Salaries in Austin.
422 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.03x national average. Last updated April 2026.
422 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$326,000
Chief AI Officer
Median of All Roles
$154,000
AI Localization Engineer
Entry Level
$34,000
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.
Austin, TX has a cost-of-living index of 1.03x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief AI Officer at $326,000, while the median across all 422 roles is $154,000. Austin has transformed into one of America's fastest growing tech hubs, attracting relocations from Apple, Tesla, Oracle, and Samsung.
About the Austin market
Austin has transformed into one of America's fastest growing tech hubs, attracting relocations from Apple, Tesla, Oracle, and Samsung. The city's combination of no state income tax, a vibrant startup scene, and a strong university pipeline makes it highly competitive. Salaries have risen sharply over the past five years, narrowing the gap with coastal cities.
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Top 50 salaries in Austin
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Chief AI Officer | $326,000 | $242,000 – $420,000 |
| 2 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $297,000 | $223,000 – $387,000 |
| 3 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $295,000 | $220,000 – $385,000 |
| 4 | SVP of AI Innovation | $291,000 | $219,000 – $382,000 |
| 5 | Chief Technology Officer | $290,000 | $215,000 – $380,000 |
| 6 | CEO | $289,000 | $210,000 – $399,000 |
| 7 | Head of AI Research | $284,000 | $210,000 – $373,000 |
| 8 | Chief Revenue Officer | $280,000 | $210,000 – $370,000 |
| 9 | Chief Product Officer | $278,000 | $206,000 – $366,000 |
| 10 | VP of AI Product | $273,000 | $204,000 – $353,000 |
| 11 | VP of AI Engineering | $273,000 | $206,000 – $355,000 |
| 12 | VP of Engineering | $270,000 | $203,000 – $354,000 |
| 13 | Head of AI | $267,000 | $198,000 – $346,000 |
| 14 | Chief Data Officer | $262,000 | $197,000 – $343,000 |
| 15 | CFO | $260,000 | $195,000 – $345,000 |
| 16 | VP of Product | $260,000 | $196,000 – $334,000 |
| 17 | Chief Operating Officer | $257,000 | $192,000 – $343,000 |
| 18 | Chief Marketing Officer | $257,000 | $193,000 – $336,000 |
| 19 | AI Transformation Officer | $255,000 | $191,000 – $334,000 |
| 20 | VP of Product Design | $252,000 | $187,000 – $327,000 |
| 21 | VP of Marketing | $252,000 | $187,000 – $332,000 |
| 22 | Head of Applied AI | $252,000 | $188,000 – $331,000 |
| 23 | VP of Sales | $250,000 | $187,000 – $333,000 |
| 24 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $245,000 | $185,000 – $318,000 |
| 25 | Head of AI Platform | $245,000 | $183,000 – $321,000 |
| 26 | Director of Generative AI | $239,000 | $180,000 – $314,000 |
| 27 | Head of AI Partnerships | $232,000 | $173,000 – $307,000 |
| 28 | AI Program Director | $227,000 | $172,000 – $298,000 |
| 29 | Director of Data Science | $226,000 | $173,000 – $294,000 |
| 30 | AI Financial Engineer | $225,000 | $166,000 – $289,000 |
| 31 | Director of Engineering | $224,000 | $173,000 – $291,000 |
| 32 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $223,000 | $166,000 – $295,000 |
| 33 | Director of AI Strategy | $220,000 | $167,000 – $288,000 |
| 34 | Foundation Model Engineer | $217,000 | $162,000 – $283,000 |
| 35 | AI World Model Engineer | $215,000 | $160,000 – $284,000 |
| 36 | AI Compiler Engineer | $214,000 | $161,000 – $281,000 |
| 37 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $214,000 | $158,000 – $283,000 |
| 38 | AI Cloud Architect | $213,000 | $161,000 – $270,000 |
| 39 | AI Systems Architect | $213,000 | $161,000 – $279,000 |
| 40 | Agentic Orchestrator | $212,000 | $159,000 – $276,000 |
| 41 | AI Agent Architect | $209,000 | $158,000 – $270,000 |
| 42 | AI Interpretability Researcher | $209,000 | $155,000 – $276,000 |
| 43 | Neuro AI Engineer | $209,000 | $155,000 – $276,000 |
| 44 | Director of Product | $208,000 | $161,000 – $270,000 |
| 45 | Autonomous Systems Engineer | $207,000 | $154,000 – $265,000 |
| 46 | Autonomous Vehicle AI Engineer | $207,000 | $154,000 – $274,000 |
| 47 | Reinforcement Learning Engineer | $206,000 | $155,000 – $268,000 |
| 48 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $206,000 | $153,000 – $269,000 |
| 49 | AI Security & Red Teaming Specialist | $203,000 | $151,000 – $265,000 |
| 50 | NLP Research Scientist | $203,000 | $151,000 – $268,000 |
Tax considerations
Texas has no state income tax, which can mean 5 to 10% more take home pay compared to California roles. Property taxes are above average, however, running about 1.8% of home value.
Negotiating in Austin
Use the no income tax advantage as a negotiation lever. Ask employers to match 90% of a Bay Area offer and show that your net pay will actually be higher.
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