Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of research internship salary by state for the United States:
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New Jersey has the highest research internship salary of $58,529
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Wyoming has the lowest research internship salary of $24,108
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The national average salary for research interns is $39,573
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The national hourly pay for research interns is $19.03
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do research interns get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for research internship by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for research interns after this adjustment? That would be New Jersey.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for research internship salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid Research Interns By State
| Rank | State | Average Research Internship Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | $58,529 | $36,000 | $94,000 |
| 2 | Washington | $55,734 | $36,000 | $86,000 |
| 3 | California | $53,525 | $33,000 | $84,000 |
| 4 | New York | $50,519 | $31,000 | $81,000 |
| 5 | Massachusetts | $50,322 | $32,000 | $78,000 |
| 6 | Texas | $49,418 | $32,000 | $75,000 |
| 7 | Delaware | $48,614 | $30,000 | $78,000 |
| 8 | Alaska | $47,793 | $33,000 | $69,000 |
| 9 | Virginia | $47,031 | $29,000 | $74,000 |
| 10 | Connecticut | $46,388 | $29,000 | $73,000 |
| 11 | Illinois | $45,715 | $29,000 | $70,000 |
| 12 | Rhode Island | $45,218 | $28,000 | $71,000 |
| 13 | Maine | $44,911 | $29,000 | $68,000 |
| 14 | Oregon | $43,501 | $28,000 | $67,000 |
| 15 | Vermont | $43,399 | $28,000 | $67,000 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $43,143 | $27,000 | $67,000 |
| 17 | West Virginia | $42,709 | $27,000 | $66,000 |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | $42,207 | $26,000 | $68,000 |
| 19 | Maryland | $41,626 | $25,000 | $66,000 |
| 20 | Arizona | $40,984 | $26,000 | $63,000 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | $40,843 | $26,000 | $62,000 |
| 22 | Colorado | $40,296 | $27,000 | $59,000 |
| 23 | Minnesota | $40,208 | $26,000 | $61,000 |
| 24 | Hawaii | $39,360 | $29,000 | $53,000 |
| 25 | North Carolina | $38,192 | $25,000 | $58,000 |
| 26 | Nevada | $37,150 | $23,000 | $58,000 |
| 27 | Michigan | $36,996 | $23,000 | $58,000 |
| 28 | Ohio | $36,975 | $23,000 | $58,000 |
| 29 | Iowa | $36,447 | $24,000 | $54,000 |
| 30 | Florida | $35,747 | $23,000 | $53,000 |
| 31 | Missouri | $35,563 | $23,000 | $53,000 |
| 32 | Georgia | $35,440 | $23,000 | $52,000 |
| 33 | Idaho | $35,316 | $23,000 | $53,000 |
| 34 | Arkansas | $34,997 | $23,000 | $52,000 |
| 35 | Kentucky | $34,354 | $22,000 | $52,000 |
| 36 | Oklahoma | $34,261 | $23,000 | $50,000 |
| 37 | Utah | $33,440 | $22,000 | $50,000 |
| 38 | Tennessee | $33,362 | $22,000 | $49,000 |
| 39 | South Dakota | $33,087 | $22,000 | $49,000 |
| 40 | Alabama | $32,630 | $21,000 | $48,000 |
| 41 | Indiana | $32,560 | $21,000 | $49,000 |
| 42 | New Mexico | $31,953 | $20,000 | $48,000 |
| 43 | South Carolina | $31,582 | $21,000 | $47,000 |
| 44 | Kansas | $31,388 | $21,000 | $46,000 |
| 45 | Louisiana | $30,711 | $20,000 | $46,000 |
| 46 | Nebraska | $29,727 | $20,000 | $44,000 |
| 47 | Mississippi | $29,203 | $19,000 | $43,000 |
| 48 | Montana | $29,118 | $19,000 | $43,000 |
| 49 | North Dakota | $28,981 | $19,000 | $43,000 |
| 50 | Wyoming | $24,108 | $16,000 | $35,000 |
Methodology: Research Internship Salary By State
To better understand research internship pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for research interns by state.
We took the average annual salary data for research interns from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for research interns.
Research Internship Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for research interns?
The highest-paid state for research interns is New Jersey with an average salary of $58,529 per year.
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What city pays research interns the most?
Newark, NJ pays research interns the most with an average salary of $58,588 per year.
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What is the worst state for research interns?
The worst state for research interns is Wyoming with an average salary of $24,108 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
