Salary Data
MLOps Engineer Salary in Los Angeles
$189,000
median salary, 18% above the national average
According to Orbit's 2026 salary analysis, the average MLOps Engineer salary in Los Angeles is $189,000. Salaries range from $142,000 (25th percentile) to $248,000 (75th percentile), adjusted for Los Angeles's cost of living.
Salary range
How Los Angeles compares
Los Angeles, CA
$189,000
Cost of living: 18% above average
National Average
$160,000
Los Angeles is $29,000 above
MLOps Engineer job market in Los Angeles
Los Angeles market overview
Los Angeles blends a thriving entertainment industry with a growing tech and startup ecosystem, often called Silicon Beach. The city's diverse economy spans aerospace, healthcare, fashion, and gaming. LA offers strong salaries that, while below San Francisco levels, pair with a broader lifestyle appeal and lower housing costs relative to the Bay Area.
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 Los Angeles
California's 13.3% top state income tax rate applies to LA earners as well. There is no city income tax, but the high state rate makes take home pay lower than cities in no income tax states.
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 Los Angeles
Negotiating in Los Angeles
Highlight cross industry skills. LA employers value candidates who bridge entertainment and tech, so framing your experience across verticals can unlock higher offers.