Salaries in Raleigh.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.99x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$353,000
Principal Quantitative Researcher
Median of All Roles
$154,000
Lead Warehouse Automation Engineer
Entry Level
$31,000
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.
Raleigh, NC has a cost-of-living index of 0.99x the national average. The highest-paying role is Principal Quantitative Researcher at $353,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $154,000. Raleigh sits at the heart of the Research Triangle, one of America's premier tech and life sciences corridors.
About the Raleigh market
Raleigh sits at the heart of the Research Triangle, one of America's premier tech and life sciences corridors. Cisco, Red Hat, Epic Games, and numerous biotech firms drive strong demand for engineering, research, and product roles. The combination of top tier universities and moderate living costs creates an exceptionally favorable salary to expense ratio.
TechnologyBiotech & PharmaHigher EducationHealthcareGaming
Top 50 salaries in Raleigh
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $353,000 | $276,000 – $459,000 |
| 2 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $347,000 | $270,000 – $450,000 |
| 3 | Technical Fellow | $340,000 | $265,000 – $441,000 |
| 4 | Senior VP of Product | $336,000 | $263,000 – $437,000 |
| 5 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $324,000 | $253,000 – $422,000 |
| 6 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $321,000 | $250,000 – $417,000 |
| 7 | SVP of Technology | $321,000 | $251,000 – $418,000 |
| 8 | Distinguished Engineer | $320,000 | $243,000 – $407,000 |
| 9 | Chief Security Officer | $320,000 | $249,000 – $416,000 |
| 10 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $318,000 | $248,000 – $413,000 |
| 11 | Chief AI Officer | $316,000 | $235,000 – $408,000 |
| 12 | Senior VP of Security | $316,000 | $247,000 – $412,000 |
| 13 | Principal Cryptographer | $315,000 | $246,000 – $410,000 |
| 14 | SVP of Engineering | $313,000 | $244,000 – $407,000 |
| 15 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $313,000 | $244,000 – $407,000 |
| 16 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $312,000 | $244,000 – $406,000 |
| 17 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $312,000 | $244,000 – $406,000 |
| 18 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $309,000 | $241,000 – $402,000 |
| 19 | Principal LLM Engineer | $307,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 20 | Chief Science Officer | $307,000 | $240,000 – $399,000 |
| 21 | L7 Software Engineer | $307,000 | $240,000 – $399,000 |
| 22 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $306,000 | $239,000 – $397,000 |
| 23 | Chief Architect | $306,000 | $239,000 – $398,000 |
| 24 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 25 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 26 | SVP of Product | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Data | $304,000 | $237,000 – $395,000 |
| 28 | SVP of Strategy | $303,000 | $236,000 – $394,000 |
| 29 | Principal AI Engineer | $301,000 | $234,000 – $391,000 |
| 30 | VP of AI Research | $299,000 | $233,000 – $388,000 |
| 31 | Chief Transformation Officer | $299,000 | $233,000 – $388,000 |
| 32 | SVP of Marketing | $299,000 | $233,000 – $388,000 |
| 33 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $298,000 | $232,000 – $387,000 |
| 34 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $298,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 35 | Chief Design Officer | $298,000 | $232,000 – $388,000 |
| 36 | Chief Strategy Officer | $298,000 | $232,000 – $387,000 |
| 37 | Principal Applied Scientist | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 38 | SVP of Sales | $297,000 | $232,000 – $386,000 |
| 39 | Chief Risk Officer | $296,000 | $230,000 – $384,000 |
| 40 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $295,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 41 | Staff AI Safety Engineer | $295,000 | $231,000 – $384,000 |
| 42 | Principal AI Infrastructure Engineer | $295,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 43 | Chief Legal Officer | $294,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 44 | Staff AI Agent Architect | $293,000 | $228,000 – $380,000 |
| 45 | SVP of Design | $293,000 | $229,000 – $382,000 |
| 46 | SVP of Finance | $293,000 | $228,000 – $381,000 |
| 47 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $292,000 | $227,000 – $379,000 |
| 48 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $292,000 | $227,000 – $379,000 |
| 49 | Senior Head of Security | $292,000 | $228,000 – $379,000 |
| 50 | Senior VP of Design | $292,000 | $228,000 – $379,000 |
Tax considerations
North Carolina's flat 4.5% income tax keeps the burden low. Raleigh has no city income tax, and the Triangle's affordable housing amplifies your take home purchasing power.
Negotiating in Raleigh
Cite Research Triangle talent competition in your negotiation. Employers here compete directly with each other and with remote offers, creating favorable leverage for candidates.
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