Salaries in Charlotte.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.97x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$346,000
Technical Fellow
Median of All Roles
$152,000
AI Voice Cloning Engineer
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.
Charlotte, NC has a cost-of-living index of 0.97x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $346,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $152,000. Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the U.
About the Charlotte market
Charlotte is the second largest banking center in the U.S. after New York, with Bank of America and Truist headquartered here. The city's financial services dominance creates strong demand for finance, tech, and operations professionals. Rapid population growth has expanded the tech sector, with fintech and enterprise software companies establishing offices.
Banking & Financial ServicesEnergyTechnologyHealthcareMotorsports
Top 50 salaries in Charlotte
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Technical Fellow | $346,000 | $270,000 – $450,000 |
| 2 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $343,000 | $267,000 – $446,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $333,000 | $260,000 – $433,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $330,000 | $257,000 – $429,000 |
| 5 | Distinguished Engineer | $327,000 | $247,000 – $416,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Security | $323,000 | $252,000 – $420,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $318,000 | $248,000 – $414,000 |
| 8 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $317,000 | $248,000 – $412,000 |
| 9 | SVP of Technology | $315,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 10 | Senior VP of Product | $313,000 | $245,000 – $407,000 |
| 11 | SVP of Engineering | $310,000 | $242,000 – $403,000 |
| 12 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $308,000 | $241,000 – $400,000 |
| 13 | SVP of Product | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 14 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $303,000 | $236,000 – $394,000 |
| 15 | CTO | $303,000 | $236,000 – $393,000 |
| 16 | Chief Architect | $303,000 | $236,000 – $393,000 |
| 17 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $302,000 | $236,000 – $394,000 |
| 18 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $301,000 | $235,000 – $391,000 |
| 19 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $299,000 | $234,000 – $390,000 |
| 20 | SVP of Strategy | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 21 | Chief AI Officer | $295,000 | $219,000 – $380,000 |
| 22 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 23 | Chief Design Officer | $295,000 | $230,000 – $384,000 |
| 24 | Chief Strategy Officer | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 25 | SVP of Data | $295,000 | $230,000 – $384,000 |
| 26 | L7 Software Engineer | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Sales | $294,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 28 | Chief Science Officer | $292,000 | $228,000 – $379,000 |
| 29 | Principal Applied Scientist | $291,000 | $227,000 – $378,000 |
| 30 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $289,000 | $225,000 – $375,000 |
| 31 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $289,000 | $225,000 – $375,000 |
| 32 | Senior Head of Security | $289,000 | $226,000 – $375,000 |
| 33 | Senior VP of Design | $289,000 | $226,000 – $375,000 |
| 34 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $288,000 | $225,000 – $375,000 |
| 35 | Chief Digital Officer | $288,000 | $224,000 – $374,000 |
| 36 | Chief Technology Officer | $287,000 | $213,000 – $376,000 |
| 37 | VP of AI | $287,000 | $218,000 – $376,000 |
| 38 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $286,000 | $223,000 – $372,000 |
| 39 | Chief Commercial Officer | $286,000 | $223,000 – $372,000 |
| 40 | Principal Cryptographer | $285,000 | $223,000 – $371,000 |
| 41 | Chief Legal Officer | $285,000 | $222,000 – $371,000 |
| 42 | Chief Growth Officer | $284,000 | $221,000 – $369,000 |
| 43 | Principal AI Engineer | $283,000 | $221,000 – $368,000 |
| 44 | Principal AI Infrastructure Engineer | $283,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 45 | Principal ML Engineer | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 46 | General Counsel | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 47 | Chief Transformation Officer | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 48 | SVP of Marketing | $281,000 | $219,000 – $366,000 |
| 49 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $280,000 | $209,000 – $366,000 |
| 50 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $280,000 | $218,000 – $364,000 |
Tax considerations
North Carolina has a flat 4.5% state income tax. Charlotte has no city income tax. The moderate rate combined with low living costs makes net compensation very attractive.
Negotiating in Charlotte
Benchmark against banking sector pay scales. Even non finance roles in Charlotte benefit from the high compensation standards set by major banks headquartered here.
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