Median salary
$170,300
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$116k – $243k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
52.3%
438 of 837 roles
Live roles
837
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent
Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search Integrity
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search - Knowledge Graphs
[Expression of Interest] Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment - London
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$45,000 | 20 |
|
Anthropic
|
$388,750 | 14 |
|
OpenAI
|
$440,000 | 13 |
MSD
|
$287,400 | 12 |
Astera Institute
|
$177,500 | 11 |
Anduril Industries
|
$193,250 | 10 |
UL Research Institutes
|
$128,747 | 10 |
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
|
$149,500 | 9 |
Research Scientist salary by location
| Location | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | $262,000 | 91 |
| London | $257,000 | 10 |
| New York | $243,000 | 56 |
| Seattle | $213,800 | 21 |
| Toronto | $199,750 | 10 |
| Los Angeles | $187,500 | 4 |
| Boston | $182,125 | 30 |
| Chicago | $147,500 | 4 |
| Austin | $48,000 | 9 |
Salary by employment type
| Employment type | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | $175,150 | 419 |
| Part-time | $41,750 | 6 |
| Contract | $67.50/hr | 3 |
| Internship | $41.75/hr | 9 |
See every Research Scientist role
Browse the live listings, or save this search and get alerted the moment a new one posts.
How much do Research Scientist roles pay?
The median salary for Research Scientist roles is $170,300 per year. Most pay falls between $115,975 (25th percentile) and $242,988 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $79,741 to $310,000.
These figures are computed live from 837 active Research Scientist roles on JobsRadar, of which 438 (52.3%) 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 include Anthropic and OpenAI.
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?
- The median is $170,300 per year, with most pay between $115,975 and $242,988 (25th–75th percentile), based on 438 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Research Scientist salary range?
- Pay ranges from about $79,741 to $310,000 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $170,300. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.