Housing
Housing dominates the budget at $1,258 monthly, with a city center one-bedroom apartment averaging $1,006. Basic utilities add $161 and internet runs $68, making housing and utilities account for 78% of total living costs in Des Moines.
Machine Learning Engineer Salary in Des Moines
Market ranges & how to evaluate your offer
$0k – $0k/yr
Most offers in Des Moines fall between $0k–$0k depending on seniority, location, and role scope.
Last updated: March 2026Self-reported salaries + labor statisticsDes MoinesConfidence: High
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Local vs National
Des Moines$0k
National Average$0k
Des Moines
Salary data is self-reported and varies by scope, company, and location. Use ranges, not single numbers.
Offer sanity-check
Compare your total comp for Machine Learning Engineer — pick seniority, enter an offer, and preview the layout. Percentiles use your selected seniority when market data is available.
Cost of Living in Des Moines, IA
Cost of living breakdown for Des Moines, IA market.
66avg = 100
Estimated monthly costs for this basket are about 66% of our comparable national baseline—day-to-day spending tends to go further here.
Overall COL Index
HOUSING-10%
National avg (100)
FOOD-55%
National avg (100)
TRANSPORT-86%
National avg (100)
LIFESTYLE-60%
National avg (100)
Monthly cost breakdown
How the estimated monthly cost bundle splits across categories for a typical Machine Learning Engineer earner.
$1,606.94/ mo
HOUSING
$1,258.16 USD (78.3% of est. monthly costs)
FOOD
$187.58 USD (11.7% of est. monthly costs)
TRANSPORT
$48.00 USD (3.0% of est. monthly costs)
LIFESTYLE
$113.20 USD (7.0% of est. monthly costs)
-10%
Food & dining
Food costs remain modest at $188 monthly, with restaurant meals averaging $15.50 and grocery staples like milk ($1.06/liter) and eggs ($2.12/dozen) priced well below typical major metro areas. This represents just 12% of the total budget.
Transportation
Public transit costs $48 monthly for a regular pass, making car-free living quite affordable in this mid-sized Midwest city. The single transit option suggests most professionals likely rely on personal vehicles for daily commutes.
Lifestyle & leisure
Discretionary spending totals $113 monthly, with gym memberships at $45 and movie tickets at $10.75 offering reasonable entertainment value. At just 7% of the total budget, leisure costs leave substantial room for savings compared to pricier metro areas.
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Remote Pay Bands Explained
Machine Learning Engineer remote compensation varies significantly based on company pay philosophy and location adjustments. Tech giants like Google and Meta typically offer location-adjusted salaries, paying SF/NYC rates around $180-250K base while adjusting Austin or Denver roles to $150-200K base. However, many AI startups and remote-first companies like Hugging Face or Weights & Biases offer national pay bands, providing equal compensation regardless of location to attract top ML talent.
The hybrid work trend has created tiered compensation structures for Machine Learning Engineers, with many companies offering 90-100% of office pay for hybrid roles and 80-95% for fully remote positions. When negotiating, emphasize your ability to collaborate on distributed ML teams and experience with remote model development workflows. Companies value ML engineers who can effectively communicate complex technical concepts across time zones and manage distributed training experiments.
Moving from high-cost metros like San Francisco ($200K+ typical) to lower-cost areas while maintaining remote ML work can dramatically improve purchasing power. A $180K remote ML engineer salary in Austin or Raleigh provides equivalent lifestyle to $250K+ in the Bay Area, while cities like Denver or Nashville offer strong tech communities with 30-40% lower living costs than coastal hubs.
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How to Negotiate Your Offer
Practical steps that move the number without damaging the relationship.
Start your ask above the median. You'll rarely be offered more than you ask, so anchor high and let the employer negotiate you down.
Stronger approach:
- Start your ask above the median
- You'll rarely be offered more than you ask, so anchor high and let the employer negotiate you down
Say 'market data puts this role at $X–$Y' — not 'I was hoping for more'. External benchmarks are harder to argue against than personal expectations.
Stronger approach:
- Say 'market data puts this role at $X–$Y' — not 'I was hoping for more'
- External benchmarks are harder to argue against than personal expectations
When base is stuck, negotiate equity vesting schedule, signing bonus, or accelerated refresh grants. Total comp has more levers than base alone.
Stronger approach:
- When base is stuck, negotiate equity vesting schedule, signing bonus, or accelerated refresh grants
- Total comp has more levers than base alone
Ask for 48 hours to review. This creates time to counter and signals that you take offers seriously — not that you are uncertain.
Stronger approach:
- Ask for 48 hours to review
- This creates time to counter and signals that you take offers seriously — not that you are uncertain
Negotiate Salary
Generate an aware negotiation email using Google market positioning data.
Practice Interviews
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Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Machine Learning Engineer compensation.
Machine Learning Engineer salaries typically range from $120-160K for early career, $160-220K for mid-level, and $220-350K+ for senior roles at major tech companies. Total compensation including equity can reach $400-600K+ at top-tier firms.
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