Research Scientist compensation
Research Scientist Salary at AI Startups (2026)
The median Research Scientist salary at AI startups is $225,000, based on 162 disclosed job postings ($85,000–$500,000 range). Updated October 2026. These are aggregate figures only; we never publish an individual company's offer.
$85,000Minimum
$225,000Median
$500,000Maximum
Sample size: based on 162 disclosed salaries.
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Median Research Scientist salary by funding stage
| Funding stage | Median salary | Sample size |
|---|---|---|
| Seed | $300,000 | 15 |
| Series G+ | $300,000 | 35 |
| Series A | $235,000 | 18 |
| Series C | $220,000 | 15 |
| Series E | $213,000 | 15 |
| Unknown | $207,500 | 5 |
| Series B | $200,000 | 41 |
| Series D | $200,000 | 9 |
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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 162 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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