Staff AI Research Scientist salary (October 2026)
The median published US pay for Staff AI Research Scientist postings is $246K, from 40 postings with a pay range, as of October 24, 2026. That is +3% against the $239K median for AI Research Scientist postings at all levels (n=180); 22% of AI Research Scientist postings with pay are at this level. Among the 5 roles with enough staff / lead pay data, it ranks 2nd, and sits +5% against the $235K median for every data & AI posting at this level.
AI Research Scientist pay by level
| Level (from title) | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senior | — | 19 | — |
| Staff / lead | $246K | 40 | — |
| Level not stated | $244K | 102 | -1% |
Based on 161 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
Staff / lead pay across data & AI roles
| # | Role | Median pay (US) | n with pay | vs this page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Machine Learning Engineer | $264K | 195 | +7% |
| 2 | AI Research Scientist | $246K | 40 | — |
| 3 | AI Engineer | $237K | 238 | -4% |
| 4 | Data Scientist | $220K | 108 | -11% |
| 5 | Data Engineer | $190K | 75 | -23% |
| — | Data Analyst | — | 26 | — |
| — | Analytics Engineer | — | 16 | — |
| — | Data Governance & Quality | — | 14 | — |
Based on 712 postings with pay. A dash means fewer than 30 list pay.
How it is measured: median of the published pay range midpoint, US postings in USD, annualized (hourly × 2,080). Level comes from title words only. Medians are shown when n ≥ 30; “—” means fewer than 30 postings with pay. Data: CSV · JSON. See the methodology. Back to AI Research Scientist or all roles.