Research Scientist compensation
Research Scientist Salary at AI Startups (2026)
The median Research Scientist salary at AI startups is $237,500, based on 121 disclosed job postings ($90,000–$412,500 range). Updated July 2026. These are aggregate figures only; we never publish an individual company's offer.
$90,000Minimum
$237,500Median
$412,500Maximum
Sample size: based on 121 disclosed salaries.
01
Median Research Scientist salary by funding stage
| Funding stage | Median salary | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | $312,500 | 11 |
| Series G+ | $291,450 | 28 |
| Series A | $221,250 | 22 |
| Series D | $218,750 | 8 |
| Series E | $215,175 | 10 |
| Series C | $213,500 | 15 |
| Series B | $211,500 | 19 |
02
How we calculate this
Roughly a quarter of AI-startup postings disclose pay. We extract the USD range from those that do, normalize each to a midpoint, and aggregate across distinct postings (deduplicated by posting ID). The minimum, median, and maximum above are based on 121 disclosed salaries. We publish aggregate ranges only, never a single company's salary, so the numbers stay representative rather than anecdotal.
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