Research Scientist Salary in San Francisco
Research Scientist roles in San Francisco pay a median of $330k a year, based on 90 live listings that disclose salary. The middle half earns $251k to $440k, and the top 10% more than $675k. 18% of these roles are remote. Highest median pay: Anthropic.
- $330k
- median USD
- $251k
- 25th percentile
- $440k
- 75th percentile
- 90
- disclosed roles
Shaded: middle half ($251k to $440k)
By level
From the title and requirements, not from a company level framework.
| Level | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staff | 24 | $237k | $298k | $330k |
Remote vs on-site
| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-site / hybrid | 74 | $268k | $344k | $440k |
| Remote | 16 | $238k | $251k | $324k |
Top-paying companies
Companies with at least three disclosed salaries here, by median.
Live roles
Research Engineer / Research Scientist, Human Flourishing
OpenAISan Francisco, California, US
$380k–$500k
research scientist$380k–$500k · 1d agoResearch Engineer Intern - Environments, Data and Post-Training
MercorSan Francisco, California, US
$70/hr
research scientistInternintern$70/hr · 1d agoResearch Scientist / Research Engineer - Web Understanding and Structured Retrieval, Search
OpenAISan Francisco, California, US
$380k–$850k
research scientist$380k–$850k · 8d agoResearch Engineer, Chip Design RL
AnthropicSan Francisco, CA, US
~$500k–$850k
research scientist~$500k–$850k · 8d agoSecurity Engineer / Research Engineer, RL Security
AnthropicSan Francisco, CA, US
~$320k–$405k
research scientist~$320k–$405k · 8d agoMember of Technical Staff, Health Systems
OpenEvidenceSan Francisco, California, US
Not disclosed
research scientistStaff10d agoMember of Technical Staff, Backend
LlamaIndexRemote (US)
$180k–$250k
Remoteresearch scientistStaff$180k–$250k · 12d agoMember of Technical Staff - Post-training (Data Infrastructure)
CohereSan Francisco, California, US
C$295k–C$535k
research scientistStaffC$295k–C$535k · 15d agoPost-Training Applied Researcher
BasetenRemote (US)
$200k–$275k
Remoteresearch scientist$200k–$275k · 22d agoResearch Engineer, Applied Research
SierraSan Francisco, CA, US
Not disclosed
research scientist23d ago
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Every live listing here that discloses a number, in any currency. Converted to USD at ECB reference rates as of 2026-10-28. Hourly, weekly, and monthly figures are annualised (2,080 / 52 / 12). Where a salary is a range we use its midpoint. Breakdowns with fewer than three disclosed salaries are left out. All AI and ML salaries