Principal Machine Learning Engineer Salary in California
$73K - $85.4K
4% of jobs
$85.4K - $97.7K
8% of jobs
$97.7K - $110K
9% of jobs
$115.1K is the 25th percentile. Wages below this are outliers.
$110K - $122.4K
10% of jobs
$122.4K - $134.7K
10% of jobs
The median wage is $143.5K / yr.
$134.7K - $147K
13% of jobs
$147K - $159.4K
12% of jobs
$167K is the 75th percentile. Wages above this are outliers.
$159.4K - $171.7K
14% of jobs
$171.7K - $184.1K
10% of jobs
$184.1K - $196.4K
6% of jobs
$196.4K - $208.7K
3% of jobs
$73K
$145.6K
$209.7K
$145,292
/year
$69.85
/hour
Principal Machine Learning Engineer Salary Comparison by Location
Nationwide
United States
$147,220
California
California
$145,292
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How much does a Principal Machine Learning Engineer make in California?
As of Sep 3, 2026, the average annual pay for a Principal Machine Learning Engineer in California is $145,292 a year.
Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $69.85 an hour. This is the equivalent of $2,794/week or $12,107/month.
While ZipRecruiter is seeing salaries as high as $209,717 and as low as $73,031, the majority of Principal Machine Learning Engineer salaries currently range between $116,900 (25th percentile) to $170,700 (75th percentile) with top earners (90th percentile) making $193,433 annually in California. The average pay range for a Principal Machine Learning Engineer varies greatly (by as much as 53800), which suggests there may be many opportunities for advancement and increased pay based on skill level, location and years of experience.
California ranks number 50 out of 50 states nationwide for Principal Machine Learning Engineer salaries.
To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for Principal Machine Learning Engineer jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America.
Find your next high paying job as a Principal Machine Learning Engineer on ZipRecruiter today.
What are Top 10 Highest Paying Cities for Principal Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in California
We've identified 10 cities where the typical salary for a Principal Machine Learning Engineer job is above the average in California in California. Topping the list is Johnstonville, , with San Buenaventura, and Berry Creek, close behind in the second and third positions. Berry Creek, beats the average in California by $79,114 (54.5%), and Johnstonville, furthers that trend with another $100,589 (69.2%) above the $145,292 average.
With these 10 cities paying on average above the average for California, the opportunities for economic advancement by changing locations as a Principal Machine Learning Engineer appears to be exceedingly fruitful.
Additionally, another factor to consider is the average salary for these top 10 cities varies as much as 34% between Johnstonville, and San Francisco, , suggesting a strong potential for positive wage variance in a Principal Machine Learning Engineer role. Cost of living should also be factored in when balancing location and salary.
City | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Johnstonville | $245,881 | $118.21 |
San Buenaventura | $230,791 | $110.96 |
Berry Creek | $224,406 | $107.89 |
Coarsegold | $220,145 | $105.84 |
Westhaven-Moonstone | $197,796 | $95.09 |
Berkeley | $180,262 | $86.66 |
Redwood City | $180,249 | $86.66 |
Mountain View | $175,193 | $84.23 |
Palo Alto | $173,497 | $83.41 |
San Francisco | $173,451 | $83.39 |
What are Top 5 Best Paying Related Principal Machine Learning Engineer Jobs in California
Analyzing similar jobs related to the Principal Machine Learning Engineer job category in California, we found 5 that were relevant. However, none pay more than the $145292 state average for Principal Machine Learning Engineer jobs.
Nevertheless Remote Machine Learning Engineer, Python Developer Google, or Thermal And Fluid Science Engineer may still be interesting positions to explore.
Job Title | Annual Salary | Hourly Wage |
|---|---|---|
Remote Machine Learning Engineer | $127,083 | $61.10 |
Python Developer Google | $120,336 | $57.85 |
Thermal And Fluid Science Engineer | $103,159 | $49.60 |
Mechanical Engineer With Mba | $101,531 | $48.81 |
Ai Machine Learning | $42,026 | $20.20 |
About Our Data
ZipRecruiter salary estimates, histograms, trends and comparisons are derived from both employer job postings and third party data sources.
