Median salary
$159,000
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$101.2k – $240.8k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
73.8%
186 of 252 roles
Live roles
252
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Researcher, Training
Offensive Security RL Researcher
Principal Machine Learning Researcher (Physical AI)
Researcher, Safety Training, National Security
Researcher, Robustness & Safety Training
Researcher, Interpretability
Researcher, Alignment
Researcher, Safety - Frontier Assurance
USC
ICON plc
Distyl AI
Cartesia
Cisco
Tencent
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How much do Researcher roles in California pay?
The median salary for Researcher roles in California is $159,000 per year. Most pay falls between $101,242 (25th percentile) and $240,750 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $72,378 to $352,800.
These figures are computed live from 252 active Researcher roles in California on JobsRadar, of which 186 (73.8%) 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 Researcher roles in California include OpenAI, Idler and Freeform.
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 Researcher salary in California?
- The median is $159,000 per year, with most pay between $101,242 and $240,750 (25th–75th percentile), based on 186 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Researcher salary range in California?
- Pay ranges from about $72,378 to $352,800 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $159,000. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.