Salaries in Albany.
522 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.96x national average. Last updated April 2026.
522 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$307,000
Distinguished Engineer
Median of All Roles
$141,000
AI Supply Chain Specialist
Entry Level
$31,000
Hotel Clerk / Front Desk
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.
Albany, NY has a cost-of-living index of 0.96x the national average. The highest-paying role is Distinguished Engineer at $307,000, while the median across all 522 roles is $141,000. Albany is New York's capital and a growing semiconductor hub, with GlobalFoundries and the SUNY Polytechnic Institute driving chip manufacturing employment.
About the Albany market
Albany is New York's capital and a growing semiconductor hub, with GlobalFoundries and the SUNY Polytechnic Institute driving chip manufacturing employment. State government is the largest employer. The cost of living is dramatically lower than NYC while still offering strong tech salaries.
GovernmentSemiconductorsHigher EducationHealthcareTechnology
Top 50 salaries in Albany
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Distinguished Engineer | $307,000 | $233,000 – $391,000 |
| 2 | Chief AI Officer | $298,000 | $221,000 – $384,000 |
| 3 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $295,000 | $220,000 – $384,000 |
| 4 | Chief Technology Officer | $290,000 | $215,000 – $379,000 |
| 5 | Chief Revenue Officer | $280,000 | $210,000 – $369,000 |
| 6 | VP of AI | $276,000 | $209,000 – $361,000 |
| 7 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $271,000 | $204,000 – $354,000 |
| 8 | Head of AI | $267,000 | $198,000 – $346,000 |
| 9 | SVP of AI Innovation | $265,000 | $200,000 – $349,000 |
| 10 | CEO | $264,000 | $192,000 – $365,000 |
| 11 | CFO | $260,000 | $195,000 – $344,000 |
| 12 | Head of AI Research | $259,000 | $192,000 – $341,000 |
| 13 | Chief Marketing Officer | $257,000 | $193,000 – $336,000 |
| 14 | Chief Product Officer | $254,000 | $188,000 – $334,000 |
| 15 | Head of Applied AI | $252,000 | $188,000 – $331,000 |
| 16 | VP of AI Product | $250,000 | $186,000 – $323,000 |
| 17 | VP of AI Engineering | $249,000 | $188,000 – $325,000 |
| 18 | VP of Engineering | $247,000 | $185,000 – $323,000 |
| 19 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $245,000 | $185,000 – $317,000 |
| 20 | Head of AI Platform | $245,000 | $183,000 – $321,000 |
| 21 | Chief Data Officer | $240,000 | $180,000 – $313,000 |
| 22 | Principal Engineer | $240,000 | $184,000 – $313,000 |
| 23 | VP of Product | $238,000 | $179,000 – $305,000 |
| 24 | Chief Operating Officer | $235,000 | $175,000 – $313,000 |
| 25 | Head of AI Partnerships | $232,000 | $173,000 – $307,000 |
| 26 | VP of Product Design | $230,000 | $171,000 – $299,000 |
| 27 | VP of Marketing | $230,000 | $171,000 – $304,000 |
| 28 | VP of Sales | $228,000 | $171,000 – $304,000 |
| 29 | AI Transformation Officer | $221,000 | $166,000 – $290,000 |
| 30 | Director of Generative AI | $218,000 | $165,000 – $287,000 |
| 31 | CTO, AI Startup | $216,000 | $169,000 – $282,000 |
| 32 | AI Program Director | $207,000 | $157,000 – $272,000 |
| 33 | AI Financial Engineer | $206,000 | $152,000 – $264,000 |
| 34 | Director of Data Science | $206,000 | $158,000 – $269,000 |
| 35 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $206,000 | $153,000 – $269,000 |
| 36 | Director of Engineering | $205,000 | $158,000 – $265,000 |
| 37 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $204,000 | $152,000 – $269,000 |
| 38 | AI Alignment Researcher | $203,000 | $150,000 – $269,000 |
| 39 | Staff Engineer | $203,000 | $161,000 – $258,000 |
| 40 | Multimodal AI Researcher | $202,000 | $150,000 – $268,000 |
| 41 | Director of AI Strategy | $201,000 | $152,000 – $263,000 |
| 42 | Multimodal AI Engineer | $200,000 | $150,000 – $260,000 |
| 43 | Deep Learning Engineer | $198,000 | $153,000 – $252,000 |
| 44 | Quantum ML Researcher | $198,000 | $146,000 – $262,000 |
| 45 | Foundation Model Engineer | $198,000 | $147,000 – $258,000 |
| 46 | AI Infrastructure Manager | $198,000 | $150,000 – $258,000 |
| 47 | AI Reasoning Specialist | $198,000 | $146,000 – $262,000 |
| 48 | AI World Model Engineer | $197,000 | $146,000 – $259,000 |
| 49 | AI Business Development Manager | $196,000 | $135,000 – $265,000 |
| 50 | Privacy / Data Counsel | $196,000 | $150,000 – $255,000 |
Tax considerations
New York State income tax rates reach 10.9%. Albany has no additional city income tax (unlike NYC). The lower cost of living and absence of city tax makes take home pay more competitive than downstate.
Negotiating in Albany
Reference the semiconductor investment corridor. GlobalFoundries and related suppliers are paying nationally competitive rates to attract engineering talent to the Capital Region.
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