Salaries in Portland.
3,445 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.05x national average. Last updated June 2026.
3,445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$375,000
Principal AI Research Scientist
Median of All Roles
$164,000
Credit Decisioning Engineer
Entry Level
$34,000
Home Health Aide
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.
Portland, ME has a cost-of-living index of 1.05x the national average. The highest-paying role is Principal AI Research Scientist at $375,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $164,000. Portland, Maine is a small but growing tech and creative economy hub.
About the Portland market
Portland, Maine is a small but growing tech and creative economy hub. The city attracts remote workers and small companies seeking quality of life on the New England coast. Healthcare, marine industries, and a craft food and beverage sector round out the local economy.
HealthcareMarine & FishingTechnologyTourismFood & Beverage
Top 50 salaries in Portland
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $375,000 | $292,000 – $487,000 |
| 2 | Technical Fellow | $364,000 | $284,000 – $473,000 |
| 3 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $354,000 | $276,000 – $460,000 |
| 4 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $353,000 | $275,000 – $459,000 |
| 5 | Chief Security Officer | $350,000 | $273,000 – $455,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Security | $343,000 | $268,000 – $446,000 |
| 7 | Senior VP of Product | $343,000 | $268,000 – $446,000 |
| 8 | SVP of Technology | $341,000 | $266,000 – $443,000 |
| 9 | Distinguished Engineer | $336,000 | $255,000 – $428,000 |
| 10 | Chief Strategy Officer | $332,000 | $259,000 – $432,000 |
| 11 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $331,000 | $258,000 – $431,000 |
| 12 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $330,000 | $258,000 – $429,000 |
| 13 | SVP of Engineering | $329,000 | $257,000 – $427,000 |
| 14 | Senior VP of Design | $329,000 | $257,000 – $427,000 |
| 15 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $327,000 | $256,000 – $426,000 |
| 16 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $325,000 | $253,000 – $422,000 |
| 17 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $325,000 | $253,000 – $423,000 |
| 18 | Chief Architect | $324,000 | $253,000 – $422,000 |
| 19 | Chief Science Officer | $322,000 | $252,000 – $419,000 |
| 20 | Chief AI Officer | $319,000 | $237,000 – $412,000 |
| 21 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $319,000 | $249,000 – $415,000 |
| 22 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $318,000 | $248,000 – $414,000 |
| 23 | Senior Head of Product | $318,000 | $249,000 – $414,000 |
| 24 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $318,000 | $248,000 – $413,000 |
| 25 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $316,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 26 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $316,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 27 | Chief Design Officer | $316,000 | $246,000 – $411,000 |
| 28 | SVP of Product | $316,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 29 | Chief Technology Officer | $314,000 | $233,000 – $411,000 |
| 30 | VP of AI | $314,000 | $238,000 – $411,000 |
| 31 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $313,000 | $244,000 – $406,000 |
| 32 | Chief Commercial Officer | $313,000 | $244,000 – $407,000 |
| 33 | Principal Applied Scientist | $312,000 | $243,000 – $405,000 |
| 34 | CTO | $312,000 | $243,000 – $405,000 |
| 35 | L7 Software Engineer | $312,000 | $244,000 – $406,000 |
| 36 | SVP of Finance | $311,000 | $242,000 – $404,000 |
| 37 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $310,000 | $231,000 – $404,000 |
| 38 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $310,000 | $241,000 – $402,000 |
| 39 | SVP of Sales | $309,000 | $241,000 – $401,000 |
| 40 | SVP of Strategy | $309,000 | $241,000 – $401,000 |
| 41 | VP of AI Research | $308,000 | $240,000 – $400,000 |
| 42 | Principal Cryptographer | $308,000 | $241,000 – $401,000 |
| 43 | SVP of Design | $308,000 | $240,000 – $401,000 |
| 44 | Principal LLM Engineer | $307,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 45 | Senior Head of Security | $307,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 46 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $306,000 | $239,000 – $397,000 |
| 47 | Chief Platform Officer | $306,000 | $238,000 – $397,000 |
| 48 | SVP of Marketing | $305,000 | $237,000 – $396,000 |
| 49 | Principal AI Engineer | $304,000 | $236,000 – $394,000 |
| 50 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $303,000 | $236,000 – $394,000 |
Tax considerations
Maine's top income tax rate is 7.15%. Portland has no city income tax. The state rate is above average but offset by quality of life and access to rural New England.
Negotiating in Portland
Negotiate remote work flexibility. Portland employers know they compete with Boston and New York for talent and may offer location flexibility to attract top candidates.
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