Across 155 live US postings for research engineers with a listed USD salary, measured November 2026, the median offer is $230,000–$400,000 a year. This is the tracked catalog, not the whole labor market.
Measured November 2026 · n=155 US postings with salary
Research engineer salary: $230,000–$400,000 a year, measured from live postings.
Every number below comes from 288 tracked live postings whose title matches "research engineer". No surveys, no self-reports. Listed salaries only, in US dollars.
- The median research engineer posting offers $230,000–$400,000 a year (n=155).
- 25.3% of the 288 live postings matching "research engineer" are remote.
- Builds AI research engineers list $230,000–$400,000, vs $141,910–$193,200 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 | 5 | $300,000–$300,000 |
| Junior | 9 | $126,000–$423,000 |
| Mid-level | 15 | $180,000–$400,000 |
| Senior | 48 | $196,000–$304,750 |
| Lead | 18 | $247,988–$365,382 |
Remote vs on-site (USD / year)
| Segment | US postings with salary | Median min–max / year |
|---|---|---|
| Remote | 35 | $230,000–$445,000 |
| On-site / hybrid | 120 | $220,800–$400,000 |
Companies hiring research engineers
Method
US-dollar postings whose title contains "research engineer", with both salary bounds listed. This page exists because 155 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: postings at tech companies tracked by Level. Not the whole labor market. Do not cite as a national average.
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 engineers jobs are remote?
25.3% of the 155 live postings are marked remote by the employer, measured November 2026.
Does the AI level of the job change the pay?
In this sample, 244 postings build AI and 31 involve little AI. See the level breakdown below for the median at each level. Measured November 2026.