Median salary
$248,750
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$187.2k – $310k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
72.6%
122 of 168 roles
Live roles
168
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Scientist
Research Engineer/Research Scientist- Personal AGI, Model Experience
Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Personalization
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
OpenAI
|
$440,000 | 12 |
|
Anthropic
|
$388,750 | 12 |
Astera Institute
|
$177,500 | 11 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 8 |
Iambic Therapeutics, Inc
|
$134,800 | 6 |
Applied Intuition
|
$274,500 | 5 |
Waabi
|
$212,000 | 5 |
Nuro
|
$221,495 | 4 |
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How much do Research Scientist roles in California pay?
The median salary for Research Scientist roles in California is $248,750 per year. Most pay falls between $187,200 (25th percentile) and $310,000 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $134,800 to $425,000.
These figures are computed live from 168 active Research Scientist roles in California on JobsRadar, of which 122 (72.6%) publish a salary range. Pay is normalized to annualized USD so roles can be compared on equal terms; the highest-paying roles listed above show their original posted currency. Numbers refresh every few hours as new roles are posted and older ones close.
Employers currently hiring well-paid Research Scientist roles in California include OpenAI, Anthropic and Idler.
Salary transparency varies by employer and region, so the disclosing share above reflects only roles that publish pay — not every open position. Use it as a directional benchmark rather than an exact offer.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average Research Scientist salary in California?
- The median is $248,750 per year, with most pay between $187,200 and $310,000 (25th–75th percentile), based on 122 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Research Scientist salary range in California?
- Pay ranges from about $134,800 to $425,000 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $248,750. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.