Salaries in Orlando.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.95x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$342,000
Technical Fellow
Median of All Roles
$147,000
Defense AI Systems Engineer
Entry Level
$30,000
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.
Orlando, FL has a cost-of-living index of 0.95x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $342,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $147,000. Orlando's economy extends well beyond theme parks into defense simulation, healthcare, and a growing tech startup scene.
About the Orlando market
Orlando's economy extends well beyond theme parks into defense simulation, healthcare, and a growing tech startup scene. Lockheed Martin, L3Harris, and numerous defense contractors drive strong engineering demand. The University of Central Florida, one of the largest in the US, feeds a young and growing talent pool.
Defense & SimulationTourism & HospitalityHealthcareTechnologyHigher Education
Top 50 salaries in Orlando
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Technical Fellow | $342,000 | $267,000 – $445,000 |
| 2 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $333,000 | $259,000 – $432,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $326,000 | $254,000 – $424,000 |
| 4 | Distinguished Engineer | $323,000 | $245,000 – $411,000 |
| 5 | Senior VP of Product | $323,000 | $252,000 – $420,000 |
| 6 | Chief Security Officer | $323,000 | $251,000 – $420,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $320,000 | $250,000 – $416,000 |
| 8 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $311,000 | $243,000 – $405,000 |
| 9 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $308,000 | $240,000 – $400,000 |
| 10 | SVP of Technology | $308,000 | $241,000 – $401,000 |
| 11 | Senior VP of Security | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 12 | Chief AI Officer | $303,000 | $225,000 – $391,000 |
| 13 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $300,000 | $234,000 – $391,000 |
| 14 | SVP of Engineering | $300,000 | $234,000 – $391,000 |
| 15 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $300,000 | $234,000 – $391,000 |
| 16 | Chief Strategy Officer | $300,000 | $234,000 – $391,000 |
| 17 | Principal Applied Scientist | $299,000 | $234,000 – $389,000 |
| 18 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $299,000 | $234,000 – $390,000 |
| 19 | Chief Legal Officer | $296,000 | $231,000 – $385,000 |
| 20 | Senior Head of Security | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 21 | Senior VP of Design | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 22 | Chief Science Officer | $295,000 | $230,000 – $383,000 |
| 23 | Principal LLM Engineer | $294,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 24 | CTO | $294,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 25 | SVP of Product | $292,000 | $228,000 – $379,000 |
| 26 | Principal Cryptographer | $291,000 | $227,000 – $378,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Strategy | $291,000 | $227,000 – $378,000 |
| 28 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $288,000 | $225,000 – $374,000 |
| 29 | Chief Technology Officer | $287,000 | $212,000 – $375,000 |
| 30 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $287,000 | $224,000 – $374,000 |
| 31 | Chief Design Officer | $286,000 | $223,000 – $372,000 |
| 32 | SVP of Sales | $285,000 | $222,000 – $371,000 |
| 33 | L7 Software Engineer | $283,000 | $221,000 – $368,000 |
| 34 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 35 | Chief Architect | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 36 | SVP of Finance | $281,000 | $219,000 – $365,000 |
| 37 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $280,000 | $218,000 – $364,000 |
| 38 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $280,000 | $218,000 – $363,000 |
| 39 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $280,000 | $218,000 – $364,000 |
| 40 | SVP of Data | $280,000 | $219,000 – $365,000 |
| 41 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $279,000 | $218,000 – $363,000 |
| 42 | VP of AI | $278,000 | $211,000 – $365,000 |
| 43 | Principal AI Engineer | $277,000 | $216,000 – $360,000 |
| 44 | Principal NLP Engineer | $277,000 | $216,000 – $360,000 |
| 45 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $277,000 | $216,000 – $360,000 |
| 46 | Chief Commercial Officer | $277,000 | $216,000 – $361,000 |
| 47 | SVP of Operations | $277,000 | $215,000 – $360,000 |
| 48 | VP of AI Research | $276,000 | $215,000 – $358,000 |
| 49 | Chief Transformation Officer | $276,000 | $215,000 – $358,000 |
| 50 | SVP of Marketing | $276,000 | $215,000 – $358,000 |
Tax considerations
Florida has no state income tax. Orlando has no city income tax. This zero tax environment combined with affordable housing creates one of the best take home pay ratios in the Southeast.
Negotiating in Orlando
Highlight defense simulation or modeling experience. Orlando's defense corridor pays nationally competitive rates for specialized engineering talent.
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 free.