Salaries in Pittsburgh.
3,445 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.92x national average. Last updated June 2026.
3,445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$319,000
Technical Fellow
Median of All Roles
$143,000
AI Data Engineer
Entry Level
$29,000
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.
Pittsburgh, PA has a cost-of-living index of 0.92x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $319,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $143,000. Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from a steel city into a hub for robotics, autonomous vehicles, and healthcare technology.
About the Pittsburgh market
Pittsburgh has reinvented itself from a steel city into a hub for robotics, autonomous vehicles, and healthcare technology. Carnegie Mellon University feeds a strong talent pipeline into AI and robotics companies. The city's low cost of living combined with world class research institutions makes it a hidden gem for technology professionals.
Robotics & AIHealthcareHigher EducationFinancial ServicesEnergy
Top 50 salaries in Pittsburgh
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Technical Fellow | $319,000 | $249,000 – $414,000 |
| 2 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $316,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $316,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $313,000 | $244,000 – $407,000 |
| 5 | Distinguished Engineer | $310,000 | $235,000 – $394,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Product | $306,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 7 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $301,000 | $235,000 – $392,000 |
| 8 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $301,000 | $235,000 – $391,000 |
| 9 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $301,000 | $235,000 – $392,000 |
| 10 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 11 | Senior VP of Security | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 12 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 13 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $293,000 | $229,000 – $381,000 |
| 14 | SVP of Technology | $293,000 | $229,000 – $381,000 |
| 15 | L7 Software Engineer | $291,000 | $227,000 – $378,000 |
| 16 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $289,000 | $226,000 – $376,000 |
| 17 | Chief Strategy Officer | $288,000 | $225,000 – $374,000 |
| 18 | Chief Science Officer | $285,000 | $223,000 – $371,000 |
| 19 | SVP of Product | $285,000 | $223,000 – $371,000 |
| 20 | Principal Applied Scientist | $284,000 | $222,000 – $370,000 |
| 21 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $284,000 | $222,000 – $370,000 |
| 22 | Principal LLM Engineer | $282,000 | $220,000 – $367,000 |
| 23 | Chief Legal Officer | $282,000 | $220,000 – $366,000 |
| 24 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $280,000 | $218,000 – $363,000 |
| 25 | Senior Head of Security | $280,000 | $218,000 – $363,000 |
| 26 | Chief AI Officer | $279,000 | $207,000 – $361,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Engineering | $279,000 | $218,000 – $363,000 |
| 28 | Chief Technology Officer | $277,000 | $206,000 – $364,000 |
| 29 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $277,000 | $215,000 – $359,000 |
| 30 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $277,000 | $215,000 – $359,000 |
| 31 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $277,000 | $215,000 – $359,000 |
| 32 | Senior VP of Design | $277,000 | $216,000 – $360,000 |
| 33 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $276,000 | $215,000 – $359,000 |
| 34 | Staff AI Agent Architect | $275,000 | $214,000 – $357,000 |
| 35 | Principal NLP Engineer | $274,000 | $213,000 – $355,000 |
| 36 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $274,000 | $213,000 – $356,000 |
| 37 | Chief Commercial Officer | $274,000 | $214,000 – $357,000 |
| 38 | Chief Architect | $273,000 | $213,000 – $355,000 |
| 39 | SVP of Design | $273,000 | $212,000 – $355,000 |
| 40 | Chief Growth Officer | $272,000 | $212,000 – $354,000 |
| 41 | Chief Design Officer | $271,000 | $212,000 – $353,000 |
| 42 | Principal Cryptographer | $270,000 | $211,000 – $352,000 |
| 43 | SVP of Sales | $270,000 | $211,000 – $352,000 |
| 44 | SVP of Strategy | $270,000 | $211,000 – $352,000 |
| 45 | VP of AI | $269,000 | $204,000 – $353,000 |
| 46 | Principal AI Engineer | $269,000 | $209,000 – $349,000 |
| 47 | Principal Research Engineer | $268,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
| 48 | Senior Head of Product | $268,000 | $209,000 – $349,000 |
| 49 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $268,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
| 50 | Chief Platform Officer | $268,000 | $209,000 – $348,000 |
Tax considerations
Pennsylvania's flat 3.07% state tax is low, but Pittsburgh adds a local earned income tax of about 3%. Combined with the school district tax, local taxes require attention in negotiations.
Negotiating in Pittsburgh
Highlight robotics or AI specialization. Pittsburgh employers tied to CMU's research ecosystem pay nationally competitive salaries for candidates with advanced technical skills.
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