Salaries in San Diego.
422 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.17x national average. Last updated April 2026.
422 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$370,000
Chief AI Officer
Median of All Roles
$173,000
EdTech Product Manager
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 Chief AI Officer at $370,000, while the median across all 422 roles is $173,000. 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 | Chief AI Officer | $370,000 | $274,000 – $477,000 |
| 2 | Chief Data & AI Officer | $352,000 | $263,000 – $459,000 |
| 3 | SVP of AI Innovation | $347,000 | $262,000 – $456,000 |
| 4 | Chief Revenue Officer | $341,000 | $256,000 – $450,000 |
| 5 | CEO | $335,000 | $243,000 – $462,000 |
| 6 | Chief Technology Officer | $329,000 | $244,000 – $431,000 |
| 7 | Chief Algorithm Officer | $321,000 | $241,000 – $419,000 |
| 8 | VP of AI Engineering | $319,000 | $241,000 – $416,000 |
| 9 | Chief Data Officer | $316,000 | $237,000 – $414,000 |
| 10 | CFO | $310,000 | $233,000 – $412,000 |
| 11 | Chief Operating Officer | $310,000 | $231,000 – $414,000 |
| 12 | Head of Applied AI | $310,000 | $231,000 – $408,000 |
| 13 | VP of Engineering | $307,000 | $230,000 – $402,000 |
| 14 | VP of AI Product | $307,000 | $229,000 – $398,000 |
| 15 | Head of AI | $306,000 | $227,000 – $397,000 |
| 16 | Chief Product Officer | $306,000 | $227,000 – $403,000 |
| 17 | Head of AI Research | $306,000 | $227,000 – $403,000 |
| 18 | Head of AI Platform | $299,000 | $223,000 – $392,000 |
| 19 | Chief Marketing Officer | $298,000 | $224,000 – $390,000 |
| 20 | Chief Human Resources Officer | $292,000 | $221,000 – $380,000 |
| 21 | AI Transformation Officer | $292,000 | $219,000 – $383,000 |
| 22 | VP of Product | $278,000 | $210,000 – $357,000 |
| 23 | Head of AI Partnerships | $278,000 | $207,000 – $366,000 |
| 24 | VP of Product Design | $275,000 | $205,000 – $357,000 |
| 25 | VP of Marketing | $275,000 | $205,000 – $363,000 |
| 26 | VP of Sales | $275,000 | $206,000 – $367,000 |
| 27 | AI Program Director | $271,000 | $205,000 – $356,000 |
| 28 | Director of Generative AI | $269,000 | $203,000 – $353,000 |
| 29 | Director of AI Strategy | $265,000 | $201,000 – $347,000 |
| 30 | Director of Engineering | $257,000 | $199,000 – $333,000 |
| 31 | Director of Data Science | $257,000 | $197,000 – $334,000 |
| 32 | Foundation Model Engineer | $257,000 | $191,000 – $334,000 |
| 33 | AI Financial Engineer | $256,000 | $189,000 – $329,000 |
| 34 | AI Hardware/Chip Design Engineer | $253,000 | $189,000 – $335,000 |
| 35 | AI Systems Architect | $247,000 | $187,000 – $323,000 |
| 36 | Multi-Agent Systems Architect | $246,000 | $181,000 – $325,000 |
| 37 | AI Cloud Architect | $242,000 | $183,000 – $307,000 |
| 38 | Director of Product | $241,000 | $187,000 – $313,000 |
| 39 | Multimodal AI Researcher | $241,000 | $179,000 – $320,000 |
| 40 | AI Compiler Engineer | $241,000 | $181,000 – $316,000 |
| 41 | Transformer Architecture Engineer | $241,000 | $180,000 – $315,000 |
| 42 | Quantum ML Researcher | $239,000 | $177,000 – $316,000 |
| 43 | AI Reasoning Specialist | $239,000 | $177,000 – $316,000 |
| 44 | AI Business Development Manager | $238,000 | $164,000 – $322,000 |
| 45 | AI Solutions Architect | $237,000 | $176,000 – $310,000 |
| 46 | NLP Research Scientist | $237,000 | $176,000 – $314,000 |
| 47 | AI Interpretability Researcher | $237,000 | $176,000 – $314,000 |
| 48 | Autonomous Vehicle AI Engineer | $237,000 | $176,000 – $314,000 |
| 49 | Privacy / Data Counsel | $236,000 | $181,000 – $308,000 |
| 50 | AI Agent Architect | $235,000 | $178,000 – $304,000 |
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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