Across 889 live US postings for research roles with a listed USD salary, measured November 2026, the median offer is $172,400–$248,700 a year. This is the tracked catalog, not the whole labor market.
Measured November 2026 · n=889 US postings with salary
Research salary: $172,400–$248,700 a year, measured from live postings.
Every number below comes from 1,834 tracked live research postings. No surveys, no self-reports. Listed salaries only, in US dollars.
- The median research posting offers $172,400–$248,700 a year (n=889, USD).
- 16.8% of the 1,834 live research postings are remote.
- The middle half of postings (25th–75th percentile) top out between $193,200–$313,700 a year. The median alone hides how wide that spread is.
- Builds AI research roles list $183,800–$260,000, vs $142,800–$198,550 at Little AI.
Median salary by seniority (USD / year)
Seniority as tagged on the posting. Both salary bounds required.
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Intern | 26 | $141,499–$167,801 |
| Junior | 27 | $126,000–$193,200 |
| Mid-level | 123 | $145,676–$202,500 |
| Senior | 467 | $171,600–$226,100 |
| Lead | 95 | $205,000–$304,820 |
Remote vs on-site (USD / year)
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Remote | 138 | $200,000–$300,000 |
| On-site / hybrid | 751 | $171,600–$230,000 |
Jobs that build AI vs the rest
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Builds AI | 635 | $183,800–$260,000 |
| Little AI | 213 | $142,800–$198,550 |
Companies hiring research roles
Method
US-dollar postings with both salary bounds listed. This page exists because 889 such postings clear the 50-posting floor Level requires before publishing a dedicated salary page. Below that, the median moves too much between ingestion cycles to be a citable number.
Sample: research postings at tech companies tracked by Level (1,834 live postings in this category on the measured date). Not the whole labor market. Do not cite as a national average.
All amounts are USD per year. Every median and quartile below excludes hourly-rate postings (a listed maximum under $1,000, almost always an hourly rate, not a salary) and mid-range postings that are neither clearly hourly nor clearly annual (maximum between $1,000 and $10,000). Mixing either into an annual median would understate the real number. The middle 50% of postings top out between $193,200–$313,700 (25th–75th percentile).
Refreshed automatically; this edition is measured November 2026. Small-n slices move a lot. Read the n column first.
Source: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Dept. of Labor): Computer and Information Research Scientists (SOC 15-1221.00).
How many research roles jobs are remote?
16.8% of the 889 live postings are marked remote by the employer, measured November 2026.
Does the AI level of the job change the pay?
In this sample, 1,166 postings build AI and 552 involve little AI. See the level breakdown below for the median at each level. Measured November 2026.