Side-by-side distribution
Postdoc
$93,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 62.5%
- Live roles
- 40
Researcher
$160,000
median · per year, annualized USD
- Disclosing
- 36.1%
- Live roles
- 1,105
Highest-paying jobs
Postdoctoral Researcher, Real-Time Generative AI for Automotive XR
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Clinical Research & Impact
ML Postdoc Researcher - LLMs & Generative AI
ML Postdoc Researcher - Healthcare AI Innovation
Postdoctoral Researcher - Multifunctional Materials Development
Quantum Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow - Quantum Applications
Quantum Innovation Postdoctoral Fellow - QEC
Postdoctoral Fellow - Applied Machine Learning in Quantum Systems
Industrial Postdoc - Molecular Biology (mNGS Project)
Quantum Physics Postdoctoral Researcher
Highest-paying jobs
Researcher, Training - London
Member of Technical Staff (AI Researcher)
Researcher, Synthetic RL
Researcher, Alignment Science
Researcher, Frontier Biological and Chemical Risks
Researcher, Alignment Training
Researcher, Misalignment Research
Researcher, Alignment CoT Monitorability
Researcher, Automated Red Teaming
Researcher, Alignment Oversight
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
Arc Institute
|
$80,000 | 5 |
Biohub
|
$88,575 | 4 |
|
QuEra Computing, Inc.
|
$115,000 | 3 |
Calico
|
$95,000 | 3 |
|
Truveta
|
$114,400 | 2 |
|
Tri
|
$185,250 | 1 |
|
SimplePractice
|
$135,000 | 1 |
|
Technergetics
|
$95,500 | 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 |
Postdoc salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Boston | $115,000 | 3 |
| San Francisco | $95,000 | 3 |
Researcher salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Singapore | $237,500 | 9 |
| San Francisco | $200,000 | 65 |
| London | $200,000 | 17 |
| New York | $197,500 | 98 |
| Chicago | $183,750 | 48 |
| Austin | $161,175 | 12 |
| Atlanta | $154,500 | 9 |
| Seattle | $114,400 | 5 |
| Boston | $110,000 | 16 |
| Los Angeles | $109,750 | 6 |
Postdoc vs Researcher: which pays more?
The median for Postdoc is $93,000 per year (typically $84,150–$114,400), versus $160,000 for Researcher ($100,750–$220,000). That puts Researcher about 72% ahead at the median.
Both figures are computed live from active listings on JobsRadar and normalized to annualized USD, so Postdoc 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.