Research Scientist salary in San Francisco, CA
The median posted salary for research scientist in San Francisco, CA is $265,000 a year, based on 86 open job postings that list pay. The middle half runs from $238,000 to $340,000, and the top 10% start at $615,000.
Pay range
| Percentile | Annual salary |
|---|---|
| 10th (lowest tenth) | $197,000 |
| 25th | $238,000 |
| Median | $265,000 |
| 75th | $340,000 |
| 90th (top tenth) | $615,000 |
Employers who post a range ask, on average, for $248K at the low end and $383K at the high end.
By experience and work setting
| Median | Postings | |
|---|---|---|
| Mid level | $278K | 51 |
| Senior and above | $255K | 34 |
Levels come from job titles: "Senior", "Staff", "Lead", "Principal" and up count as senior; "Intern", "Junior" and "Entry level" as entry level.
Highest-paying employers
| Company | Median | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | $675K | 16 |
| OpenAI | $440K | 5 |
| Perplexity | $353K | 2 |
| Harvey | $340K | 4 |
| Plaid | $309K | 2 |
| Decagon | $300K | 6 |
| Scale AI | $292K | 8 |
| Faire | $251K | 10 |
| Together AI | $250K | 2 |
| DoorDash USA | $239K | 5 |
Employers with at least two open research scientist postings that list pay.
Highest-paying open jobs
All research scientist in San Francisco, CA →Research Scientist salaries in other cities
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How these numbers are calculated
Every figure comes from open job postings on MANY Hired that state pay in US dollars, imported from employers' own career pages and refreshed daily. For each posting we take the midpoint of its pay range, then report percentiles across postings. Postings without pay are left out; many US states (including California, Colorado, New York and Washington) require employers to list a range. These are advertised pay ranges, not reported earnings, and usually exclude bonus and equity. Updated November 10, 2026.