AI Research salary
27 market ranges · employer-stated pay · updated Oct 22, 2026
The best-evidenced figure here is for AI research roles at senior level across the United States: 285 postings where the employer stated pay put the middle half between $160,550 and $249,500, with a median of $200,500.
Pay rises with seniority across the United States: the medians run entry-level $102,375, mid-level $180,000, senior $200,500 and lead $272,000. Moving from entry-level to lead is worth roughly 166% more.
Every range here is counted from real postings, never modelled. 9 of the 27 ranges in the table rest on fewer than 10 postings and are marked hint: treat those as hints rather than benchmarks.
Every measured range
27 by market and level| Market | Level | Market range | Median | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States · country-wide | Entry | $78,726 – $135,750 | $102,375 | 26 |
| United States · country-wide | Mid | $135,000 – $232,000 | $180,000 | 279 |
| Canada · country-wide | Mid | CA$120,250 – CA$161,813 | CA$137,750 | 15 |
| United Kingdom · country-wide | Mid | £31,000 – £445,000 | £60,000 | 5hint |
| United States · country-wide | Senior | $160,550 – $249,500 | $200,500 | 285 |
| Canada · country-wide | Senior | CA$151,100 – CA$175,975 | CA$161,875 | 14 |
| United Kingdom · country-wide | Senior | £78,230 – £127,625 | £101,128 | 8hint |
| United States · country-wide | Lead | $236,725 – $324,900 | $272,000 | 11 |
| Remote · United States | Mid | $124,114 – $188,750 | $158,543 | 28 |
| Remote · United States | Senior | $162,500 – $237,750 | $205,000 | 45 |
| Boston | Mid | $148,410 – $197,500 | $149,135 | 5hint |
| Boston | Senior | $176,135 – $226,250 | $203,800 | 13 |
| Cambridge | Mid | $156,000 – $190,500 | $180,000 | 6hint |
| Cambridge | Senior | $163,575 – $196,250 | $171,000 | 8hint |
| Mountain View | Mid | $195,000 – $232,500 | $227,500 | 9hint |
| Mountain View | Senior | $238,000 – $268,583 | $248,750 | 10 |
| New York | Mid | $181,850 – $300,000 | $237,500 | 32 |
| New York | Senior | $189,560 – $250,750 | $237,500 | 29 |
| Palo Alto | Senior | $215,000 – $228,700 | $216,550 | 5hint |
| San Francisco | Mid | $200,000 – $266,875 | $240,000 | 50 |
| San Francisco | Senior | $226,375 – $297,000 | $250,750 | 39 |
| San Jose | Mid | $178,575 – $270,250 | $235,250 | 7hint |
| San Jose | Senior | $190,000 – $283,281 | $246,763 | 10 |
| Santa Clara | Senior | $202,088 – $247,638 | $214,300 | 10 |
| Sunnyvale | Mid | $195,000 – $300,000 | $274,500 | 7hint |
| Sunnyvale | Senior | $216,488 – $295,150 | $244,250 | 10 |
| Toronto | Mid | CA$116,188 – CA$162,688 | CA$129,625 | 10 |
Entry is junior titles. Mid is mid-level and manager titles. Senior is senior titles. Lead is director, VP and above. Rows marked hint rest on fewer than 10 postings: read them as a hint, not a benchmark.
Ranges span the 25th to 75th percentile of employer-stated base pay for the market and level. Median is the 50th percentile. Sample is the number of postings measured.
Pay by market
11 pagesBostonCambridgeMountain ViewNew YorkPalo AltoSan FranciscoSan JoseSanta ClaraSunnyvaleTorontoRemote
Open AI research roles · 791 with stated pay
this job's paywhere most pay sits here, $106,000–$264,100scale $60,000–$370,000
Senior Scientist - Drug Discovery (AI/ML) AstraZeneca · Gaithersburg New $118,870–$178,305 today Senior Research Engineer Carrier · CAN01: Carrier-Syracuse, 6304 Carrier Parkway, East Syracuse, NY, 13057 USA New $79,000–$158,000 today Principal AI Scientist Cerence · Remote · US New $123,500–$197,600 today Senior Data Scientist - GenAI Cvshealth · Remote · US New $111,240–$222,480 today Lead Data Scientist – Commercial Intelligence & ML Operations McKesson · USA, VA, Richmond New $155,300–$258,800 today 
Machine Learning Data Scientist - Consumer Forecasting OpenAI · San Francisco New $347,000–$445,000 today 
Research Engineer Outset · San Francisco New $200,000–$240,000 today 
Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist Pfizer · Cambridge New $106,000–$176,600 today 
Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist Pfizer (Internaljobs) · Cambridge New $106,000–$176,600 today 
AI Engineer / Data Scientist, AI Experienced Associate PwC · IL-Chicago New $63,000–$141,500 today Research Scientist - Salesforce AI Research Salesforce · Palo Alto New $137,100–$276,100 today 
Research Engineer, Chip Design RL Anthropic · San Francisco New $500,000–$850,000 1d ago Postdoctoral Research Associate – Physical and Embodied AI Bnl · Upton New $74,050–$122,550 1d ago 
