Salary Data
MLOps Engineer Salary in Denver
$173,000
median salary, 8% above the national average
According to Orbit's 2026 salary analysis, the average MLOps Engineer salary in Denver is $173,000. Salaries range from $130,000 (25th percentile) to $227,000 (75th percentile), adjusted for Denver's cost of living.
Salary range
How Denver compares
Denver, CO
$173,000
Cost of living: 8% above average
National Average
$160,000
Denver is $13,000 above
MLOps Engineer job market in Denver
Denver market overview
Denver has emerged as a secondary tech hub with strong aerospace, telecom, and outdoor industry employers. The city attracts remote workers and relocating companies seeking lower costs than the coasts. Salaries have climbed steadily as national employers open satellite offices and compete for Denver's growing talent pool.
What drives MLOps Engineer salaries
Experience with ML pipeline orchestration (Kubeflow, MLflow, Vertex AI), model monitoring in production, and infrastructure automation are the key salary levers. Engineers who can reduce model deployment time from weeks to hours earn premiums. Understanding both the ML lifecycle and cloud infrastructure deeply is what separates mid level from senior compensation.
Beyond base salary
Total compensation
Equity at AI companies adds $20,000 to $90,000+ annually. Bonuses of 10 to 20% are typical. On call compensation is common since MLOps engineers maintain production ML systems. Benefits frequently include cloud certification sponsorship, training budgets, and flexible work arrangements.
Tax considerations in Denver
Colorado has a flat 4.4% state income tax. Denver has no additional city income tax, making the overall tax burden lighter than most coastal metros.
Career progression
Junior MLOps engineers start at $105,000 to $135,000, reaching mid level at $140,000 to $180,000 in two to three years. Senior MLOps engineers earn $180,000 to $240,000. Staff level ML platform engineers at top companies can exceed $300,000 in total compensation, with a path into ML infrastructure leadership.
Top industries in Denver
Negotiating in Denver
Position yourself as a remote talent anchor. Many companies pay near coastal rates for Denver based employees to save on office costs while retaining top performers.