Model Reliability Engineer Salary.
Across 30 U.S. cities.
$172,000
national median salary
$130,000 to $225,000. Last updated April 2026.
Highest Paying
$241,000
San Francisco, CA
Best Purchasing Power
$179,000
San Francisco, CA
Lowest Paying
$155,000
St. Louis, MO
Salary data sourced from SEC filings, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and aggregated job postings across 50+ platforms. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Cost-of-living adjustments use Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2025 index). Last updated April 2026.
The average Model Reliability Engineer salary in the United States is $172,000 in 2026, with the full range spanning $130,000 at the 25th percentile to $225,000 at the 75th. San Francisco pays the most at $241,000, while San Francisco offers the best purchasing power after cost-of-living adjustments. Pay correlates with the criticality of models monitored and the sophistication of drift detection systems built.
Model Reliability Engineer salary by city
What you should know
Pay correlates with the criticality of models monitored and the sophistication of drift detection systems built. Engineers maintaining models in regulated industries like healthcare or finance earn premiums. Experience with automated retraining triggers and canary deployment strategies significantly boosts compensation.
Junior model reliability engineers start at $110,000 to $130,000, with mid-level roles paying $150,000 to $172,000. Senior engineers earn $195,000 to $225,000, and staff-level reliability architects managing cross-team model health programs reach $240,000 to $275,000.
Bonuses of 12 to 20% are standard, often tied to model uptime SLAs and incident reduction metrics. Equity packages at AI companies typically vest over four years with a one-year cliff.