Salaries in San Francisco.

3,445 roles. One city.

Cost-of-living index: 1.35x national average. Last updated August 2026.

3,445 roles tracked

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Highest Paying

$454,000

Chief Security Officer

Median of All Roles

$187,000

Interpretability Researcher

Entry Level

$48,000

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.

San Francisco, CA has a cost-of-living index of 1.35x the national average. The highest-paying role is Chief Security Officer at $454,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $187,000. 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	Chief Security Officer	$454,000	$354,000 – $591,000
2	SVP of AI Innovation	$451,000	$382,000 – $585,000
3	SVP of Data	$451,000	$382,000 – $585,000
4	Senior VP of Security	$450,000	$382,000 – $585,000
5	Senior VP of Product	$450,000	$351,000 – $585,000
6	SVP of Finance	$446,000	$380,000 – $580,000
7	SVP of Product	$437,000	$371,000 – $568,000
8	SVP of Technology	$437,000	$371,000 – $568,000
9	VP of AI Product	$425,000	$362,000 – $553,000
10	VP of Security	$425,000	$362,000 – $553,000
11	VP of Data	$425,000	$362,000 – $553,000
12	VP of Database Engineering	$425,000	$362,000 – $553,000
13	VP of AI Research	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
14	VP of Cloud	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
15	VP of Infrastructure	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
16	VP of Mobile	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
17	VP of Solutions Engineering	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
18	VP of Network Engineering	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
19	VP of Core Engineering	$421,000	$359,000 – $548,000
20	SVP of Engineering	$420,000	$356,000 – $546,000
21	Chief AI Officer	$419,000	$311,000 – $540,000
22	VP of Finance	$417,000	$355,000 – $542,000
23	VP of Platform Engineering	$417,000	$355,000 – $543,000
24	Chief Legal Officer	$417,000	$325,000 – $542,000
25	VP of Risk	$417,000	$355,000 – $542,000
26	Chief Architect	$417,000	$355,000 – $542,000
27	VP of Information Security	$417,000	$355,000 – $543,000
28	VP of Application Engineering	$417,000	$355,000 – $543,000
29	Chief Data & AI Officer	$414,000	$309,000 – $541,000
30	Senior VP of Design	$414,000	$324,000 – $539,000
31	Chief Strategy Officer	$414,000	$323,000 – $539,000
32	Chief Commercial Officer	$414,000	$323,000 – $539,000
33	Chief Science Officer	$414,000	$323,000 – $539,000
34	VP of AI Engineering	$413,000	$352,000 – $537,000
35	VP of Developer Experience	$413,000	$352,000 – $537,000
36	VP of Machine Learning	$409,000	$348,000 – $532,000
37	VP of Site Reliability Engineering	$409,000	$348,000 – $532,000
38	VP of AI	$405,000	$345,000 – $527,000
39	VP of Data Engineering	$405,000	$345,000 – $527,000
40	Chief Growth Officer	$403,000	$314,000 – $524,000
41	Senior Head of Security	$402,000	$342,000 – $523,000
42	Chief Design Officer	$402,000	$314,000 – $524,000
43	VP of Engineering	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
44	CTO	$401,000	$313,000 – $521,000
45	VP of Partner Engineering	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
46	VP of Field Engineering	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
47	VP of Support Engineering	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
48	VP of Technical Support	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
49	VP of Security Engineering	$401,000	$341,000 – $521,000
50	SVP of Sales	$401,000	$313,000 – $521,000

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.

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