Salaries in Charleston.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.78x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

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Highest Paying

$270,000

Senior VP of Security

Median of All Roles

$108,000

Fintech Backend Engineer

Entry Level

$26,000

Hotel Clerk / Front Desk

The salary figures on this page are computed estimates, not observed wages. Each one is a national role baseline scaled by a Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parity cost-of-living multiplier (2025 index) and rounded to the nearest $1,000. No published wage percentile is consulted and no wage survey response enters the calculation, so an Orbyt estimate must not be cited as a Bureau of Labor Statistics figure or as measured pay. The published wage data Orbyt holds is Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and Department of Labor H-1B Labor Condition Application filings, which record a filed minimum visa base wage rather than market pay. Where BLS publishes a wage for the occupation a role maps to, it is shown on that role's page as a separate benchmark, labelled with its occupation code, metro area and the number of employed workers it covers. Last updated August 2026.

Charleston, WV has a cost-of-living index of 0.78x the national average. The highest-paying role is Senior VP of Security at $270,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $108,000. Charleston is West Virginia's capital and largest city, with an economy driven by government, energy, healthcare, and chemical manufacturing.

About the Charleston market

Charleston is West Virginia's capital and largest city, with an economy driven by government, energy, healthcare, and chemical manufacturing. The city offers some of the lowest living costs in the nation. Federal and state government roles provide stable employment anchors.

GovernmentEnergy & ChemicalHealthcareEducationManufacturing

Top 50 salaries in Charleston

#	Role	Median	Range
1	Senior VP of Security	$270,000	$230,000 – $351,000
2	Senior VP of Product	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
3	SVP of Technology	$263,000	$223,000 – $342,000
4	SVP of AI Innovation	$260,000	$221,000 – $338,000
5	SVP of Finance	$258,000	$219,000 – $335,000
6	SVP of Engineering	$253,000	$215,000 – $328,000
7	SVP of Product	$253,000	$215,000 – $328,000
8	Chief AI Officer	$251,000	$187,000 – $324,000
9	Chief Security Officer	$250,000	$194,000 – $325,000
10	Chief Strategy Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
11	Chief Science Officer	$249,000	$194,000 – $324,000
12	SVP of Data	$248,000	$210,000 – $322,000
13	VP of AI Product	$246,000	$209,000 – $320,000
14	VP of Data Engineering	$243,000	$207,000 – $317,000
15	VP of Cloud	$243,000	$207,000 – $317,000
16	VP of Core Engineering	$243,000	$207,000 – $317,000
17	Senior Head of Security	$242,000	$206,000 – $314,000
18	VP of Engineering	$241,000	$205,000 – $313,000
19	CTO	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
20	VP of Finance	$241,000	$205,000 – $313,000
21	VP of Platform Engineering	$241,000	$205,000 – $313,000
22	Chief Legal Officer	$241,000	$188,000 – $313,000
23	VP of Support Engineering	$241,000	$205,000 – $313,000
24	VP of Security Engineering	$241,000	$205,000 – $313,000
25	Chief Machine Learning Officer	$239,000	$186,000 – $310,000
26	Senior VP of Design	$239,000	$187,000 – $311,000
27	VP of IT	$239,000	$203,000 – $310,000
28	VP of Privacy	$239,000	$203,000 – $310,000
29	VP of Machine Learning	$236,000	$201,000 – $307,000
30	VP of Reliability Engineering	$236,000	$201,000 – $307,000
31	VP of Site Reliability Engineering	$236,000	$201,000 – $307,000
32	VP of Cybersecurity	$236,000	$201,000 – $307,000
33	VP of AI	$234,000	$199,000 – $304,000
34	VP of Security	$234,000	$199,000 – $304,000
35	VP of Data	$234,000	$199,000 – $304,000
36	VP of Database Engineering	$234,000	$199,000 – $304,000
37	Chief Technology Officer	$233,000	$173,000 – $305,000
38	Chief Growth Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
39	Chief Transformation Officer	$233,000	$182,000 – $303,000
40	VP of AI Research	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
41	VP of Infrastructure	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
42	VP of Mobile	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
43	VP of Partner Engineering	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
44	VP of Solutions Engineering	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
45	VP of Field Engineering	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
46	VP of Technical Support	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
47	VP of Network Engineering	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
48	SVP of Sales	$232,000	$181,000 – $301,000
49	VP of Quality	$232,000	$197,000 – $301,000
50	Chief Risk Officer	$231,000	$180,000 – $300,000

Tax considerations

West Virginia's top income tax rate is 5.12%. Charleston has no city income tax. The very low cost of living means even moderate salaries deliver strong purchasing power.

Negotiating in Charleston

Benchmark against federal government pay scales. Charleston employers often align with GS grades, and understanding the federal pay system gives you negotiating leverage.

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