Salaries in Madison.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 0.95x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

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Highest Paying

$323,000

Senior VP of Product

Median of All Roles

$131,000

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.

Madison, WI has a cost-of-living index of 0.95x the national average. The highest-paying role is Senior VP of Product at $323,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $131,000. Madison is a growing tech hub anchored by the University of Wisconsin and Epic Systems, one of the largest health IT companies.

About the Madison market

Madison is a growing tech hub anchored by the University of Wisconsin and Epic Systems, one of the largest health IT companies. The city consistently ranks among the best places to live and has a thriving startup ecosystem. Salaries are competitive relative to the modest cost of living.

Health ITHigher EducationGovernmentBiotechTechnology

Top 50 salaries in Madison

#	Role	Median	Range
1	Senior VP of Product	$323,000	$252,000 – $420,000
2	SVP of Data	$320,000	$272,000 – $416,000
3	SVP of Technology	$317,000	$269,000 – $412,000
4	SVP of Engineering	$314,000	$266,000 – $408,000
5	SVP of Finance	$311,000	$265,000 – $404,000
6	Chief Security Officer	$307,000	$239,000 – $399,000
7	SVP of Product	$305,000	$259,000 – $396,000
8	Senior VP of Security	$304,000	$258,000 – $395,000
9	Chief AI Officer	$303,000	$225,000 – $391,000
10	VP of AI Research	$299,000	$255,000 – $389,000
11	VP of Mobile	$299,000	$255,000 – $389,000
12	VP of Information Technology	$299,000	$255,000 – $389,000
13	VP of Security Engineering	$299,000	$255,000 – $389,000
14	VP of Site Reliability Engineering	$299,000	$255,000 – $389,000
15	VP of Platform Engineering	$296,000	$252,000 – $386,000
16	VP of Database Engineering	$296,000	$252,000 – $386,000
17	SVP of AI Innovation	$295,000	$251,000 – $384,000
18	Chief Science Officer	$295,000	$230,000 – $383,000
19	VP of Risk	$294,000	$250,000 – $382,000
20	Chief Architect	$294,000	$250,000 – $382,000
21	VP of Support Engineering	$294,000	$250,000 – $382,000
22	VP of Application Engineering	$294,000	$250,000 – $382,000
23	VP of Machine Learning	$291,000	$248,000 – $378,000
24	VP of Privacy	$291,000	$248,000 – $378,000
25	SVP of Strategy	$291,000	$227,000 – $378,000
26	VP of Cloud	$288,000	$245,000 – $374,000
27	VP of Analytics	$288,000	$245,000 – $374,000
28	VP of Developer Experience	$288,000	$245,000 – $374,000
29	VP of Partner Engineering	$288,000	$245,000 – $374,000
30	VP of Network Engineering	$288,000	$245,000 – $374,000
31	Chief Transformation Officer	$287,000	$223,000 – $372,000
32	SVP of Marketing	$287,000	$223,000 – $372,000
33	Chief Design Officer	$286,000	$223,000 – $372,000
34	Chief Strategy Officer	$286,000	$223,000 – $371,000
35	VP of Finance	$285,000	$242,000 – $371,000
36	VP of IT	$285,000	$243,000 – $371,000
37	VP of Information Security	$285,000	$243,000 – $371,000
38	VP of Data	$285,000	$243,000 – $371,000
39	SVP of Sales	$285,000	$222,000 – $371,000
40	Chief Risk Officer	$284,000	$221,000 – $369,000
41	VP of Engineering	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
42	VP of Data Engineering	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
43	VP of Security	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
44	Chief Legal Officer	$282,000	$220,000 – $367,000
45	VP of Solutions Engineering	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
46	VP of Field Engineering	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
47	SVP of Design	$282,000	$219,000 – $367,000
48	VP of Quality	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
49	VP of Cybersecurity	$282,000	$240,000 – $367,000
50	Senior Head of Security	$280,000	$238,000 – $364,000

Tax considerations

Wisconsin's top income tax rate is 7.65%. Madison has no city income tax. The moderate state rate is offset by the affordable cost of living and strong employer base.

Negotiating in Madison

Reference Epic Systems compensation benchmarks. Epic sets the salary standard for tech in Madison and most employers in the area compete against their packages.

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