Side-by-side distribution
Kotlin
$196,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 8.8%
- Live roles
- 68
Research Scientist
$219,375
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 53.2%
- Live roles
- 380
Highest-paying jobs
Software Engineer 3- Python/Kotlin/Java/Terraform/ElasticSearch/OpenSearch/AWS
Kotlin Multiplatform Engineer (Senior-Staff Levels)
Staff Android (Kotlin) Engineer — Digital Signage / Embedded Media Platform
Senior Software Engineer, Android (Kotlin)
Backend Customer Success Engineer (Kotlin Ecosystem)
Software Engineer II (Mobile Developer - Android/Kotlin) - Mobile App Growth
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 |
|---|---|---|
|
Grocery TV
|
$212,500 | 1 |
|
Cantina
|
$205,000 | 1 |
|
Captivation Software
|
$200,000 | 1 |
| DO Doximity | $192,000 | 1 |
|
Klaviyo
|
$145,000 | 1 |
|
JetBrains
|
$138,000 | 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 |
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 |
Kotlin vs Research Scientist: which pays more?
The median for Kotlin is $196,000 per year (typically $156,750–$203,750), versus $219,375 for Research Scientist ($176,950–$275,000). That puts Research Scientist about 12% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Kotlin 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.