Salaries in Albuquerque.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.88x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$320,000
Principal AI Research Scientist
Median of All Roles
$137,000
Senior Audio Engineer (Software)
Entry Level
$28,000
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.
Albuquerque, NM has a cost-of-living index of 0.88x the national average. The highest-paying role is Principal AI Research Scientist at $320,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $137,000. Albuquerque's economy is driven by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and a growing film production industry.
About the Albuquerque market
Albuquerque's economy is driven by Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and a growing film production industry. The city offers affordable living and a strong pipeline of research and engineering jobs tied to national defense and energy programs.
National Labs & ResearchMilitary & DefenseFilm ProductionHealthcareTechnology
Top 50 salaries in Albuquerque
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $320,000 | $250,000 – $416,000 |
| 2 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $302,000 | $235,000 – $392,000 |
| 3 | Technical Fellow | $299,000 | $233,000 – $388,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $299,000 | $233,000 – $389,000 |
| 5 | Senior VP of Product | $293,000 | $229,000 – $381,000 |
| 6 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $291,000 | $227,000 – $378,000 |
| 7 | Distinguished Engineer | $287,000 | $218,000 – $366,000 |
| 8 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $286,000 | $223,000 – $372,000 |
| 9 | Chief Strategy Officer | $284,000 | $221,000 – $369,000 |
| 10 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $283,000 | $221,000 – $368,000 |
| 11 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 12 | Senior VP of Security | $281,000 | $220,000 – $366,000 |
| 13 | Senior VP of Design | $281,000 | $220,000 – $365,000 |
| 14 | Chief Science Officer | $276,000 | $215,000 – $358,000 |
| 15 | Chief AI Officer | $273,000 | $202,000 – $352,000 |
| 16 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $273,000 | $213,000 – $355,000 |
| 17 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $272,000 | $212,000 – $353,000 |
| 18 | SVP of Engineering | $270,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 19 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $270,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 20 | Chief Design Officer | $270,000 | $210,000 – $351,000 |
| 21 | SVP of Product | $270,000 | $211,000 – $351,000 |
| 22 | SVP of Data | $270,000 | $210,000 – $351,000 |
| 23 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $269,000 | $210,000 – $350,000 |
| 24 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 25 | Principal Applied Scientist | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 26 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 27 | CTO | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 28 | Chief Commercial Officer | $267,000 | $208,000 – $348,000 |
| 29 | Chief Architect | $267,000 | $208,000 – $347,000 |
| 30 | L7 Software Engineer | $267,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
| 31 | SVP of Technology | $266,000 | $208,000 – $346,000 |
| 32 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $265,000 | $197,000 – $346,000 |
| 33 | SVP of Finance | $265,000 | $207,000 – $345,000 |
| 34 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $264,000 | $206,000 – $343,000 |
| 35 | Principal Cryptographer | $264,000 | $206,000 – $343,000 |
| 36 | SVP of Sales | $264,000 | $206,000 – $343,000 |
| 37 | SVP of Strategy | $264,000 | $206,000 – $343,000 |
| 38 | VP of AI Research | $263,000 | $205,000 – $342,000 |
| 39 | Principal LLM Engineer | $262,000 | $204,000 – $341,000 |
| 40 | Senior Head of Security | $262,000 | $205,000 – $341,000 |
| 41 | Senior Head of Product | $261,000 | $204,000 – $340,000 |
| 42 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $261,000 | $204,000 – $340,000 |
| 43 | Principal AI Engineer | $260,000 | $202,000 – $337,000 |
| 44 | SVP of Marketing | $260,000 | $203,000 – $338,000 |
| 45 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $259,000 | $202,000 – $337,000 |
| 46 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $259,000 | $202,000 – $337,000 |
| 47 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $259,000 | $202,000 – $337,000 |
| 48 | Chief Legal Officer | $259,000 | $202,000 – $336,000 |
| 49 | VP of AI | $258,000 | $196,000 – $338,000 |
| 50 | Chief Growth Officer | $258,000 | $201,000 – $335,000 |
Tax considerations
New Mexico's top income tax rate is 5.9%. Albuquerque has no city income tax. The moderate state rate and affordable housing create reasonable net compensation.
Negotiating in Albuquerque
Highlight security clearance or national lab experience. Sandia and Los Alamos pay nationally competitive salaries with excellent federal benefits packages.
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