Machine learning engineer jobs are the postings that name that exact job title, not every role that touches AI. Of 140,131 live AI-related postings at 967 companies, 634 carry the title machine learning engineer, concentrated inside the data category, where model work gets counted.
The number this article rests on: 634 live postings carry the exact title machine learning engineer, out of 140,131 AI-related jobs tracked in the catalogue. Measured October 2026.
A title search is a narrow net. Employers use several labels for people who build and train models: machine learning engineer, AI engineer, LLM engineer. This page counts the title itself, then widens to the data category and the tools those postings name, so the picture does not depend on which label a company picked that week. Every number below traces back to a live posting, not a survey or a forecast.
How many machine learning engineer jobs are open?
634 live postings carry the exact title machine learning engineer, against 621 for AI engineer and 482 for LLM engineer. The wider data category, which includes titles beyond machine learning engineer, holds 5,525 live postings, 1,460 of them at Builds AI, where building AI is the job itself. Measured October 2026.
Builds AI (AI Level 4) is the rating that matters here: it means the posting describes training, fine-tuning, or shipping a model, not just using one. Data: 5,525 live jobs, 53.4% Little AI, 22.0% remote, median maximum $215,000 on 1,725 USD postings. That single line is the widest honest view of where machine learning engineer work concentrates, since the title itself is only one label inside it.
What tools do machine learning engineer jobs require?
The tools most named in machine learning engineer postings, read across the whole live catalogue rather than a syllabus, are PyTorch (2,547 mentions) and Databricks (1,725 mentions), out of 63,380 live postings naming at least one AI tool of 13,131 tracked. Measured October 2026.
TensorFlow, scikit-learn, and XGBoost are tracked tools too, but too few live postings name them this month to rank alongside the list above. That is a monthly count, not a permanent ranking: a framework can enter or drop out as the live catalogue turns over. For the full ranked list of tools across every AI role, see What are the skills needed for AI engineer?.
Do machine learning engineer jobs require a degree?
A degree is mentioned in 55,023 of 140,131 live AI-related postings, a 39.3% share, read from the description text rather than a requirements checklist. That figure covers the whole catalogue; Level does not isolate machine learning engineer postings for this metric, so it is the only honest number to quote here. Measured October 2026.
Seniority is a more specific lens for this title. Across the catalogue, 8,630 postings are tagged junior and 5,466 intern, against 53,958 senior and 13,651 lead, out of 140,131 live jobs with 7,998 left unstated. In the data category, only 442 of 5,525 postings are tagged intern or junior, which suggests machine learning engineer is rarely an entry-level title even where the catalogue does track seniority.
Which machine learning engineers earn the highest salaries?
22,190 of 43,250 live USD postings across the whole catalogue reach a $200,000 maximum or more, the threshold Level tracks for high pay. Machine learning engineer postings sit above that bar on their own: median maximum salary is $265,160 and the median floor is $197,375, on 274 postings that publish a USD range. Measured October 2026.
The market-wide median maximum, across every category and title, is $200,000 on 43,250 USD postings. Machine learning engineer pay sits above that line, which lines up with the title's concentration in Builds AI work: the highest-rated postings in the catalogue tend to publish the highest ranges. The data category itself, where most of these postings sit, publishes a $215,000 median maximum on 1,725 USD postings, the number to compare the title-specific figure above against.
The jobs right now
Generated from the live catalogue, not written: postings in the data category, newest first. It changes every six hours.
