Salaries in San Antonio.
522 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 0.91x national average. Last updated April 2026.
522 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$303,000
Distinguished Engineer
Median of All Roles
$132,000
Controller
Entry Level
$29,000
Hotel Clerk / Front Desk
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.
San Antonio, TX has a cost-of-living index of 0.91x the national average. The highest-paying role is Distinguished Engineer at $303,000, while the median across all 522 roles is $132,000. San Antonio has a major military presence with Joint Base San Antonio and a growing cybersecurity hub.
About the San Antonio market
San Antonio has a major military presence with Joint Base San Antonio and a growing cybersecurity hub. The city is home to USAA headquarters and a cluster of healthcare systems. The extremely affordable cost of living and no state income tax make it attractive for professionals seeking purchasing power.
Military & DefenseCybersecurityHealthcareFinancial ServicesTourism
Top 50 salaries in San Antonio
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Distinguished Engineer | $303,000 | $230,000 – $386,000 |
| 2 | Chief AI Officer | $288,000 | $213,000 – $371,000 |
| 3 | VP of AI | $272,000 | $206,000 – $356,000 |
| 4 | SVP of AI Innovation | $270,000 | $203,000 – $355,000 |
| 5 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $268,000 | $200,000 – $350,000 |
| 6 | Chief Technology Officer | $259,000 | $192,000 – $339,000 |
| 7 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $257,000 | $193,000 – $335,000 |
| 8 | Head of AI | $246,000 | $182,000 – $319,000 |
| 9 | CEO | $245,000 | $178,000 – $339,000 |
| 10 | Chief Revenue Officer | $245,000 | $183,000 – $323,000 |
| 11 | VP of Engineering | $244,000 | $183,000 – $319,000 |
| 12 | Chief Product Officer | $243,000 | $180,000 – $320,000 |
| 13 | VP of AI Engineering | $241,000 | $182,000 – $314,000 |
| 14 | Head of AI Research | $238,000 | $177,000 – $313,000 |
| 15 | CFO | $237,000 | $177,000 – $314,000 |
| 16 | Principal Engineer | $232,000 | $178,000 – $303,000 |
| 17 | Chief Data Officer | $230,000 | $172,000 – $300,000 |
| 18 | Head of AI Platform | $230,000 | $172,000 – $302,000 |
| 19 | Chief Marketing Officer | $227,000 | $170,000 – $297,000 |
| 20 | Head of Applied AI | $227,000 | $169,000 – $299,000 |
| 21 | VP of Product | $225,000 | $170,000 – $290,000 |
| 22 | VP of AI Product | $225,000 | $168,000 – $291,000 |
| 23 | Chief Operating Officer | $223,000 | $166,000 – $297,000 |
| 24 | AI Transformation Officer | $221,000 | $165,000 – $290,000 |
| 25 | Head of AI Partnerships | $220,000 | $164,000 – $291,000 |
| 26 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $216,000 | $163,000 – $281,000 |
| 27 | VP of Sales | $216,000 | $162,000 – $288,000 |
| 28 | VP of Marketing | $214,000 | $159,000 – $282,000 |
| 29 | VP of Product Design | $212,000 | $158,000 – $275,000 |
| 30 | AI Program Director | $211,000 | $159,000 – $277,000 |
| 31 | Director of Generative AI | $209,000 | $158,000 – $275,000 |
| 32 | Staff Engineer | $204,000 | $162,000 – $260,000 |
| 33 | CTO, AI Startup | $203,000 | $159,000 – $265,000 |
| 34 | Director of Engineering | $202,000 | $156,000 – $262,000 |
| 35 | Director of Data Science | $194,000 | $149,000 – $252,000 |
| 36 | Director of AI Strategy | $192,000 | $146,000 – $252,000 |
| 37 | Foundation Model Engineer | $192,000 | $143,000 – $250,000 |
| 38 | AI Financial Engineer | $191,000 | $141,000 – $246,000 |
| 39 | Multimodal AI Researcher | $191,000 | $142,000 – $254,000 |
| 40 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $191,000 | $141,000 – $253,000 |
| 41 | AI Reasoning Specialist | $189,000 | $140,000 – $251,000 |
| 42 | AI Research Scientist | $187,000 | $141,000 – $244,000 |
| 43 | Director of Product | $187,000 | $145,000 – $244,000 |
| 44 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $187,000 | $140,000 – $245,000 |
| 45 | Deep Learning Engineer | $186,000 | $144,000 – $237,000 |
| 46 | Engineering Manager, AI | $186,000 | $149,000 – $232,000 |
| 47 | AI Safety Researcher | $185,000 | $137,000 – $241,000 |
| 48 | AI Cloud Architect | $185,000 | $140,000 – $234,000 |
| 49 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $184,000 | $137,000 – $243,000 |
| 50 | NLP Research Scientist | $183,000 | $136,000 – $242,000 |
Tax considerations
Texas has no state income tax. San Antonio has no city income tax. The zero tax environment and very affordable housing create exceptional purchasing power relative to most metros.
Negotiating in San Antonio
Leverage the cybersecurity corridor. San Antonio's NSA facility and military cyber operations drive demand for cleared security professionals at premium rates.
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