Salary data · Updated daily
Principal science and research salaries in the United States
Median $195k a year across 18 live postings that publish pay; the middle half runs from $170k to $201k. 86% of the 21 live postings in this segment publish a band at all.
The middle half: $170k to $201k. The ends are folded into the outer bars.
- Entry level$121k
- Mid level$204k
- Senior$171k
- Staff$250k
- Principal (this page)$195k
- Manager$230k
Bars are the middle half of published bands; the tick is the median.
Highest-paying employers
Hiring the most right now
IDEAYA Biosciencesopen roles in this segment5
Genesis Molecular AIopen roles in this segment2
Aliceopen roles in this segment1
Arda Therapeuticsopen roles in this segment1
Canvaopen roles in this segment1
Databricksopen roles in this segment1
Denali Therapeuticsopen roles in this segment1
DoorDashopen roles in this segment1
The best-paid openings in this segment
- Staff / Principal Research Scientist, Models - USAInworld AI · Mountain View, California$270k to $500k
- Principal Research Scientist - ScalingDatabricks · San Francisco, California$280k to $350k
- Principal / Staff Applied Research ScientistSnowflake · US-CA-Menlo Park$236k to $339k
- Senior Principal Research Scientist, Computational ChemistryIDEAYA Biosciences · South San Francisco HQ$196k to $242k
- Senior Principal Research Scientist, Protein SciencesIDEAYA Biosciences · South San Francisco HQ$180k to $223k
- Perplexity Research FellowshipPerplexity · San Francisco$180k to $220k
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Other salaries in the United States
Questions this data answers
What is the median salary for principal science and research roles in the United States?
$195k a year in base pay, across 18 live postings that publish a salary band. The middle half of those bands runs from $170k to $201k.
How many principal science and research job posts publish a salary?
86% of the 21 live postings in this segment state a pay range. The figures here are drawn only from those.
Which companies pay the most for principal science and research roles in the United States?
Among employers with at least two published bands, the highest medians right now are at IDEAYA Biosciences ($198k).
Where does this data come from?
Base pay only, as employers publish it in their own job posts: the midpoint of each annual range, in the currency most postings use. Equity, bonus and commission are not in it. Updated daily.
Base pay only, as employers publish it in their own job posts: the midpoint of each annual range, in the currency most postings use. Equity, bonus and commission are not in it. Read off the live postings on Refolk's job board, where an employer is only counted while the posting is open. Updated daily.