AI/ML Engineer
Also known as: Machine Learning Engineer, AI Developer
Build and train machine learning models that power intelligent systems, from recommendation engines to autonomous vehicles.
Salary Range
The highest-paid specialization or seniority level for ai/ml engineers.
About 1 in 667 reaches this level
AI/ML engineers have no clean BLS code (est., no BLS code) — nearest proxy is ~246K data scientists (BLS 15-2051, May 2024); only ~300-500 reach Distinguished AI/ML Scientist at $1.1M+ total comp at frontier labs.
Salary data based on 2025 BLS, Glassdoor, and industry reports. Actual compensation varies by location, experience, and employer.
How to Become One
This career typically requires a master's degree. Here are the top colleges for it:
AI Risk Assessment
AutoML platforms now automate model selection, hyperparameter tuning, feature engineering, and deployment — the routine ML work junior engineers cut their teeth on. AI-assisted code generation handles pipeline boilerplate. Demand is still massive (1.3M openings projected vs. 645K talent supply), but the gap between senior researchers designing novel architectures (very safe) and implementation engineers building standard pipelines (increasingly automated) is enormous. Fewer engineers are needed per project.
Sources
Ratings reflect a 10-year outlook based on 2025-2026 research, weighted toward entry-level impact. Individual outcomes will vary.
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