Side-by-side distribution
Environmental Scientist
$70,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.7%
- Live roles
- 44
Research Scientist
$219,688
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 52.9%
- Live roles
- 384
Highest-paying jobs
Computational Ecologist
Environmental Scientist Manager
Senior Environmental Scientist III
Environmental Health & Safety Consultant
Environmental Health & Safety Consultant - Biosafety
Environmental Health & Safety Consultant
Environmental Health & Safety Consultant
Environmental Health & Safety Consultant
Environmental Scientist/Industrial Hygienist
Environmental Scientist/Industrial Hygienist
Highest-paying jobs
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Engineer/Research Scientist - Personal AGI, North Stars
Research Engineer / Research Scientist- Personal AGI (Post Training)
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Personal AGI-Model Experience
Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Personality and Model Behavior
Research Engineer / Research Scientist -Personal AGI, Proactivity
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Tokens
Staff / Principal Research Scientist - USA
Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Apex Companies
|
$80,000 | 7 |
|
Kpaonline
|
$87,500 | 4 |
LaBella Associates
|
$56,500 | 4 |
|
Triumvirate Environmental
|
$80,000 | 3 |
|
OXMAN
|
$177,500 | 1 |
| TE True Environmental | $70,000 | 1 |
Resource Environmental Solutions LLC
|
$68,000 | 1 |
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
Anthropic
|
$377,500 | 12 |
Anduril Industries
|
$221,000 | 8 |
Astera Institute
|
$225,000 | 7 |
|
OpenAI
|
$425,000 | 6 |
Waabi
|
$212,750 | 6 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 5 |
Nuro
|
$229,900 | 5 |
World Labs
|
$300,000 | 4 |
Environmental Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $61,700 | 6 |
Research Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Seattle | $291,650 | 11 |
| Boston | $275,000 | 8 |
| San Francisco | $267,500 | 67 |
| New York | $243,000 | 38 |
| Toronto | $212,000 | 8 |
| London | $203,341 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | $80,000 | 3 |
Environmental Scientist vs Research Scientist: which pays more?
The median for Environmental Scientist is $70,000 per year (typically $65,625–$83,750), versus $219,688 for Research Scientist ($177,088–$275,000). That puts Research Scientist about 214% 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.