Model Registry Manager.
San Jose.
$210,000
median salary, 38% above the national average
$159,000 to $276,000. Updated for 2026.
The numbers.
Everything you need to negotiate with confidence.
If you are evaluating a Model Registry Manager offer in San Jose, CA, here is the reality: $159,000 to $276,000, with $210,000 as the midpoint. 38% above the national average. Salary depends on the scale of model assets managed and governance sophistication implemented. Do not accept the first number.
Salary range
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How San Jose compares
San Jose, CA
$210,000
Cost of living: 38% above average
National Average
$152,000
San Jose is $58,000 above
What you should know
The Model Registry Manager landscape in San Jose is not what most salary sites will tell you. San Jose is the capital of Silicon Valley, home to Apple, Google, Adobe, and Cisco. The city consistently ranks among the highest paying metros in the country for technology roles. Competition for talent is fierce, with employers offering aggressive compensation packages including equity, signing bonuses, and premium benefits to attract and retain engineers. Salary depends on the scale of model assets managed and governance sophistication implemented. Managers maintaining registries with hundreds of production models across multiple teams earn premiums. Expertise in model versioning, lineage tracking, and automated validation gates drives compensation above median levels.
Junior model registry engineers start at $95,000 to $115,000 maintaining catalog entries. Mid-level managers designing registry workflows earn $132,000 to $152,000. Senior managers building enterprise model governance platforms reach $175,000 to $200,000, with directors at $220,000 to $250,000. In San Jose, those numbers run higher. The cost of living here is 38% above average, and employers adjust to compete.
Base salary is not the full picture. Annual bonuses of 10 to 15% are standard, sometimes linked to model governance compliance metrics. Equity packages are moderate, with stronger grants at MLOps platform companies where registry tooling is a core product. And on the tax side: california's top 13.3% state rate applies fully here. While gross salaries in San Jose are among the nation's highest, the tax burden means net pay may not stretch as far as expected. When someone quotes you $210,000, ask what the total package looks like. The gap between base and total comp is where real money hides.
On negotiation: Always negotiate equity alongside base salary. San Jose employers expect candidates to evaluate total compensation including RSUs, and leaving equity on the table is leaving money behind. The range for Model Registry Managers in San Jose runs from $159,000 to $276,000. That is not a narrow window. Where you land inside it depends almost entirely on whether you negotiate and how well you prepare.
Top industries in San Jose
Negotiating in San Jose
Always negotiate equity alongside base salary. San Jose employers expect candidates to evaluate total compensation including RSUs, and leaving equity on the table is leaving money behind.