United States · USD
Research Engineer salary in United States
The median salary in Research Engineer job ads in United States is $342,500 a year (about $28,542 a month before tax). The middle half of those ads list $296,375 to $440,000, based on 20 salaries from 8 employers, updated 31 Oct 2026.
- Median in job ads
- $342,500
- a year
- 12-month range
- High $347,500
- Aug 2026
- Low $347,500 · Aug 2026
- Salaries
- 20
- from 8 employers
- Last updated
- 31 Oct 2026
- 12-month window to 31 Oct 2026
Salary range
Where listed pay sits
- 10th percentile
- $202,850
- 25th percentile
- $296,375
- Median
- $342,500
- 75th percentile
- $440,000
- 90th percentile
- $600,000
20 salaries · 38 live United States jobs. Box: the middle half of salaries · line: the median · whisker: 10th to 90th percentile.
Based on 20 salary-listed job postings from the last 12 months · last updated 31 Oct 2026
Salary brackets
Research Engineer salary brackets in United States
How the 20 comparable salary observations behind the percentile band above spread across USD pay brackets, annualised and United States only. Shares are of observations, not of employers.
| Pay bracket | Relative size | Share and count of listings |
|---|---|---|
| Under $200K | 10% 2 listings | |
| $200K–$250K | 5% 1 listing | |
| $250K–$300K | 10% 2 listings | |
| $300K–$350KMedian here | 30% 6 listings | |
| $350K–$400K | 0% 0 listings | |
| $400K–$450K | 25% 5 listings | |
| $450K–$500K | 0% 0 listings | |
| $500K–$550K | 0% 0 listings | |
| $550K–$600K | 0% 0 listings | |
| $600K and over | 20% 4 listings |
Brackets are equal-width and rounded; the open-ended rows collect the lowest and highest observations, and the bracket that holds the median is highlighted. Same cohort and outlier rules as the percentiles above.
Salary by company
What companies pay a Research Engineer in United States
Employers with at least 5 listed salaries for this role; those with 8 or more link to their own salary page. The sparkline is the company's monthly median where it has enough salaries.
| Company | Pay range chart | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic$478,125–$600,000 · 6 salaries | $600,000 | |
| OpenAI$347,500–$440,000 · 5 salaries | $439,000 |
One shared scale, $337.4K to $610.1K. Box: the middle half of salaries · line: the median.
Skills and pay
Skills linked to higher Research Engineer pay in United States
How much higher or lower the median is for job posts that mention a skill. It shows an association, not a guarantee: better-paid jobs often bundle several scarce skills with senior scope. Skills with fewer than 8 salaries are left out.
| Skill | Pay premium chart | Pay premium |
|---|---|---|
| aimedian $347,500 · 19 salaries | up +1.5% | |
| machine learningmedian $337,500 · 9 salaries | down −1.5% | |
| pythonmedian $300,000 · 9 salaries | down −12.4% |
Pay listed by employers
Latest Research Engineer jobs that show their pay in United States
Pay as the employer wrote it, per year: individual job posts, not averages.
- Research Engineer, Life SciencesAnthropic · Senior level · posted 17 Oct 2026$350,000 – $500,000
- Research EngineerDecagon · Mid level · posted 17 Oct 2026$200,000 – $400,000
- Research Engineer, Post-TrainingHarvey · posted 17 Oct 2026$231,000 – $340,000
- Research Engineer, SafetyDecagon · Mid level · posted 17 Oct 2026$200,000 – $400,000
- Research Engineer, InterpretabilityAnthropic · Senior level · posted 17 Oct 2026$315,000 – $560,000
Evidence
Where these numbers come from
20 salaries from 8 employers, posted between 31 Oct 2025 and 31 Oct 2026. Last updated 31 Oct 2026. Every figure on this page comes from this one group of salaries; the median is the middle value, not the average.
- Employer hiring-system feeds 90%
- Pay read from posting text 10%
Live jobs
Research Engineer jobs in United States
- Research Engineer – Benchmarking
Mercor · San Francisco, California, United States
$200K – $500K/yr · listed by the employer
- Research Engineer - Environments, Data and Post-Training
Mercor · San Francisco, California, United States
$180K – $500K/yr · listed by the employer
- Research Engineer, Real Environments
Mercor · San Francisco, California, United States
$160K – $500K/yr · listed by the employer
- Research Engineer, Intern – Benchmarking
Mercor · San Francisco, California, United States
$70/hr · listed by the employer
- Research Engineer, Scientific Data & Workflow Infrastructure
Lila Sciences · Cambridge, MA USA
$148K – $240K/yr · listed by the employer
- Research Engineer, Generalist
Exa · San Francisco, California, United States
$180K – $350K/yr · listed by the employer
Reading this number
What this number does—and does not—mean
The range summarizes salary-listed Jobiba jobs in United States. It is not a promise of what one employer will pay, and it is not converted from another country's currency. Experience, city, seniority, skills and company can move an individual offer materially.
Frequently asked questions
Research Engineer salary in United States: common questions
What is the average Research Engineer salary in United States in 2026?
Job ads for Research Engineer in United States on Jobiba list a median salary of $342,500 a year, based on 20 salary-listed job postings. The middle half of those job ads pay between $296,375 and $440,000 a year (25th to 75th percentile).
How does Jobiba calculate Research Engineer salary in United States?
From 20 salary-listed Jobiba job postings from the last 12 months that state an explicit salary, currency and pay period. Hourly, daily and monthly pay is converted to an annual figure, implausible values and outliers are removed, and currencies are never mixed or converted. Jobiba publishes the median and 25th–75th percentile range only when enough comparable postings exist.