Median salary
$177,225
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$119.8k – $243k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
49.6%
406 of 818 roles
Live roles
818
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Principal Research Scientist, Robot Foundation Model
[Expression of Interest] Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment - London
Research Engineer/Research Scientist - Personal AGI, North Stars
Research Scientist, APEX Benchmarks
Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Memory
Research Engineer / Scientist, Alignment
Top companies hiring
| Company | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
The University of Texas at Austin
|
$52,000 | 19 |
|
OpenAI
|
$440,000 | 14 |
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
|
$155,300 | 13 |
MSD
|
$287,400 | 12 |
| SA Scale AI | $244,350 | 12 |
Anduril Industries
|
$221,000 | 12 |
|
Anthropic
|
$388,750 | 10 |
Astera Institute
|
$173,750 | 10 |
Research Scientist salary by location
Salary by employment type
| Employment type | Median | Roles |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time | $179,075 | 397 |
| Part-time | $47,500 | 3 |
| Contract | $55.00/hr | 3 |
| Internship | $45.32/hr | 3 |
See every Research Scientist role
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How much do Research Scientist roles pay?
The median salary for Research Scientist roles is $177,225 per year. Most pay falls between $119,750 (25th percentile) and $243,000 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $82,550 to $309,118.
These figures are computed live from 818 active Research Scientist roles on JobsRadar, of which 406 (49.6%) 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, Wayve, 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?
- The median is $177,225 per year, with most pay between $119,750 and $243,000 (25th–75th percentile), based on 406 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Research Scientist salary range?
- Pay ranges from about $82,550 to $309,118 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $177,225. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.