientist, Cybersecurity
Data Scientist, SMB Ads Growth
Founding Data Scientist, Pricing & Monetization
Data Scientist
Data Scientist, Developer Productivity
Data Scientist, Business
Principal Data Scientist
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)
Software Engineer, ML Networking
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)
Machine Learning Engineer, Integrity
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Staff Machine Learning Engineer, Ad Serving
Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Search
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$126,800 | 117 |
Leidos
|
$151,475 | 29 |
Launch Potato
|
$187,500 | 24 |
CACI
|
$127,250 | 19 |
|
OpenAI
|
$332,250 | 18 |
Adobe
|
$259,213 | 17 |
Roche
|
$243,925 | 16 |
| GR GRVTY | $175,000 | 16 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
General Motors
|
$216,500 | 37 |
|
Booz Allen Hamilton
|
$162,000 | 30 |
|
Adobe
|
$259,213 | 26 |
Nuro
|
$242,540 | 16 |
Torc Robotics
|
$195,050 | 16 |
|
CACI
|
$175,500 | 15 |
Reddit
|
$276,000 | 14 |
|
Pinterest
|
$260,867 | 13 |
Data Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $225,000 | 216 |
| Seattle | $203,175 | 66 |
| New York | $198,000 | 212 |
| Boston | $190,100 | 42 |
| Austin | $187,500 | 27 |
| Denver | $171,475 | 16 |
| Los Angeles | $165,500 | 29 |
| Atlanta | $165,500 | 17 |
| Chicago | $154,600 | 45 |
| Berlin | $149,954 | 5 |
ML Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | $260,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $240,000 | 193 |
| Los Angeles | $232,500 | 28 |
| Seattle | $232,050 | 86 |
| New York | $225,000 | 134 |
| Boston | $215,050 | 27 |
| Austin | $209,000 | 31 |
| London | $184,004 | 17 |
| Atlanta | $179,900 | 15 |
| Denver | $166,000 | 13 |
Data Scientist vs ML Engineer: which pays more?
The median for Data Scientist is $170,250 per year (typically $130,500–$216,263), versus $202,500 for ML Engineer ($166,075–$250,000). That puts ML Engineer about 19% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Data Scientist 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.