Salaries in San Francisco.
3,445 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.35x national average. Last updated June 2026.
3,445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$487,000
Principal AI Research Scientist
Median of All Roles
$210,000
Aerospace Backend Engineer
Entry Level
$46,000
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.
San Francisco, CA has a cost-of-living index of 1.35x the national average. The highest-paying role is Principal AI Research Scientist at $487,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $210,000. San Francisco is the epicenter of venture capital and startup innovation, consistently producing the highest tech salaries in the nation.
About the San Francisco market
San Francisco is the epicenter of venture capital and startup innovation, consistently producing the highest tech salaries in the nation. The city's concentration of AI labs, SaaS companies, and fintech firms creates intense competition for talent. Despite remote work trends, SF still commands the steepest salary premiums for engineering and product roles.
Software & SaaSArtificial IntelligenceFintechBiotechVenture Capital
Top 50 salaries in San Francisco
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $487,000 | $380,000 – $633,000 |
| 2 | Technical Fellow | $477,000 | $372,000 – $620,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $454,000 | $354,000 – $590,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $454,000 | $354,000 – $591,000 |
| 5 | Distinguished Engineer | $450,000 | $341,000 – $573,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Security | $450,000 | $351,000 – $585,000 |
| 7 | Senior VP of Product | $450,000 | $351,000 – $585,000 |
| 8 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $438,000 | $342,000 – $570,000 |
| 9 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $433,000 | $338,000 – $563,000 |
| 10 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $430,000 | $335,000 – $559,000 |
| 11 | L7 Software Engineer | $427,000 | $333,000 – $555,000 |
| 12 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $425,000 | $332,000 – $554,000 |
| 13 | SVP of Technology | $425,000 | $332,000 – $554,000 |
| 14 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $424,000 | $331,000 – $551,000 |
| 15 | Chief AI Officer | $419,000 | $311,000 – $540,000 |
| 16 | SVP of Product | $419,000 | $327,000 – $544,000 |
| 17 | Principal Applied Scientist | $417,000 | $326,000 – $543,000 |
| 18 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $417,000 | $326,000 – $543,000 |
| 19 | Chief Legal Officer | $417,000 | $325,000 – $542,000 |
| 20 | Chief Architect | $417,000 | $325,000 – $542,000 |
| 21 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $414,000 | $309,000 – $541,000 |
| 22 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $414,000 | $323,000 – $539,000 |
| 23 | Senior VP of Design | $414,000 | $324,000 – $539,000 |
| 24 | Chief Strategy Officer | $414,000 | $323,000 – $539,000 |
| 25 | Chief Commercial Officer | $414,000 | $323,000 – $539,000 |
| 26 | Chief Science Officer | $414,000 | $323,000 – $539,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Data | $410,000 | $320,000 – $534,000 |
| 28 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $406,000 | $316,000 – $528,000 |
| 29 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $406,000 | $317,000 – $528,000 |
| 30 | Staff AI Agent Architect | $403,000 | $314,000 – $524,000 |
| 31 | VP of AI Research | $403,000 | $314,000 – $524,000 |
| 32 | Chief Growth Officer | $403,000 | $314,000 – $524,000 |
| 33 | SVP of Finance | $403,000 | $314,000 – $524,000 |
| 34 | Principal Machine Learning Engineer | $402,000 | $313,000 – $521,000 |
| 35 | SVP of Engineering | $402,000 | $314,000 – $522,000 |
| 36 | Senior Head of Security | $402,000 | $314,000 – $523,000 |
| 37 | Chief Design Officer | $402,000 | $314,000 – $524,000 |
| 38 | CTO | $401,000 | $313,000 – $521,000 |
| 39 | Principal Cryptographer | $401,000 | $313,000 – $521,000 |
| 40 | SVP of Sales | $401,000 | $313,000 – $521,000 |
| 41 | Chief Cloud Officer | $400,000 | $312,000 – $521,000 |
| 42 | Chief Risk Officer | $399,000 | $311,000 – $519,000 |
| 43 | Principal LLM Engineer | $398,000 | $310,000 – $517,000 |
| 44 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $398,000 | $310,000 – $516,000 |
| 45 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $398,000 | $310,000 – $516,000 |
| 46 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $397,000 | $310,000 – $516,000 |
| 47 | Senior Head of Product | $397,000 | $311,000 – $517,000 |
| 48 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $397,000 | $310,000 – $516,000 |
| 49 | SVP of AI Innovation | $396,000 | $299,000 – $521,000 |
| 50 | SVP of Operations | $393,000 | $306,000 – $511,000 |
Tax considerations
California's top marginal state income tax rate is 13.3%, the highest in the U.S. San Francisco has no additional city income tax, but overall tax burden remains steep.
Negotiating in San Francisco
Leverage competing offers aggressively. SF employers expect candidates to shop around, and matching or beating a rival offer is standard practice here.
Know the number. Get the offer.
Orbyt gives you the salary data, interview prep, and pipeline tools to negotiate from a position of strength.
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