Lead Research Engineer, Data Quality Clera · United States New $130,000–$225,000 1d ago Principal Applied Scientist (OCI/GenAI) Eeho · United States New $126,200–$264,100 1d ago Lead Principal Applied Scientist Eeho · United States New $126,200–$264,100 1d ago 
Applied Science Intern - Masters - 2027 - London Expedia · London New £48,000 1d ago Applied Science Intern - PhD - 2027 - London Expedia · London New £50,000 1d ago Senior AI Architect - Computer Vision Gevernova · Greenville New $113,200–$188,800 1d ago 
Senior AI Systems Architect/Researcher Intel · US, Oregon, Hillsboro New $195,200–$275,580 1d ago 
Staff Applied Scientist, AdTech Launch Potato · Remote · US New $175,000–$200,000 1d ago Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Automated Safety Lila Sciences · Cambridge New $180,000–$298,000 1d ago Senior / Principal Materials Scientist, AI Safety Lila Sciences · Cambridge New $268,000–$384,000 1d ago 
Director of Computer Vision Motorolasolutions · Waltham New $250,000–$290,000 1d ago Applied Scientist, Product Policy OpenAI · San Francisco New $207,000–$230,000 1d ago Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search - Knowledge Graphs OpenAI · San Francisco New $380,000–$850,000 1d ago Research Scientist / Research Engineer, Search Integrity OpenAI · San Francisco New $380,000–$850,000 1d ago Program & Research Lead, AI, Labor, & Economy (Fixed Term) Pai · Remote · US New $112,000–$150,000 1d ago 
Senior Data Scientist, Safety Enforcement Reddit · Remote · US New $190,800–$267,100 1d ago Sr Applied Data Scientist - 1:1 Personalization, Audience and Experimentation (applied ML, PyToch, A/B testing) Target · 7000 Target Pkwy N,NCD-0375 Brooklyn Park,MN 55445 New $98,000–$176,000 1d ago 
Senior AI Data Scientist There's a reason why Fiserv · Alpharetta New $111,000–$188,400 1d ago Senior ASIC Research Engineer – Front-end Digital Design Usc (Externalusccareers) · Arlington New $140,000–$170,000 1d ago ASIC Research Engineer- Front-End Digital Design Usc (Externalusccareers) · Arlington New $115,000–$140,000 1d ago 
Senior AI Research Scientist – Foundation Models & Agentic AI Wf (Wellsfargojobstargeted) · Charlotte New $139,000–$260,000 1d ago 
Senior Research Engineer - Measurement / Inspection 3M · US, Minnesota, Woodbury New $124,127–$151,710 2d ago Research Engineer, Synthetic Data Clera · Singapore New $100,000–$170,000 2d ago Research Engineer, Benchmarks Clera · Singapore New $100,000–$170,000 2d ago Research Engineer, QC Automation Clera · Singapore New $100,000–$170,000 2d ago Research Engineer, Privacy and Anonymization Clera · San Francisco New $130,000–$225,000 2d ago Senior Data Scientist - AI Cvshealth · Remote · US New $92,700–$203,940 2d ago 
Senior Machine Learning Research Scientist, Structure and Simulation (AI for Drug Discovery) Genentech · New York New $160,900–$298,700 2d ago Staff ML Systems Engineer Generalmotors · Remote · US New $171,700–$303,900 2d ago Senior ML Systems Engineer Generalmotors · Remote · US New $174,900–$261,300 2d ago AI Research Engineer/Scientist Intel · US, California, Santa Clara New $170,500–$240,710 2d ago Principal Scientist – AI-Reasoning for Drug Discovery Johnson & Johnson · Spring House New $117,000–$201,250 2d ago 
Scientist, Safety Neurocrine · US CA San Diego New $89,800–$123,000 2d ago 
Research Engineer (Londonderry, NH) Outokumpu · Londonderry New $122,500–$168,500 2d ago 
Research Machine Learning Scientist II TD · Toronto New CA$154,000–CA$199,500 2d ago Applied Machine Learning Scientist II TD · Remote · Canada New CA$125,500–CA$154,000 2d ago 
Staff AI Scientist, Foundation Models Tempus · New York New $220,000–$260,000 2d ago 
Lab Application Scientist, Environmental and Food Safety LCMS Thermofisher · Bannockburn New $75,800–$113,600 2d ago 
Senior Data Scientist (NLP & Applied AI) Wiley · Remote · US New $109,500–$156,833 2d ago 
Applied Scientist (Economics) Intern Zillow · Remote · US New $104,000–$166,000 2d ago AI/ML Systems Engineer BorgWarner · Arden New $77,600–$109,125 3d ago 
NASA Human Spaceflight Artificial Intelligence (AI) Software Engineer and Data Scientist CACI · Houston New $76,000–$155,700 3d ago Senior Perception Engineer Cat (CaterpillarCareers) · Irving New $112,710–$183,140 3d ago Principal Applied Scientist Eeho · United States New $126,200–$264,100 3d ago Senior Data Scientist (AI-assisted Clinical Development) Genentech · Boston New $142,700–$264,900 3d ago AI/ML Systems Engineer (2027 New College Graduate) Globalfoundries · Richardson New $86,000–$148,000 3d ago Principal Scientist, AI-Native Discovery (Large Molecules) Johnson & Johnson · Spring House New $117,000–$201,250 3d ago 60 of 1,871 open roles. All AI research jobs