Salaries in San Diego.
3,500+ roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.17x national average. Last updated April 2026.
3445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$418,000
Principal Quantitative Researcher
Median of All Roles
$183,000
AI Benchmarking Engineer
Entry Level
$39,000
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 Diego, CA has a cost-of-living index of 1.17x the national average. The highest-paying role is Principal Quantitative Researcher at $418,000, while the median across all 3445 roles is $183,000. San Diego's economy thrives on defense, biotech, and a growing tech startup scene.
About the San Diego market
San Diego's economy thrives on defense, biotech, and a growing tech startup scene. The city's proximity to major military installations drives strong aerospace and cybersecurity demand. Biotech companies along the Torrey Pines corridor compete aggressively for scientific and engineering talent, pushing specialized salaries close to Bay Area levels.
Defense & MilitaryBiotech & PharmaTechnologyTourismClean Energy
Top 50 salaries in San Diego
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $418,000 | $326,000 – $543,000 |
| 2 | Senior VP of Security | $405,000 | $316,000 – $527,000 |
| 3 | Technical Fellow | $397,000 | $310,000 – $516,000 |
| 4 | Senior VP of Product | $394,000 | $307,000 – $512,000 |
| 5 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $393,000 | $307,000 – $511,000 |
| 6 | Distinguished Engineer | $390,000 | $295,000 – $496,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $387,000 | $302,000 – $502,000 |
| 8 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $380,000 | $296,000 – $494,000 |
| 9 | Chief Security Officer | $378,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 10 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $377,000 | $294,000 – $490,000 |
| 11 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $376,000 | $294,000 – $489,000 |
| 12 | Chief AI Officer | $370,000 | $274,000 – $477,000 |
| 13 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $370,000 | $289,000 – $481,000 |
| 14 | Chief Strategy Officer | $370,000 | $289,000 – $481,000 |
| 15 | L7 Software Engineer | $370,000 | $289,000 – $481,000 |
| 16 | Chief Science Officer | $366,000 | $286,000 – $476,000 |
| 17 | Principal Applied Scientist | $365,000 | $285,000 – $475,000 |
| 18 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $365,000 | $285,000 – $475,000 |
| 19 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $364,000 | $284,000 – $473,000 |
| 20 | Senior Head of Security | $363,000 | $283,000 – $471,000 |
| 21 | Senior VP of Design | $363,000 | $284,000 – $471,000 |
| 22 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $362,000 | $282,000 – $470,000 |
| 23 | SVP of Technology | $361,000 | $282,000 – $470,000 |
| 24 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $359,000 | $280,000 – $466,000 |
| 25 | Chief Commercial Officer | $359,000 | $280,000 – $467,000 |
| 26 | Principal Cryptographer | $358,000 | $280,000 – $466,000 |
| 27 | Chief Legal Officer | $358,000 | $279,000 – $465,000 |
| 28 | Principal AI Engineer | $356,000 | $277,000 – $462,000 |
| 29 | SVP of Engineering | $355,000 | $277,000 – $462,000 |
| 30 | Chief Transformation Officer | $353,000 | $275,000 – $459,000 |
| 31 | SVP of Marketing | $353,000 | $275,000 – $459,000 |
| 32 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $352,000 | $263,000 – $459,000 |
| 33 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $352,000 | $274,000 – $456,000 |
| 34 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $351,000 | $274,000 – $456,000 |
| 35 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $349,000 | $271,000 – $453,000 |
| 36 | Principal LLM Engineer | $349,000 | $271,000 – $453,000 |
| 37 | Staff AI Agent Architect | $349,000 | $273,000 – $454,000 |
| 38 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $348,000 | $271,000 – $452,000 |
| 39 | SVP of Product | $348,000 | $272,000 – $453,000 |
| 40 | SVP of AI Innovation | $347,000 | $262,000 – $456,000 |
| 41 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $347,000 | $271,000 – $452,000 |
| 42 | CTO | $347,000 | $271,000 – $452,000 |
| 43 | Senior Head of Product | $347,000 | $272,000 – $453,000 |
| 44 | Chief Architect | $347,000 | $271,000 – $452,000 |
| 45 | Chief Cloud Officer | $347,000 | $270,000 – $451,000 |
| 46 | VP of AI Research | $346,000 | $270,000 – $450,000 |
| 47 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $345,000 | $269,000 – $448,000 |
| 48 | SVP of Finance | $343,000 | $267,000 – $446,000 |
| 49 | Principal NLP Engineer | $342,000 | $266,000 – $443,000 |
| 50 | Chief Revenue Officer | $341,000 | $256,000 – $450,000 |
Tax considerations
California's top 13.3% state tax applies here. While San Diego has no city income tax, the state burden means you should negotiate gross pay higher than you might expect for the cost of living.
Negotiating in San Diego
Leverage defense and biotech sector demand. Candidates with security clearances or specialized science backgrounds can command 15 to 20% premiums in San Diego.
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