AI Research Scientist salary
2 market ranges · employer-stated pay · updated Oct 22, 2026
The best-evidenced figure here is for AI research scientist roles at mid level across the United States: 10 postings where the employer stated pay put the middle half between $150,707 and $202,250, with a median of $177,500.
Every range here is counted from real postings, never modelled. 1 of the 2 ranges in the table rests on fewer than 10 postings and is marked hint: treat it as a hint rather than a benchmark.
Every measured range
2 by market and level| Market | Level | Market range | Median | Sample |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States · country-wide | Mid | $150,707 – $202,250 | $177,500 | 10 |
| United States · country-wide | Senior | $173,521 – $199,500 | $189,750 | 6hint |
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.
Open AI research scientist roles · 13 with stated pay
Pay marked e is our estimate. Everything else is the employer's own figure.
this job's payour estimatewhere most pay sits here, $128,700–$292,000scale $70,000–$410,000
Senior AI Research Scientist – Foundation Models & Agentic AI Wf (Wellsfargojobstargeted) · Charlotte New $139,000–$260,000 1d ago AI Research Scientist U.S. Bank · Minneapolis $133,365–$156,900 6d ago 
AI Research Scientist IV - Digital Safety Research Institute UL Research Institutes · Evanston $119,260–$163,982 9d ago 
AI Research Scientist- Multimodal Foundational Models Bosch Group · Sunnyvale $165,000–$195,000 10d ago Lead AI Research Scientist II - Digital Safety Research Institute UL Research Institutes · Remote · US $144,304–$198,419 2w ago Foundation AI Research Scientist Onehealthineers · PCT $128,700–$176,957 7w ago 
AI Research Scientist, New Grad – Agents & Reinforcement Learning Snowflake · Bellevue $176,000–$230,000 7w ago Staff Gen AI Research Scientist Anduril Industries · Costa Mesa $220,000–$292,000 2mo ago AI Research Scientist, Agentic Systems (Remote) CrowdStrike · Remote · US $120,000–$180,000 2mo ago AI Research Scientist Cogent Security · San Francisco $100,000–$300,000 2mo ago 
AI Research Scientist, Learning & Evaluation StudyFetch · Beverly Hills $180,000–$280,000 2mo ago 
Principal AI Research Scientist, Research Director - AI Scaling Databricks · Mountain View $270,000–$340,000 5mo ago 
AI Research Scientist - Datadog AI Research (DAIR) Datadog · New York $320,000–$400,000 1y ago Edge AI Research Scientist Cmu · Pittsburgh New $135,000–$232,000e 1d ago Edge AI Research Scientist Cmu (SEI) · Pittsburgh New $135,000–$232,000e 1d ago 
AI Research Scientist III (Full Time) – United States Cisco · San Francisco In listing 6d ago AI Research Scientist Abglobal · Nashville $135,000–$232,000e 2w ago 
AI Research Scientist, Scientific ML Western Digital · Singapore, , Singapore Pay not stated 2w ago AI Research Scientist, Singapore Salesforce · Singapore - Singapore Pay not stated 2w ago AI Research Scientist Pacific Defense · Fairfax $135,000–$232,000e 3w ago 
Senior Applied AI Research Scientist Sardine · Remote · US $160,550–$249,500e 6w ago Principal AI Research Scientist (HPE Labs) Hewlett Packard Enterprise · Milpitas In listing 2mo ago 
Founding AI Research Scientist - Optexity (USA) Pear VC · Palo Alto $135,000–$232,000e 2mo ago Applied AI Research Scientist - Generative and Agentic AI / Scientifique en IA Appliquée- IA Générative et Agentique Thales · Quebec City CA$120,250–CA$161,813e 3mo ago Applied AI Research Scientist – Data Scientist / Scientifique en IA Appliquée – Scientifique de Données Thales · Quebec City CA$120,250–CA$161,813e 3mo ago AI Research Scientist - Algorithm Applied Materials · Chennai Pay not stated 4mo ago AI Research Scientist -Computer Vision Meltplan · Bengaluru Pay not stated 5mo ago 
AI Research Scientist webAI · Austin $135,000–$232,000e 6mo ago AI Research Scientist webAI · Austin $135,000–$232,000e 9mo ago AI Research Scientist - Datadog AI Research (DAIR) Datadog · Paris Pay not stated 1y ago