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Research Scientist salary in San Francisco

What employers are offering right now, from 165 live Research Scientist postings in San Francisco that publish a pay range. Updated October 2026.

Median

$300k

a year, base pay

Middle half

$213k–$440k

25th to 75th percentile

Highest posted

$675k

range midpoint

How the offers are spread

$135k
$203k
$270k
$338k
$405k
$473k
$540k
$608k

Research Scientist pay by level

LevelMedianPostings
Senior$251k18
Staff & principal$250k27

Top-paying companies for Research Scientist roles

CompanyMedianPostings
Anthropic$600k37
OpenAI$440k34
Databricks$310k2
Decagon$300k6
Generalist$295k2
Faire$251k11
Scale AI$243k11
Harvey$243k2
Baseten$238k3
Bland$220k2
Rad AI$210k2
Calico$210k6

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Research Scientist salary: common questions

What is the average Research Scientist salary in San Francisco?
The median midpoint of 165 live Research Scientist postings in San Francisco is $300k a year. Half of them fall between $213k and $440k.
How does Research Scientist pay change with seniority?
senior postings $251k. Staff, principal and director roles usually pay more and often add equity.
Which companies pay Research Scientist roles the most?
Among companies with at least two postings, the highest medians are at Anthropic ($600k), OpenAI ($440k), Databricks ($310k), Decagon ($300k).
Where do these numbers come from?
From the pay ranges employers publish in their own job postings (required in states such as California, Colorado, New York, Washington and Illinois). We take the midpoint of each range, convert hourly pay at 2,080 hours a year, and update the figures daily as postings open and close. They show base pay, not bonus or equity.

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JobApplyPilot reads employers' own job postings. Pay shown is base salary from published ranges, not total compensation.