Side-by-side distribution
ML Engineer
$205,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 42.3%
- Live roles
- 1,743
Surgeon
$324,171
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 20.2%
- Live roles
- 124
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Software Engineer, Machine Learning (Audio)
Machine Learning Engineer - Fraud Risk
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)
Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning)
Machine Learning Engineer, Integrity
Principal Machine Learning Engineer, Ads Delivery
Machine Learning Engineer, Speech LLM Training - San Francisco
Senior Machine Learning Engineer, Ad Serving
Highest-paying jobs
Oral Surgeon
Orthopaedic Surgeon | Staff Specialist | 0.5 FTE
Orthopedic Spine Surgeon - Mesa, AZ
Oral Surgeon Opportunity - Central New York
Orthopaedic Surgeon | Regional WA
Mohs Surgeon with Partnership-Shareholder Track
Part-time Mohs Surgeon / Dermatologist
Mohs Surgeon - Dermatologist
Mohs Surgeon with Shareholder Track
Breast Surgeon
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Reddit
|
$276,000 | 18 |
|
Pinterest
|
$260,867 | 17 |
Motional
|
$185,500 | 17 |
Roblox
|
$297,743 | 14 |
Airbnb
|
$274,500 | 14 |
Torc Robotics
|
$249,000 | 11 |
Nuro
|
$242,540 | 11 |
Applied Intuition
|
$173,500 | 10 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Greenlife Healthcare Staffing
|
$350,000 | 4 |
|
Oral Surgery Partners
|
$225,000 | 4 |
|
Platinum Dermatology Partners - Physicians
|
$450,000 | 3 |
|
HealthOp Solutions
|
$300,000 | 3 |
|
Mediix
|
$569,244 | 2 |
|
Leading Edge Specialized Dentistry
|
$475,000 | 2 |
| PH Pulse Healthcare | $256,818 | 2 |
Bond Vet
|
$247,500 | 2 |
ML Engineer salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $240,000 | 165 |
| Austin | $235,000 | 11 |
| New York | $225,000 | 100 |
| Seattle | $212,444 | 39 |
| Los Angeles | $205,000 | 11 |
| Boston | $200,000 | 41 |
| Toronto | $195,000 | 29 |
| Paris | $185,000 | 6 |
| Atlanta | $174,825 | 8 |
| Chicago | $173,875 | 12 |
Surgeon salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $350,000 | 6 |
ML Engineer vs Surgeon: which pays more?
The median for ML Engineer is $205,000 per year (typically $173,500–$250,000), versus $324,171 for Surgeon ($247,500–$450,000). That puts Surgeon about 58% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so ML Engineer and Surgeon 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.