How Much Do Research Scientist Jobs Pay in the USA? (September 2026)
As of September 2026, the median Research Scientist salary in the USA is $216,050 a year. Most roles pay between $150,000 and $322,600 (the 10th–90th percentile), drawn from 297 live salaried listings across 124 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
- Research Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, MemoryResearch Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, Personality and Model BehaviorResearch Engineer / Research Scientist - Personal AGI, PersonalizationResearch Engineer / Research Scientist -Personal AGI, ProactivityResearch Engineer / Research Scientist, HealthAll OpenAI roles →
- Director, Machine Learning, Alzheimer's Disease InitiativeDirector, Machine Learning, Virtual Cell InitiativeAll Arc Institute roles →
- Research Engineer, Machine Learning (Reinforcement Learning) Research Engineer/Research Scientist, Pre-trainingResearch Scientist, InterpretabilityResearch Engineer, InterpretabilityResearch Scientist/Engineer, Biological SafetyAll Anthropic roles →
- All AfterQuery roles →
- All Generalist roles →
Employers ranked by median advertised base among those with at least two salaried listings in the USA; each one’s best-paying open roles are listed beneath it.
Methodology: Research Scientist listings in the USA 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.