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Machine Learning Developer Salary in Chicago 2026
How much does a Machine Learning developer expect to make at Chicago-based startups? The average expected salary for Machine Learning developers in Chicago-based startups is 125k per year, with a range from 5k to 215k. These amounts were gathered from Wellfound self-reported data and represent the median salary range. The salary range for Machine Learning developers in Chicago startups varies depending on factors such as industry, experience, and startup stage.
125.0k
Average Salary
3 years
Average years of experience
Salary
The average salary for a Machine Learning developer in Chicago is$125,000, which is 10.7% higher than the average Chicago startup salary of $112,875. Machine Learning developer salaries in Chicago are based on exclusive Wellfound data. All data is updated on a weekly basis. Factors that may influence salary include: years of experience, title, size of company, skill-set, and industry.
Top of market
$161,667/yr
Range $115k - $215k
Average
$125,000/yr
Range $65k - $193k
Below Average
$80,208/yr
Range $5k - $150k
Industries
The highest average salary a Machine Learning developer in Chicago can get in Construction, that is $200,000. This pay is 3.1% higher than the average Machine Learning developer salary, which is $194,000. The highest-paying industries in 2023 are: Construction (avg $200,000 per year), Big Data Analytics (avg $200,000 per year), Medical Technologies (avg $192,500 per year).
Tech Stack
Top Tech Stacks
The top-paying developer skills of 2026 are:
1. Docker
$205k
2. openAI
$200k
3. Heroku
$190k
4. Python
$175k
5. PostgreSQL
$170k
6. C
$162.5k
7. Django
$160k
8. Ruby on Rails
$157k
9. Deep Learning
$147.5k
10. Prometheus
$140k
Years of experience
Below Average
Average
Top of Market
The highest average salary Machine Learning developer in Chicago can get with 7-10 years of experience, that is $150,000. This pay is 32.9% higher than the average salary in Chicago startups, which is $112,875. The salary range varies with years of experience and depends on other factors such as skill set, size of company, and industry.
Popular roles in Chicago
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