How Much Do Data Science Jobs Pay in San Francisco? (September 2026)
As of September 2026, the median data science salary in San Francisco is $238,500 a year. Most roles pay between $165,000 and $345,750 (the 10th–90th percentile), drawn from 918 live salaried listings across 209 companies. All figures are converted to annual US dollars so different sources compare like-for-like.
How pay has moved
Median base salary by month, from our monthly salary snapshots.
Highest-paying employers
- Engineering Manager, GPU (ML Accelerator)Research Engineer, Chip Design RL (Reinforcement Learning)Research Engineer, Code RL (Reinforcement Learning)Research Engineer, Computer UseResearch Engineer, Machine Learning (RL Velocity)All Anthropic roles →
- Research Engineer, PrivacyData Engineering Manager, Growth & RevenueApplied Data Science & Insights Leader - GTM Intelligence Solutions and Technical SuccessResearch Engineer, AI for Chip DesignResearch Engineer, CodexAll OpenAI roles →
- Research EngineerResearch Scientist - Post TrainingResearch Scientist – Frontier EvaluationsMachine Learning Engineer - Quality IntelligenceAll AfterQuery roles →
- All Attentive roles →
- Research Scientist, APEX BenchmarksResearch Engineer - Environments, Data and Post-TrainingResearch Engineer – BenchmarkingResearch Engineer, Real EnvironmentsApplied Machine Learning Engineer, EconomistAll Mercor roles →
Employers ranked by median advertised base among those with at least two salaried listings in San Francisco; each one’s best-paying open roles are listed beneath it.
Methodology: data science listings in San Francisco with a published salary, updated daily. Figures come from roles that are open right now. Ranges and single figures are converted to an annual US-dollar midpoint; hourly rates are annualised and out-of-band values dropped. Salary data is self-reported by employers and covers the roles that disclose pay — treat it as a directional guide, not a guarantee.