Salaries in Columbia.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.90x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

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Highest Paying

$306,000

Chief Security Officer

Median of All Roles

$124,000

NLP Applications Engineer

Entry Level

$31,000

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.

Columbia, SC has a cost-of-living index of 0.90x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief Security Officer at $306,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $124,000. Columbia is South Carolina's capital and home to Fort Jackson, the University of South Carolina, and a growing insurance and financial services sector.

About the Columbia market

Columbia is South Carolina's capital and home to Fort Jackson, the University of South Carolina, and a growing insurance and financial services sector. The city offers very affordable living and stable government and military employment. Tech growth is accelerating as remote work brings new residents.

GovernmentMilitaryInsuranceHigher EducationHealthcare

Top 50 salaries in Columbia

#	Role	Median	Range
1	Chief Security Officer	$306,000	$238,000 – $398,000
2	SVP of Engineering	$300,000	$255,000 – $390,000
3	Senior VP of Security	$300,000	$255,000 – $390,000
4	Senior VP of Product	$300,000	$234,000 – $390,000
5	SVP of AI Innovation	$297,000	$252,000 – $386,000
6	SVP of Technology	$292,000	$248,000 – $379,000
7	Chief AI Officer	$290,000	$215,000 – $374,000
8	SVP of Product	$289,000	$245,000 – $375,000
9	SVP of Data	$289,000	$245,000 – $375,000
10	SVP of Finance	$286,000	$243,000 – $372,000
11	VP of AI Product	$284,000	$241,000 – $369,000
12	VP of Analytics	$284,000	$241,000 – $369,000
13	VP of Information Security	$284,000	$241,000 – $369,000
14	VP of AI Research	$281,000	$239,000 – $365,000
15	VP of Mobile	$281,000	$239,000 – $365,000
16	VP of Information Technology	$281,000	$239,000 – $365,000
17	VP of Solutions Engineering	$281,000	$239,000 – $365,000
18	SVP of Strategy	$281,000	$219,000 – $365,000
19	VP of Quality	$281,000	$239,000 – $365,000
20	Senior Head of Security	$279,000	$237,000 – $362,000
21	VP of AI Engineering	$278,000	$237,000 – $362,000
22	VP of Data Science	$278,000	$237,000 – $362,000
23	Chief Machine Learning Officer	$278,000	$217,000 – $362,000
24	VP of Finance	$278,000	$236,000 – $362,000
25	VP of Developer Experience	$278,000	$237,000 – $362,000
26	VP of Security	$278,000	$237,000 – $362,000
27	VP of Cybersecurity	$278,000	$237,000 – $362,000
28	Chief Strategy Officer	$276,000	$216,000 – $359,000
29	Chief Legal Officer	$275,000	$215,000 – $358,000
30	VP of Partner Engineering	$275,000	$235,000 – $358,000
31	VP of Support Engineering	$275,000	$235,000 – $358,000
32	VP of Reliability Engineering	$275,000	$235,000 – $358,000
33	Senior VP of Design	$274,000	$214,000 – $356,000
34	VP of Machine Learning	$273,000	$232,000 – $355,000
35	CTO	$273,000	$213,000 – $355,000
36	VP of IT	$273,000	$232,000 – $355,000
37	VP of Infrastructure	$273,000	$232,000 – $355,000
38	Chief Commercial Officer	$273,000	$213,000 – $356,000
39	VP of Technical Support	$273,000	$232,000 – $355,000
40	VP of Core Engineering	$273,000	$232,000 – $355,000
41	Chief Data & AI Officer	$271,000	$202,000 – $353,000
42	Chief Transformation Officer	$271,000	$212,000 – $353,000
43	VP of Data Engineering	$270,000	$230,000 – $351,000
44	VP of Data	$270,000	$230,000 – $351,000
45	VP of Database Engineering	$270,000	$230,000 – $351,000
46	SVP of Sales	$270,000	$211,000 – $351,000
47	Chief Science Officer	$268,000	$209,000 – $348,000
48	VP of Privacy	$267,000	$228,000 – $348,000
49	VP of Network Engineering	$267,000	$228,000 – $348,000
50	VP of Application Engineering	$267,000	$228,000 – $348,000

Tax considerations

South Carolina's top income tax rate is 6.4%. Columbia has no city income tax. The moderate state rate is offset by very affordable housing and living costs.

Negotiating in Columbia

Leverage government and military contractor pay scales. Columbia employers align with federal benchmarks which often exceed local private sector rates.

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