Research Scientist Salary in the USA
Research Scientist roles in the USA pay a median of $295k a year, based on 156 live listings that disclose salary. The middle half earns $238k to $364k, and the top 10% more than $600k. 25% of these roles are remote. Highest median pay: Anthropic.
- $295k
- median USD
- $238k
- 25th percentile
- $364k
- 75th percentile
- 156
- disclosed roles
Shaded: middle half ($238k to $364k)
By level
From the title and requirements, not from a company level framework.
| Level | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | 14 | $221k | $276k | $300k |
| Staff | 44 | $232k | $279k | $325k |
| Principal | 4 | $285k | $326k | $372k |
By city
| City | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 90 | $251k | $330k | $440k |
| New York | 23 | $250k | $279k | $323k |
| Mountain View | 8 | $186k | $216k | $249k |
| Broomfield | 4 | $186k | $207k | $221k |
| Bellevue | 3 | $197k | $203k | $223k |
| Redwood City | 3 | $295k | $295k | $316k |
| Palo Alto | 3 | $206k | $224k | $350k |
Remote vs on-site
| Group | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-site / hybrid | 117 | $243k | $313k | $413k |
| Remote | 39 | $231k | $262k | $288k |
Top-paying companies
Companies with at least three disclosed salaries here, by median.
| Company | n | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | 23 | $425k | $675k | $675k |
| OpenAI | 17 | $370k | $440k | $440k |
| Thinking Machines Lab | 4 | $413k | $413k | $413k |
| Datadog | 3 | $360k | $360k | $360k |
| Mercor | 7 | $330k | $330k | $335k |
| Turing | 9 | $300k | $300k | $325k |
| Decagon | 5 | $300k | $300k | $300k |
| Snorkel AI | 4 | $286k | $288k | $295k |
| Cohere | 4 | $279k | $279k | $283k |
| Exa | 3 | $265k | $265k | $265k |
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 agoPrincipal AI Researcher
RecursionRemote (US)
Not disclosed
Remoteresearch scientistPrincipal7d 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 agoResearch Engineer, RL Frontiers
EtchedSan Jose, CA, US
Not disclosed
research scientist8d 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 ago2027 Summer Intern, PhD, Research Scientist, Visual Reasoning
WaymoMountain View, CA, US
Not disclosed
research scientistIntern10d agoResearch Engineer, Post-Training
DeepgramRemote
$216k–$338k
Remoteresearch scientist$216k–$338k · 10d 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