Salaries in Honolulu.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.30x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$473,000
Technical Fellow
Median of All Roles
$202,000
Lead Warehouse Automation Engineer
Entry Level
$43,000
Home Health Aide
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.
Honolulu, HI has a cost-of-living index of 1.30x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $473,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $202,000. Honolulu's economy is driven by military spending, tourism, and healthcare.
About the Honolulu market
Honolulu's economy is driven by military spending, tourism, and healthcare. The extremely high cost of living means employers must pay significant premiums. Federal and defense contractor roles offer the highest salaries, while the growing renewable energy sector is creating new technology positions.
Military & DefenseTourism & HospitalityHealthcareGovernmentRenewable Energy
Top 50 salaries in Honolulu
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Technical Fellow | $473,000 | $369,000 – $615,000 |
| 2 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $455,000 | $355,000 – $592,000 |
| 3 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $437,000 | $341,000 – $568,000 |
| 4 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $434,000 | $339,000 – $564,000 |
| 5 | Distinguished Engineer | $425,000 | $322,000 – $541,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Security | $424,000 | $331,000 – $552,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $422,000 | $329,000 – $549,000 |
| 8 | SVP of Product | $419,000 | $327,000 – $545,000 |
| 9 | L7 Software Engineer | $419,000 | $327,000 – $545,000 |
| 10 | Senior VP of Product | $416,000 | $324,000 – $540,000 |
| 11 | Chief Security Officer | $416,000 | $324,000 – $541,000 |
| 12 | SVP of Technology | $414,000 | $323,000 – $538,000 |
| 13 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $410,000 | $320,000 – $533,000 |
| 14 | SVP of Engineering | $407,000 | $318,000 – $529,000 |
| 15 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $404,000 | $316,000 – $525,000 |
| 16 | Principal LLM Engineer | $403,000 | $314,000 – $523,000 |
| 17 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $402,000 | $314,000 – $522,000 |
| 18 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $399,000 | $311,000 – $519,000 |
| 19 | CTO | $398,000 | $310,000 – $517,000 |
| 20 | Principal Cryptographer | $398,000 | $311,000 – $517,000 |
| 21 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $397,000 | $310,000 – $517,000 |
| 22 | Chief AI Officer | $395,000 | $293,000 – $510,000 |
| 23 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $393,000 | $307,000 – $512,000 |
| 24 | SVP of Finance | $392,000 | $306,000 – $510,000 |
| 25 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $391,000 | $305,000 – $508,000 |
| 26 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $391,000 | $305,000 – $508,000 |
| 27 | Senior VP of Design | $391,000 | $306,000 – $508,000 |
| 28 | Chief Science Officer | $391,000 | $305,000 – $508,000 |
| 29 | Principal Applied Scientist | $390,000 | $304,000 – $507,000 |
| 30 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $387,000 | $289,000 – $506,000 |
| 31 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $387,000 | $301,000 – $502,000 |
| 32 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $387,000 | $302,000 – $503,000 |
| 33 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $387,000 | $301,000 – $502,000 |
| 34 | Chief Strategy Officer | $387,000 | $302,000 – $503,000 |
| 35 | VP of AI Research | $385,000 | $300,000 – $500,000 |
| 36 | Chief Growth Officer | $385,000 | $300,000 – $500,000 |
| 37 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $383,000 | $298,000 – $497,000 |
| 38 | Senior Head of Security | $383,000 | $299,000 – $498,000 |
| 39 | Chief Legal Officer | $382,000 | $298,000 – $497,000 |
| 40 | SVP of Strategy | $382,000 | $298,000 – $497,000 |
| 41 | Senior Director of Security | $381,000 | $297,000 – $495,000 |
| 42 | Principal AI Engineer | $380,000 | $296,000 – $493,000 |
| 43 | Chief Design Officer | $380,000 | $296,000 – $494,000 |
| 44 | Principal AI Platform Engineer | $379,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 45 | SVP of Operations | $379,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 46 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $378,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 47 | SVP of Sales | $378,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 48 | Staff Quantitative Developer | $377,000 | $295,000 – $491,000 |
| 49 | Chief Transformation Officer | $377,000 | $294,000 – $490,000 |
| 50 | SVP of Marketing | $377,000 | $294,000 – $490,000 |
Tax considerations
Hawaii has the highest top state income tax rate in the nation at 11%. Honolulu has no city income tax, but the state burden combined with high living costs requires careful salary planning.
Negotiating in Honolulu
Negotiate housing allowances alongside salary. Honolulu employers, especially federal contractors, often provide COLA adjustments and housing stipends that significantly increase total compensation.
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