Side-by-side distribution
Chemist
$95,200
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 54.2%
- Live roles
- 24
Research Scientist
$219,375
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 53.1%
- Live roles
- 382
Highest-paying jobs
Senior Materials Chemist
9.2. Senior R&D Chemist
Computational Chemist, Senior Scientist II / Principal Scientist I
Chemist
Analytical Chemist, R&D
Soft Products Formulation Chemist
Soft Products Formulation Chemist
9.6. R&D Analytical Chemist
Analytical Chemist
Analytical Chemist
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Engineer / Research Scientist -Personal AGI, Proactivity
Research Engineer / Research Scientist- Personal AGI (Post Training)
Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Personality and Model Behavior
Research Engineer/Research Scientist - Personal AGI, North Stars
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Tokens
Staff / Principal Research Scientist - USA
Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment
[Expression of Interest] Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment - London
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Phoenix Tailings
|
$115,000 | 2 |
|
PBI-Gordon Corporation
|
$70,200 | 2 |
|
Helion
|
$218,000 | 1 |
| SC Schrödinger | $142,500 | 1 |
|
Hims & Hers
|
$97,500 | 1 |
|
Harry's
|
$95,400 | 1 |
|
Mammoth Brands
|
$95,400 | 1 |
|
Neuralink
|
$95,000 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anthropic
|
$402,500 | 11 |
Anduril Industries
|
$221,000 | 8 |
Astera Institute
|
$225,000 | 7 |
Waabi
|
$212,750 | 6 |
|
OpenAI
|
$425,000 | 5 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 5 |
Nuro
|
$229,900 | 5 |
World Labs
|
$300,000 | 4 |
Research Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $275,000 | 8 |
| San Francisco | $262,500 | 67 |
| Seattle | $252,725 | 10 |
| New York | $243,000 | 37 |
| Toronto | $212,000 | 8 |
| London | $206,683 | 9 |
| Los Angeles | $125,000 | 4 |
Chemist vs Research Scientist: which pays more?
The median for Chemist is $95,200 per year (typically $69,525–$108,750), versus $219,375 for Research Scientist ($177,088–$275,000). That puts Research Scientist about 130% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Chemist and Research Scientist are compared on equal terms regardless of the currency each role was originally posted in. Only roles that publish a salary range feed the medians; numbers refresh every few hours as new roles post and older ones close, so this comparison reflects the market right now rather than a fixed survey. Use it as a directional benchmark when weighing one path against the other.