Senior ML Engineer Salary in Stuttgart (2026)
Quick Answer
How much does senior ml engineer in Stuttgart make?
Want a personalized salary estimate?
Our Know Your Worth tool uses your exact experience in Stuttgart and skills to calculate where you land in the range for Senior ML Engineer roles.
Senior ML engineers in Stuttgart earn €88,000–€130,000 per year, with a median of €98,000. At this level, Stuttgart's automotive AI ecosystem creates some of Germany's highest ML compensation. OEMs and the Bosch AI Center compete for senior ML talent who can build production AI systems for autonomous driving, manufacturing, and edge deployment.
Key Facts
- Senior ML engineers earn €88K–€130K with median of €98K
- Autonomous driving perception roles pay €105K–€130K+ at OEMs
- Staff/Principal roles at Bosch AI Center reach €108K–€130K
- Head of ML/AI roles reach €120K–€155K+
- Functional safety for ML (ISO 26262, SOTIF) is a high-value differentiator
Salary by Sub-Level
- Senior (5–8 years): €88,000–€108,000
- Staff/Principal (8–12 years): €108,000–€130,000
- Head of ML/AI (12+ years): €120,000–€155,000+
The Autonomous Driving Premium
Mercedes-Benz's Level 3 autonomous driving system — the first legally approved in Germany — represents the pinnacle of Stuttgart ML engineering. Senior ML engineers working on perception, prediction, and planning for autonomous vehicles earn €105K–€130K+ base. These roles require deep computer vision, sensor fusion, and safety-critical ML expertise.
Bosch AI Center Leadership
The Bosch AI Center in Renningen is one of Europe's largest industrial AI labs, publishing at top conferences (NeurIPS, CVPR, ICML). Senior ML engineers here lead projects spanning computer vision, NLP, reinforcement learning, and manufacturing AI. The combination of research prestige and industrial impact is rare globally.
Functional Safety for ML
At senior level, a new dimension emerges: functional safety for ML systems. Automotive regulators require ML models in safety-critical applications (ADAS, autonomous driving) to meet ISO 26262 and SOTIF (Safety of the Intended Functionality) standards. Senior ML engineers who own the full lifecycle — from training to safety validation to edge deployment — are worth €110K+.
Top Hiring Companies
Career Advice
At senior level, the highest-paying path is autonomous driving ML — combining deep learning with computer vision and safety-critical deployment. Build expertise in functional safety for ML systems (SOTIF, ISO 26262) to command premium pay. Target Bosch AI Center for research prestige, or Mercedes-Benz ADAS for the highest applied impact. An MSc or PhD in a computer vision/ML field accelerates this path.
Found your target salary? Now land the role.
Paste a Senior ML Engineer job posting and get an ATS-optimized resume tailored to the role — plus a match score showing exactly where you stand.
Senior ML Engineer Insights — Stuttgart
Senior ML Engineer salaries in Stuttgart range from €88,000 to €130,000, a 43% spread indicating moderate variation depending on seniority and employer. The median of €98,000 sits below the midpoint, suggesting more positions cluster toward the entry-to-mid-level end of the range.
Stuttgart's cost of living index of 55/100 represents moderate living costs. At a median salary of €98,000, senior ml engineer professionals here enjoy solid purchasing power relative to higher-cost tech hubs.
The hiring landscape for senior ml engineer in Stuttgart is anchored by employers like Mercedes-Benz, Bosch, and Porsche, along with 2 other notable employers. Larger employers in this market typically offer compensation at the upper end of the range, often supplemented with equity, signing bonuses, and comprehensive benefits.
Demand for senior ml engineer in Stuttgart centers around expertise in Deep Learning, Computer Vision, Edge AI, plus 2 other core competencies. Candidates with strong proficiency across these areas tend to command offers closer to the €130,000 ceiling, and have natural transition paths into roles like ML Engineer or AI Research Scientist.
