Salaries in Columbia.
522 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.90x national average. Last updated April 2026.
522 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$306,000
Distinguished Engineer
Median of All Roles
$132,000
Generative Media Engineer
Entry Level
$30,000
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.
Columbia, SC has a cost-of-living index of 0.90x the national average. The highest-paying role is Distinguished Engineer at $306,000, while the median across all 522 roles is $132,000. Columbia is South Carolina's capital and home to Fort Jackson, the University of South Carolina, and a growing insurance and financial services sector.
About the Columbia market
Columbia is South Carolina's capital and home to Fort Jackson, the University of South Carolina, and a growing insurance and financial services sector. The city offers very affordable living and stable government and military employment. Tech growth is accelerating as remote work brings new residents.
GovernmentMilitaryInsuranceHigher EducationHealthcare
Top 50 salaries in Columbia
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Distinguished Engineer | $306,000 | $232,000 – $389,000 |
| 2 | Chief AI Officer | $290,000 | $215,000 – $374,000 |
| 3 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $271,000 | $202,000 – $353,000 |
| 4 | SVP of AI Innovation | $262,000 | $197,000 – $344,000 |
| 5 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $260,000 | $195,000 – $338,000 |
| 6 | Chief Technology Officer | $251,000 | $186,000 – $328,000 |
| 7 | VP of AI | $251,000 | $190,000 – $328,000 |
| 8 | Head of AI | $248,000 | $184,000 – $321,000 |
| 9 | CEO | $248,000 | $180,000 – $342,000 |
| 10 | Chief Revenue Officer | $247,000 | $185,000 – $326,000 |
| 11 | Chief Product Officer | $245,000 | $182,000 – $323,000 |
| 12 | VP of AI Engineering | $243,000 | $184,000 – $317,000 |
| 13 | Head of AI Research | $241,000 | $178,000 – $316,000 |
| 14 | VP of AI Product | $239,000 | $178,000 – $309,000 |
| 15 | Principal Engineer | $234,000 | $180,000 – $306,000 |
| 16 | Chief Data Officer | $232,000 | $174,000 – $303,000 |
| 17 | Head of Applied AI | $230,000 | $171,000 – $302,000 |
| 18 | CFO | $229,000 | $172,000 – $304,000 |
| 19 | Chief Marketing Officer | $229,000 | $172,000 – $300,000 |
| 20 | VP of Product | $227,000 | $171,000 – $292,000 |
| 21 | Chief Operating Officer | $225,000 | $168,000 – $300,000 |
| 22 | VP of Engineering | $225,000 | $168,000 – $294,000 |
| 23 | Head of AI Platform | $223,000 | $167,000 – $293,000 |
| 24 | AI Transformation Officer | $222,000 | $167,000 – $292,000 |
| 25 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $218,000 | $165,000 – $283,000 |
| 26 | VP of Sales | $218,000 | $164,000 – $291,000 |
| 27 | VP of Marketing | $216,000 | $161,000 – $285,000 |
| 28 | VP of Product Design | $214,000 | $159,000 – $277,000 |
| 29 | Director of Generative AI | $211,000 | $159,000 – $277,000 |
| 30 | Staff Engineer | $206,000 | $164,000 – $262,000 |
| 31 | AI Program Director | $205,000 | $155,000 – $268,000 |
| 32 | CTO, AI Startup | $205,000 | $160,000 – $267,000 |
| 33 | Director of Engineering | $204,000 | $158,000 – $264,000 |
| 34 | Head of AI Partnerships | $203,000 | $151,000 – $268,000 |
| 35 | Director of Data Science | $195,000 | $150,000 – $255,000 |
| 36 | Director of AI Strategy | $194,000 | $147,000 – $254,000 |
| 37 | Foundation Model Engineer | $194,000 | $144,000 – $252,000 |
| 38 | AI Financial Engineer | $193,000 | $142,000 – $248,000 |
| 39 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $193,000 | $142,000 – $255,000 |
| 40 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $189,000 | $141,000 – $247,000 |
| 41 | Deep Learning Engineer | $187,000 | $145,000 – $239,000 |
| 42 | Engineering Manager, AI | $187,000 | $150,000 – $234,000 |
| 43 | AI Cloud Architect | $186,000 | $141,000 – $236,000 |
| 44 | AI Alignment Researcher | $185,000 | $137,000 – $245,000 |
| 45 | Quantum ML Researcher | $185,000 | $137,000 – $246,000 |
| 46 | AI Systems Architect | $185,000 | $140,000 – $241,000 |
| 47 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $185,000 | $138,000 – $245,000 |
| 48 | Reinforcement Learning Engineer | $184,000 | $138,000 – $239,000 |
| 49 | AI Solutions Architect | $183,000 | $136,000 – $239,000 |
| 50 | AI Agent Architect | $183,000 | $138,000 – $236,000 |
Tax considerations
South Carolina's top income tax rate is 6.4%. Columbia has no city income tax. The moderate state rate is offset by very affordable housing and living costs.
Negotiating in Columbia
Leverage government and military contractor pay scales. Columbia employers align with federal benchmarks which often exceed local private sector rates.
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