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Home / Compensation / TikTok / ML Engineer
Total compensation for a TikTok ML Engineer ranges from about $218K at the entry level to $1.7M+ at the most senior bands, with a typical mid-level package around $505K. Below is the full breakdown by level - base salary, annual equity, and bonus - from public-source data.
Public-source estimates (Beta). Last updated 2026-06. Figures are annualized USD.
| Level | Years | Base (p50) | Equity/yr (p50) | Bonus (p50) | Total (p25-p90) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2ML Engineer (New Grad) | 0-2 YOE | $162K | $70K | $26K | $218K - $365K |
| 2-1ML Engineer | 2-5 YOE | $198K | $127K | $40K | $300K - $540K |
| 2-2Senior ML Engineer | 5-9 YOE | $230K | $212K | $63K | $405K - $800K |
| 3-1Staff ML Engineer | 8-14 YOE | $263K | $345K | $98K | $555K - $1.2M |
| 3-2Senior Staff ML Engineer | 12+ YOE | $290K | $530K | $138K | $735K - $1.7M |
Entry ML. Publications or RecSys-competition results pull top of band.
Mid-level ML. Ranking and ads-ML teams hire the most aggressively.
Senior ML IC. Large-scale ranking experience is the single strongest negotiating lever at TikTok.
Staff ML IC. Direct competition with frontier labs and Meta ads ML keeps this band hot.
Senior staff ML. Above-band offers routine for recommendation-system leaders.
The recommendation engine is TikTok's crown jewel and its ML org hires at enormous scale - ranking, recall, ads ML, and e-commerce recommendation. ML runs ~8-12% above the SWE band at the same level, with above-band offers routine for proven large-scale ranking experience.
The offer calculator compares your current and target offers 4 years out - vesting, refresh grants, and federal + state + FICA tax - so you negotiate with real take-home numbers.
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