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Home / Compensation / Google / ML Engineer
Total compensation for a Google ML Engineer ranges from about $180K at the entry level to $1.6M+ at the most senior bands, with a typical mid-level package around $440K. Below is the full breakdown by level - base salary, annual equity, and bonus - from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Last updated 2026-05. Figures are annualized USD.
Comparing a Google or DeepMind ML offer with a frontier lab? Anthropic ML engineer salary · OpenAI ML engineer salary · Meta ML engineer salary
| Level | Years | Base (p50) | Equity/yr (p50) | Bonus (p50) | Total (p25-p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L3ML Engineer (New Grad) | 0-2 YOE | $150K | $38K | $18K | $180K - $255K |
| L4ML Engineer | 3-5 YOE | $200K | $85K | $32K | $255K - $430K |
| L5Senior ML Engineer | 5-9 YOE | $245K | $145K | $50K | $365K - $640K |
| L6Staff ML Engineer | 8-15 YOE | $285K | $280K | $75K | $510K - $1M |
| L7Senior Staff ML Engineer | 12+ YOE | $325K | $460K | $100K | $720K - $1.6M |
Entry-level ML role. PhD candidates often start at L4.
Mid-level. Common landing for new PhDs in ML/AI.
Senior IC. DeepMind/Brain candidates negotiate above this band.
Staff. Premium for foundation-model and accelerator-software work.
Senior staff. Counter-offers from OpenAI / Anthropic move the top end.
Google ML engineer comp tracks the SWE ladder closely with a 5-15% premium at L5+ for research-adjacent roles (DeepMind, Brain). Specialty in LLM training, distributed training, or accelerator software pulls offers toward the top of the band.
The entry level for a Google ML Engineer in this dataset is L3 - ML Engineer (New Grad) (0-2 YOE). Median total compensation is $205K, with the 25th-90th percentile at $180K-$255K; the median package is $150K base, $18K bonus, $38K equity a year.
PhD candidates often start at L4 rather than L3. This dataset has no separate signing-bonus figure for Google.
The median annual bonus for a Google ML Engineer runs from $18K at L3 to $100K at L7, which is 9% of the median package at L3 and 11% at L7. Cash (base plus bonus) is 82% of the median package at L3 and 47% at L7.
Google ML engineer pay tracks the software engineer ladder closely, with a premium at L5 and above for research-adjacent roles such as Google DeepMind and Brain. Work on LLM training, distributed training or accelerator software pulls offers toward the top of the band, and equity becomes the largest part of pay at staff level.
| Level | Bonus (p50) | Bonus share of package | Cash share (base + bonus) |
|---|---|---|---|
| L3ML Engineer (New Grad) | $18K | 9% | 82% |
| L4ML Engineer | $32K | 10% | 76% |
| L5Senior ML Engineer | $50K | 11% | 67% |
| L6Staff ML Engineer | $75K | 12% | 56% |
| L7Senior Staff ML Engineer | $100K | 11% | 47% |
| Promotion | Median before | Median after | Step |
|---|---|---|---|
| L3 → L4 | $205K | $305K | +49% |
| L4 → L5 | $305K | $440K | +44% |
| L5 → L6 | $440K | $640K | +45% |
| L6 → L7 | $640K | $900K | +41% |
Google ML Engineer total compensation runs $180K-$1.6M across 5 levels, from L3 to L7. The middle level, L5 - Senior ML Engineer, has a median of $440K.
This dataset has no separate Google DeepMind ladder, so no DeepMind-specific figure is published here. Its Google ML engineer notes say research-adjacent roles such as DeepMind and Brain carry a premium at L5 and above, and that DeepMind candidates negotiate above the L5 band - so DeepMind offers at those levels tend to sit above the Google bands shown.
The entry level for a Google ML Engineer in this dataset is L3 - ML Engineer (New Grad) (0-2 YOE). Median total compensation is $205K, with the 25th-90th percentile at $180K-$255K; the median package is $150K base, $18K bonus, $38K equity a year. PhD candidates often start at L4.
Google ML Engineer levels and median total compensation - L3 - ML Engineer (New Grad): $205K; L4 - ML Engineer: $305K; L5 - Senior ML Engineer: $440K; L6 - Staff ML Engineer: $640K; L7 - Senior Staff ML Engineer: $900K.
At Google, L5 - Senior ML Engineer (5-9 YOE) has a median total compensation of $440K, with the 25th-90th percentile at $365K-$640K.
Google's ML loop is two coding rounds at the SWE bar, an ML fundamentals round, an ML system design round and Googleyness and leadership, then hiring committee. The prep pack has each round and what to practise.
Google ML Engineer prep pack7 rounds. 5 of them can be practised here - each one below links the rep that trains it.
Recruiter screen
30 minutes. Background, ML experience, and level calibration.
Technical phone screen
45 minutes. A coding problem at the standard SWE bar. Some screens add ML questions.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: Coding (x2)
45 minutes each. Algorithms and data structures at the same bar as the SWE loop.
Free rep: Coding challenges with a real sandbox →Onsite: ML domain / fundamentals
45 minutes. Model selection, training, evaluation metrics, bias and variance, and the reasoning behind choices in your past ML work.
Free rep: Machine learning questions →Onsite: ML system design
45 minutes. Frame a product problem as ML: data, labels, features, model, offline and online evaluation, serving, and monitoring.
Free rep: Design walkthrough: Design a Recommendation System (YouTube / Netflix / TikTok) →Onsite: Googleyness & leadership
45 minutes. Collaboration, ambiguity, and learning from failure.
Free rep: STAR answers: Googleyness & Leadership (Google) →Hiring committee and team matching
Committee review of the full packet, then matching with a team.
The full Google prep pack → what they value, topic emphasis, and the questions candidates ask.
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