Research Scientist salaries in San Francisco.
What Research Scientist roles in San Francisco pay, from live listings on JobsRadar.
Compare with anotherMedian salary
$265,000
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$212k – $348.1k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
68.3%
86 of 126 roles
Live roles
126
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers
Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Scientist - Environments, Data and Post-Training
Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Personalization
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Health
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
|
OpenAI
|
$440,000 | 14 |
|
Anthropic
|
$388,750 | 12 |
| SA Scale AI | $243,000 | 8 |
Waabi
|
$212,000 | 5 |
Databricks
|
$305,000 | 3 |
| SA Snorkel AI | $287,500 | 3 |
Goodfire
|
$267,500 | 3 |
Swayable
|
$165,000 | 3 |
See every Research Scientist role
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How much do Research Scientist roles in San Francisco pay?
The median salary for Research Scientist roles in San Francisco is $265,000 per year. Most pay falls between $211,955 (25th percentile) and $348,125 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $183,775 to $440,000.
These figures are computed live from 126 active Research Scientist roles in San Francisco on JobsRadar, of which 86 (68.3%) publish a salary range. Pay is normalized to annualized USD so roles can be compared on equal terms; the highest-paying roles listed above show their original posted currency. Numbers refresh every few hours as new roles are posted and older ones close.
Employers currently hiring well-paid Research Scientist roles in San Francisco include Anthropic, OpenAI and Mercor.
Salary transparency varies by employer and region, so the disclosing share above reflects only roles that publish pay — not every open position. Use it as a directional benchmark rather than an exact offer.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the average Research Scientist salary in San Francisco?
- The median is $265,000 per year, with most pay between $211,955 and $348,125 (25th–75th percentile), based on 86 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Research Scientist salary range in San Francisco?
- Pay ranges from about $183,775 to $440,000 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $265,000. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.