Side-by-side distribution
Environmental Scientist
$91,025
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 32.7%
- Live roles
- 208
Research Scientist
$172,100
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 51.9%
- Live roles
- 819
Highest-paying jobs
Environmental Principal - Principal Environmental Consultant
Environmental Principal - Principal Environmental Consultant
Senior Environmental Scientist or Engineer
Senior Managing Consultant, Environmental Services
Principal Consultant, Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)
Principal Technical Consultant, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS)
Environmental Consultant – Senior Level – Mining Focus (Hybrid)
Principal Consultant, Environmental FERC Project Manager
Complex Claims Unit Environmental - Claim Consultant or Specialist
Principal Ecologist – Energy
Highest-paying jobs
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search Integrity
Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search - Knowledge Graphs
Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search
Research Scientist, Interpretability
[Expression of Interest] Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment - London
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Health
Research Scientist - Environments, Data and Post-Training
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
ERM
|
$107,800 | 17 |
|
Barr Engineering
|
$120,000 | 8 |
| SC SLR Consulting | $78,854 | 8 |
|
Apex Companies
|
$114,500 | 6 |
|
AtkinsRéalis
|
$108,050 | 5 |
Triumvirate Environmental
|
$92,500 | 5 |
LaBella Associates
|
$52,250 | 4 |
Leidos
|
$93,075 | 2 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$46,500 | 18 |
|
OpenAI
|
$440,000 | 14 |
|
Anthropic
|
$425,000 | 13 |
Astera Institute
|
$177,500 | 11 |
Anduril Industries
|
$221,000 | 10 |
UL Research Institutes
|
$128,747 | 10 |
MSD
|
$245,550 | 9 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 8 |
Research Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $262,000 | 89 |
| London | $257,000 | 10 |
| New York | $243,000 | 56 |
| Seattle | $216,900 | 20 |
| Toronto | $212,000 | 9 |
| Los Angeles | $187,500 | 4 |
| Boston | $182,125 | 26 |
| Chicago | $147,566 | 4 |
| Austin | $49,864 | 10 |
Environmental Scientist vs Research Scientist: which pays more?
The median for Environmental Scientist is $91,025 per year (typically $77,552–$121,888), versus $172,100 for Research Scientist ($117,000–$243,000). That puts Research Scientist about 89% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Environmental Scientist 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.