I am one of these Atlanta-based machine learning specialists, here to confirm that we do exist. But I think it is very rare, and I am not sure many at all are doing $300k+. Since the cost of living is comparatively low, though, I am doing way better than I ever could dream of doing in the bay.
What on earth sort of companies? I grew up near Atlanta and can’t think of any that would pay $300k for machine learning expertise. (I’m just curious because I will probably be living there again at some point in the future and I have a background in ML).