How Much Do Data Science Jobs Pay in Palo Alto? (November 2026)

How pay has moved

Median base salary by month, from our monthly salary snapshots.

Highest-paying employers

1. #1

   AI

   Arc Institute

   3 salaried listings in Palo Alto

   $400,000

   median
   Director, Machine Learning, Alzheimer's Disease Initiative$380k – $420k·Palo Alto, CADirector, Machine Learning, Virtual Cell Initiative$380k – $420k·Palo Alto, CASoftware Engineer, ML Infrastructure$191k – $237k·Palo Alto, CA
   All Arc Institute roles →
2. #2

   P

   Perplexity

   3 salaried listings in Palo Alto

   $312,500

   median
   Member of Technical Staff (AI Researcher)$220k – $485k·San Francisco, Palo AltoMember of Technical Staff (ML Engineer, Recommendations & User Modeling)$220k – $405k·San Francisco, Palo AltoMember of Technical Staff (Software Engineer, Data Platform)$220k – $405k·San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City
   All Perplexity roles →
3. #3

   X

   xAI

   9 salaried listings in Palo Alto

   $310,000

   median
   Analytics Engineer - X$180k – $440k·Palo Alto, CaliforniaML Infrastructure Engineer$180k – $440k·Palo Alto, CAMachine Learning Engineer - Ads$180k – $440k·Palo Alto, CaliforniaMachine Learning Engineer - Recommendation Systems$180k – $440k·Palo Alto, CaliforniaNetwork Engineer - ML Infrastructure (High-Speed Interconnects)$180k – $440k·Palo Alto, CA
   All xAI roles →
4. #4

   S

   SpaceX

   5 salaried listings in Palo Alto

   $285,000

   median
   Sr. AI Engineer, Platform Infrastructure, Special Programs$220k – $350k·Palo Alto, CASr. AI Engineer, Special Programs$220k – $350k·Palo Alto, CASr. AI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance$220k – $350k·Palo Alto, CAAI Engineer, Special Programs - Top Secret Clearance$135k – $230k·Palo Alto, CASoftware Engineer, Inference (AI Data Engineering)$135k – $175k·Palo Alto, CA
   All SpaceX roles →
5. #5

   S

   Snapchat

   13 salaried listings in Palo Alto

   $261,000

   median
   Director, Machine Learning Engineer, Content$334k – $500k·Palo Alto, CaliforniaPrincipal Machine Learning Engineer, Platform Integrity Engineering, Level 7$276k – $414k·Bellevue, WashingtonPrincipal Machine Learning Engineer, Signals and Measurement$276k – $414k·Bellevue, WashingtonLead Data Scientist, Core, Level 6$229k – $343k·Los Angeles, CaliforniaManager, Machine Learning Engineering, Advertiser Experience ML$229k – $343k·Palo Alto, California
   All Snapchat roles →

Employers ranked by median advertised base among those with at least two salaried listings in Palo Alto; each one’s best-paying open roles are listed beneath it.