MLOps Engineer

💰 $151K–$208K salary range

Median: $175K  ·  Based on 26 public job postings  ·  Updated October 20, 2026

This MLOps Engineer salary benchmark is built from public job postings at high-growth and AI-native companies — no private placement data. Figures reflect base salary and are refreshed as new postings are collected.

📊 Salary breakdown

MLOps Engineer salary by location

• All locations: $175K median ($151K–$208K typical range)
• San Francisco: $183K median, $174K–$205K range (+5% vs. national)

What's typically included

• Health insurance: 81% of postings
• Equity (RSU/options): 58% of postings
• Flexible PTO: 54% of postings
• Parental leave: 31% of postings
• Learning/education budget: 12% of postings
• Visa sponsorship: 4% of postings

Typical experience required: 6–8 years.

Data salaries by seniority

• Data Analyst: $84K
• Data Engineer: $135K
• Data Engineering Manager: $157K
• Data Team Lead: $159K
• MLOps Engineer: $175K
• Senior Data Engineer: $177K
• VP Data: $210K
• Staff Data Engineer: $223K

What does a MLOps Engineer do?

MLOps Engineers are data professionals who build the pipelines, models, and analytics the business runs on. This benchmark reflects Lead-level base compensation at high-growth and AI-native companies.

Government wage data

For corroboration, U.S. Department of Labor certified wage filings (FY2025) show a median of $118K for MLOps Engineer roles, ranging $118K–$145K, across 5 filings. This is reported separately from — never blended with — the job-posting median above.

Common questions

What is the average MLOps Engineer salary at an AI startup?
The median pay is $175K, with a typical range of $151K–$208K, based on 26 public job postings collected in 2025–2026.

Where does this salary data come from?
It is aggregated from public job postings on company career pages — no private placement or client data. We require a minimum of 15 postings per role.

Methodology

Figures are the midpoint of each posting's advertised USD salary range, aggregated from 26 public job postings (2025–2026). The range shown is the 25th–75th percentile; the median is the 50th percentile. Equity is separate and not included; where a posting's range reflects on-target earnings (OTE) for commission roles, that is included in the midpoint. Roles require at least 15 postings to be published. Last refreshed October 20, 2026.

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