Side-by-side distribution
Environmental Scientist
$70,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 47.7%
- Live roles
- 44
Researcher
$162,250
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36%
- Live roles
- 1,102
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
Researcher, Training - London
Member of Technical Staff (AI Researcher)
Researcher, Automated Red Teaming
Researcher, Alignment Science
Researcher, Frontier Biological and Chemical Risks
Researcher, Alignment Training
Researcher, Alignment CoT Monitorability
Researcher, Synthetic RL
Researcher, Misalignment Research
Researcher, Alignment Oversight
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
OpenAI
|
$370,000 | 14 |
STR
|
$194,500 | 14 |
Egon Zehnder
|
$90,000 | 13 |
Two Six Technologies
|
$169,561 | 10 |
GiveWell
|
$308,000 | 9 |
Stevens Capital Management LP
|
$225,000 | 9 |
IMC
|
$275,000 | 8 |
Arc Institute
|
$80,000 | 8 |
Environmental Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| New York | $61,700 | 6 |
Researcher salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | $237,500 | 9 |
| London | $208,740 | 15 |
| New York | $200,000 | 100 |
| San Francisco | $200,000 | 66 |
| Chicago | $187,500 | 47 |
| Austin | $172,850 | 11 |
| Atlanta | $154,500 | 9 |
| Seattle | $114,400 | 5 |
| Boston | $110,000 | 15 |
| Los Angeles | $109,750 | 6 |
Environmental Scientist vs Researcher: which pays more?
The median for Environmental Scientist is $70,000 per year (typically $65,625–$83,750), versus $162,250 for Researcher ($102,299–$220,195). That puts Researcher about 132% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Environmental Scientist and Researcher 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.