Research Scientist salaries in San Francisco.
What Research Scientist roles in San Francisco pay, from live listings on JobsRadar.
Compare with anotherMedian salary
$262,500
per year · annualized USD
Typical range
$212k – $350k
25th–75th percentile
Disclosing pay
68.5%
89 of 130 roles
Live roles
130
open right now
Salary trend
median · annualized USDSalary distribution
annualized USD · disclosed rolesHighest-paying jobs
Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-training
Research Scientist / Research Engineer - Foundations, Search
Research Scientist, Interpretability
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search Integrity
Staff+ Research Scientist, Multi-Agent
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, RL Frontiers
Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search - Knowledge Graphs
Research Scientist - Environments, Data and Post-Training
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 |
Goodfire
|
$267,500 | 3 |
Swayable
|
$165,000 | 3 |
|
Mercor
|
$362,500 | 2 |
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 $262,500 per year. Most pay falls between $212,000 (25th percentile) and $350,000 (75th percentile), with the broader 10th–90th percentile band running from $184,300 to $440,000.
These figures are computed live from 130 active Research Scientist roles in San Francisco on JobsRadar, of which 89 (68.5%) 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 $262,500 per year, with most pay between $212,000 and $350,000 (25th–75th percentile), based on 89 live listings that disclose pay on JobsRadar.
- What is the Research Scientist salary range in San Francisco?
- Pay ranges from about $184,300 to $440,000 per year (10th–90th percentile) around a median of $262,500. Figures are annualized USD from live listings, refreshed every few hours.