Salaries in Charleston.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.78x national average. Last updated June 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

Get your playbook.

Highest Paying

$276,000

Technical Fellow

Median of All Roles

$122,000

Commerce Platform Architect

Entry Level

$25,000

Hotel Clerk / Front Desk

Salary data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. 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 June 2026.

Charleston, WV has a cost-of-living index of 0.78x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $276,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $122,000. Charleston is West Virginia's capital and largest city, with an economy driven by government, energy, healthcare, and chemical manufacturing.

About the Charleston market

Charleston is West Virginia's capital and largest city, with an economy driven by government, energy, healthcare, and chemical manufacturing. The city offers some of the lowest living costs in the nation. Federal and state government roles provide stable employment anchors.

GovernmentEnergy & ChemicalHealthcareEducationManufacturing

Top 50 salaries in Charleston

#	Role	Median	Range
1	Technical Fellow	$276,000	$215,000 – $358,000
2	Senior VP of Security	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
3	Senior VP of Product	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
4	Principal AI Research Scientist	$268,000	$209,000 – $348,000
5	Principal Quantitative Researcher	$262,000	$204,000 – $341,000
6	Distinguished Engineer	$260,000	$197,000 – $331,000
7	Principal AI Compiler Engineer	$256,000	$200,000 – $333,000
8	SVP of Technology	$256,000	$200,000 – $333,000
9	Chief AI Officer	$251,000	$187,000 – $324,000
10	Principal AI Safety Engineer	$250,000	$195,000 – $325,000
11	Chief Security Officer	$250,000	$194,000 – $325,000
12	Chief Strategy Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
13	Chief Science Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
14	Principal Deep Learning Engineer	$248,000	$194,000 – $323,000
15	Principal AI Agent Architect	$245,000	$191,000 – $319,000
16	Staff Quantitative Researcher	$244,000	$191,000 – $317,000
17	SVP of Engineering	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
18	Senior Head of Security	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
19	SVP of Product	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
20	Principal Applied Scientist	$241,000	$188,000 – $314,000
21	CTO	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
22	Principal Quantitative Developer	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
23	Principal Cryptographer	$241,000	$188,000 – $314,000
24	Chief Legal Officer	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
25	Staff AI Research Scientist	$239,000	$187,000 – $311,000
26	Principal LLM Engineer	$239,000	$186,000 – $311,000
27	Chief Machine Learning Officer	$239,000	$186,000 – $310,000
28	Senior VP of Design	$239,000	$187,000 – $311,000
29	Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer	$239,000	$186,000 – $310,000
30	Principal Kernel Engineer	$235,000	$183,000 – $305,000
31	L7 Software Engineer	$235,000	$183,000 – $305,000
32	Chief Technology Officer	$233,000	$173,000 – $305,000
33	Chief Growth Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
34	Chief Transformation Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
35	SVP of Finance	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
36	Principal Machine Learning Engineer	$232,000	$181,000 – $301,000
37	SVP of Sales	$232,000	$181,000 – $301,000
38	Chief Risk Officer	$231,000	$180,000 – $300,000
39	Chief Cloud Officer	$231,000	$180,000 – $301,000
40	Principal Language Runtime Engineer	$230,000	$179,000 – $298,000
41	SVP of AI Innovation	$229,000	$173,000 – $301,000
42	Principal AI Agent Engineer	$229,000	$179,000 – $298,000
43	Senior Head of Product	$229,000	$179,000 – $299,000
44	Chief Architect	$229,000	$179,000 – $298,000
45	Chief Data & AI Officer	$228,000	$170,000 – $297,000
46	Principal Quantitative Analyst	$228,000	$177,000 – $295,000
47	Chief Commercial Officer	$228,000	$178,000 – $297,000
48	SVP of Operations	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000
49	SVP of Design	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000
50	General Counsel	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000

Tax considerations

West Virginia's top income tax rate is 5.12%. Charleston has no city income tax. The very low cost of living means even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power.

Negotiating in Charleston

Benchmark against federal government pay scales. Charleston employers often align with GS grades, and understanding the federal pay system gives you negotiating leverage.

Other cities

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All Roles Interview Prep Resume Score Job Search Guide

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Salaries in Charleston.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.78x national average. Last updated June 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

Get your playbook.