Related Roles in Stuttgart
Explore salary information for similar positions and compare compensation across different roles.
| Role | Location | Salary Range | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior DevOps Engineer | Stuttgart | €75,000 - €115,000 | €86,000 |
| Senior Data Engineer | Stuttgart | €72,000 - €110,000 | €84,000 |
| Senior Product Manager | Stuttgart | €82,000 - €125,000 | €95,000 |
| Senior Data Scientist | Stuttgart | €78,000 - €120,000 | €88,000 |
| Senior Software Engineer | Stuttgart | €80,000 - €125,000 | €92,000 |
Senior ML Engineer Salaries by City
Compare senior ml engineer compensation across different locations
More Tech Salaries in Stuttgart
Explore other tech roles and their compensation in Stuttgart
📚 Related Articles
ML Engineer Salary in 2026: 7 Cities Compared
What machine learning engineers earn in San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Berlin, London, Toronto, and remote — with real 2026 data.
Tech Salaries in Germany 2026
What developers, data scientists, and engineers actually earn across Berlin, Munich, and beyond.
The 14 Highest Paying Tech Jobs in 2026
Which tech roles pay the most? We ranked all 14 major tech positions by salary data from 113 cities worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a senior ML engineer earn in Stuttgart?
Senior ML engineers earn €88,000–€130,000 base with a median of €98,000. Including IG Metall benefits, total comp reaches €100,000–€160,000. Staff/Principal roles earn €108,000–€130,000. Head of ML/AI roles reach €120,000–€155,000+. Autonomous driving specialists at the top end exceed €130,000 base.
What are autonomous driving ML roles in Stuttgart?
Autonomous driving ML combines computer vision, sensor fusion (camera, LiDAR, radar), real-time inference on embedded hardware, and safety-critical validation. These roles require strong deep learning, 3D perception, and systems thinking. They pay at the top of the range and represent Stuttgart's most technically demanding ML positions.
How important are academic credentials for senior ML roles?
More important than in web-focused cities. An MSc in ML, computer vision, or robotics is the norm; PhDs are preferred at Bosch AI Center and OEM research teams. Publications at CVPR, NeurIPS, or ICML are valued. However, a strong production ML track record (deployed autonomous driving or edge AI systems) can substitute for academic credentials.
What is functional safety for ML and why does it matter?
Functional safety for ML means ensuring AI systems in safety-critical applications (autonomous driving, ADAS) meet standards like ISO 26262 and SOTIF. This involves validation methodologies, corner case detection, runtime monitoring, and safe degradation. Senior ML engineers who understand these requirements earn €10K–€20K more because they deliver models that pass automotive safety certification.
Should I target an OEM or the Bosch AI Center in Stuttgart?
OEMs (Mercedes, Porsche): applied autonomous driving and vehicle AI, direct product impact, IG Metall benefits, €88K–€130K. Bosch AI Center: broader research scope (vision, NLP, manufacturing AI), academic publishing culture, industry-leading research resources, €85K–€120K. Most senior ML engineers do research at Bosch, then move to OEMs for peak compensation and product impact.
Not sure if Senior ML Engineer is the right fit? Take our free career quiz to discover roles that match your skills and goals.
Now you know the salary. Can you actually land it?
Paste a Senior ML Engineer in Stuttgart job posting. See exactly where you match, where you don't, and how to address gaps in your application.
Related Pages
Data Source & Methodology
Salary data for senior ml engineer in Stuttgart is compiled from multiple verified sources including:
- Public salary reports from major tech employers (FAANG, Fortune 500, and high-growth startups)
- Government labor statistics and occupational wage surveys
- Aggregated self-reported compensation data from verified professionals
- Job posting analysis from major tech job boards and company career pages
All figures represent base salary in EUR and are normalized to annual equivalents. Ranges reflect the 25th to 75th percentile of reported compensation, while median values represent the 50th percentile. Data is updated quarterly to reflect current market conditions.
Last updated: April 2026 | Sample size: Varies by role and location (minimum 30 data points required for publication)