Deep Learning Engineer.
Los Angeles.
$137,000
median salary, 21% above the national average
$95,000 to $197,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
The median Deep Learning Engineer salary in Los Angeles is $137,000, 21% above the national average. Entry level starts near $95,000. Experienced professionals push past $197,000. Los Angeles blends a thriving entertainment industry with a growing tech and startup ecosystem, often called Silicon Beach. That spread is your negotiation window. These figures are Orbyt estimates, computed rather than measured, and must not be cited as Bureau of Labor Statistics figures; the published BLS wage for the occupation this role maps to is shown separately on this page.
Salary range.
Where do you fall?
Orbyt estimate for Deep Learning Engineer in Los Angeles, modelled from national occupation wages adjusted for local cost of living. The published government benchmark for this occupation is below.
Government benchmark for this occupation
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $129,740 for Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) in the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA metropolitan area, based on 9,850 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$71,080
25th percentile
$91,350
Median
$129,740
75th percentile
$168,420
90th percentile
$208,280
Workers surveyed
9,850
BLS publishes wages by occupation code, not by job title, so this figure covers every role mapped to Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) rather than Deep Learning Engineer specifically. The Los Angelesrange at the top of this page is Orbyt’s role-level estimate, which is a different thing and is labelled as such.
View the BLS source for SOC 15-2051Salary by experience.
The gap between entry and lead level is typically $123,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$89,000
to $110,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$116,000
to $144,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$151,000
to $178,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$171,000
to $212,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $68,000 to the total package.
Base
$137,000
Equity
$42,000
Bonus
$18,000
Signing
$8,000
Estimated total: $205,000
Deep Learning Engineer salary by company.
Total compensation estimates include base, equity, bonus, and signing. Ranges reflect mid to senior level. Derived from public H-1B LCA filings (DOL).
How Los Angeles compares.
Los Angeles, CA
$137,000
Cost of living: 18% above average
National Average
$113,000
Los Angeles is $24,000 above
Deep Learning Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in Los Angeles.
What you should know.
If you are interviewing for Deep Learning Engineer roles in Los Angeles, here is what you are walking into. 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. Pay hinges on expertise with transformer architectures, large-scale training pipelines, and GPU optimization. Engineers who have shipped production models at scale earn top-band salaries. Publications at NeurIPS or ICML and familiarity with distributed training frameworks like DeepSpeed further boost compensation.
Junior deep learning roles start at $120,000 to $145,000. Mid-level engineers earn $155,000 to $200,000. Senior and staff-level positions reach $220,000 to $300,000 base, with principal engineers at top labs exceeding $400,000 in total compensation. In Los Angeles, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 18% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity is a major component at AI-focused companies, often representing 30 to 50% of total compensation. Annual bonuses range from 10 to 20% of base, with signing bonuses of $30,000 to $75,000 common for experienced hires. And on the tax side: 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. When someone quotes you $137,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Highlight cross industry skills. LA employers value candidates who bridge entertainment and tech, so framing your experience across verticals can unlock higher offers. The range for Deep Learning Engineers in Los Angeles runs from $95,000 to $197,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Sources: BLS OES, H-1B LCA (DOL). COL: BEA Regional Price Parities (2025). Data verified by Justin Bartak, Founder & Chief AI Officer. Last verified July 1, 2026. Full methodology
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Common questions.
Deep Learning Engineer salary in other cities.
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