Highest Paying

$276,000

Technical Fellow

Median of All Roles

$122,000

Commerce Platform Architect

Entry Level

$25,000

Hotel Clerk / Front Desk

About the Charleston market

GovernmentEnergy & ChemicalHealthcareEducationManufacturing

Top 50 salaries in Charleston

#	Role	Median	Range
1	Technical Fellow	$276,000	$215,000 – $358,000
2	Senior VP of Security	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
3	Senior VP of Product	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
4	Principal AI Research Scientist	$268,000	$209,000 – $348,000
5	Principal Quantitative Researcher	$262,000	$204,000 – $341,000
6	Distinguished Engineer	$260,000	$197,000 – $331,000
7	Principal AI Compiler Engineer	$256,000	$200,000 – $333,000
8	SVP of Technology	$256,000	$200,000 – $333,000
9	Chief AI Officer	$251,000	$187,000 – $324,000
10	Principal AI Safety Engineer	$250,000	$195,000 – $325,000
11	Chief Security Officer	$250,000	$194,000 – $325,000
12	Chief Strategy Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
13	Chief Science Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
14	Principal Deep Learning Engineer	$248,000	$194,000 – $323,000
15	Principal AI Agent Architect	$245,000	$191,000 – $319,000
16	Staff Quantitative Researcher	$244,000	$191,000 – $317,000
17	SVP of Engineering	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
18	Senior Head of Security	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
19	SVP of Product	$242,000	$189,000 – $314,000
20	Principal Applied Scientist	$241,000	$188,000 – $314,000
21	CTO	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
22	Principal Quantitative Developer	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
23	Principal Cryptographer	$241,000	$188,000 – $314,000
24	Chief Legal Officer	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
25	Staff AI Research Scientist	$239,000	$187,000 – $311,000
26	Principal LLM Engineer	$239,000	$186,000 – $311,000
27	Chief Machine Learning Officer	$239,000	$186,000 – $310,000
28	Senior VP of Design	$239,000	$187,000 – $311,000
29	Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer	$239,000	$186,000 – $310,000
30	Principal Kernel Engineer	$235,000	$183,000 – $305,000
31	L7 Software Engineer	$235,000	$183,000 – $305,000
32	Chief Technology Officer	$233,000	$173,000 – $305,000
33	Chief Growth Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
34	Chief Transformation Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
35	SVP of Finance	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
36	Principal Machine Learning Engineer	$232,000	$181,000 – $301,000
37	SVP of Sales	$232,000	$181,000 – $301,000
38	Chief Risk Officer	$231,000	$180,000 – $300,000
39	Chief Cloud Officer	$231,000	$180,000 – $301,000
40	Principal Language Runtime Engineer	$230,000	$179,000 – $298,000
41	SVP of AI Innovation	$229,000	$173,000 – $301,000
42	Principal AI Agent Engineer	$229,000	$179,000 – $298,000
43	Senior Head of Product	$229,000	$179,000 – $299,000
44	Chief Architect	$229,000	$179,000 – $298,000
45	Chief Data & AI Officer	$228,000	$170,000 – $297,000
46	Principal Quantitative Analyst	$228,000	$177,000 – $295,000
47	Chief Commercial Officer	$228,000	$178,000 – $297,000
48	SVP of Operations	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000
49	SVP of Design	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000
50	General Counsel	$227,000	$177,000 – $295,000

Tax considerations

West Virginia's top income tax rate is 5.12%. Charleston has no city income tax. The very low cost of living means even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power.

Negotiating in Charleston

Benchmark against federal government pay scales. Charleston employers often align with GS grades, and understanding the federal pay system gives you negotiating leverage.

Other cities

New York San Francisco Los Angeles Chicago Seattle Austin Boston Denver Dallas Atlanta Miami Houston

All Roles Interview Prep Resume Score Job Search Guide

Know the number. Get the offer.

Orbyt gives you the salary data, interview prep, and pipeline tools to negotiate from a position of strength.

Start

Salaries in Charleston.

About the Charleston market

Top 50 salaries in Charleston

Tax considerations

Negotiating in Charleston

Other cities

Related

Know the number. Get the offer.

Salaries in Charleston.

About the Charleston market

Top 50 salaries in Charleston

Tax considerations

Negotiating in Charleston

Other cities

Related

Know the number. Get the offer.