Deep Learning Engineer.
St. Louis.
$102,000
median salary, 10% below the national average
$70,000 to $146,000. Last updated August 2026.
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Data points to own the conversation.
St. Louis is 10% cheaper than the national average. For Deep Learning Engineers, that shakes out to a median of $102,000, with the full range spanning $70,000 to $146,000. Pay hinges on expertise with transformer architectures, large-scale training pipelines, and GPU optimization. Know the range before you walk in. 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 St. Louis, 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 $99,600 for Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051) in the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan area, based on 2,640 employed workers (May 2025 release).
10th percentile
$59,500
25th percentile
$78,280
Median
$99,600
75th percentile
$130,370
90th percentile
$158,310
Workers surveyed
2,640
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 St. Louisrange 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 $92,000. Where you land depends on years of experience and what you bring to the table.
Entry (0-2 yrs)
$66,000
to $82,000
Mid (3-5 yrs)
$87,000
to $107,000
Senior (6-9 yrs)
$112,000
to $133,000
Lead (10+ yrs)
$128,000
to $158,000
Total compensation.
Base salary is not the full picture. Equity, bonus, and signing can add $52,000 to the total package.
Base
$102,000
Equity
$32,000
Bonus
$14,000
Signing
$6,000
Estimated total: $154,000
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 St. Louis compares.
St. Louis, MO
$102,000
Cost of living: 10% below average
National Average
$113,000
St. Louis is $11,000 below
Deep Learning Engineer salary by city.
Salary by role in St. Louis.
What you should know.
The Deep Learning Engineer landscape in St. Louis is not what most salary sites will tell you. St. Louis offers one of the most affordable major metro areas in the country, with a strong base in healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing. The region's anchor employers include Boeing, Centene, and Washington University's medical campus. A growing biotech and plant sciences corridor centered on the Cortex Innovation District is attracting new investment and talent. 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 St. Louis, cost of living sits near the national average, so the numbers you see are roughly what you keep.
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: missouri's top income tax rate is about 4.8%, and St. Louis City adds a 1% earnings tax. The low base cost of living means your after tax salary still stretches further than in most metros. When someone quotes you $102,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Emphasize your willingness to work in person at Cortex or the BJC campus. St. Louis employers offer higher packages for candidates who commit to the local innovation hubs. The range for Deep Learning Engineers in St. Louis runs from $70,000 to $146,000. 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
Considering a related role?
- An Office Manager in St. Louis earns $100,000 (2% less)
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- See all ai engineering roles tracked in Orbyt Intelligence
Common questions.
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