Fellow Salary

Q: How much does a Fellow make?

Fellows make $61,218 per year on average, or $29.43 per hour, in the United States. Fellows on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $43,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $86,000. Location impacts how much a fellow can expect to make. Fellows make the most in Tennessee, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Fellow Salary

$61,218 yearly
To create our salary estimates, Zippia starts with data published in publicly available sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Foreign Labor Certification Data Center (FLC) Show More

$29.43 hourly

Entry level Salary

$43,000 yearly

$43,000

10 %

$61,218

Median

$86,000

90 %

How much does a Fellow make?

Fellows make $61,218 per year on average, or $29.43 per hour, in the United States. Fellows on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $43,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $86,000.

Location impacts how much a fellow can expect to make. Fellows make the most in Tennessee, California, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island.

Highest Paying States For Fellows

The darker areas on the map show where fellows earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Fellow average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Rhode Island	$76,692	$36.87	25
2	Connecticut	$79,126	$38.04	50
3	Delaware	$71,142	$34.20	25
4	Tennessee	$88,338	$42.47	65
5	Idaho	$73,806	$35.48	26
6	New York	$70,032	$33.67	544
7	California	$79,799	$38.36	520
8	Arizona	$72,487	$34.85	104
9	Minnesota	$68,438	$32.90	186
10	Massachusetts	$68,276	$32.83	635
11	Pennsylvania	$68,222	$32.80	261
12	Wisconsin	$69,804	$33.56	86
13	New Jersey	$77,395	$37.21	104
14	Maine	$70,447	$33.87	21
15	Illinois	$68,734	$33.05	196
16	Indiana	$71,535	$34.39	49
17	Oregon	$63,359	$30.46	161
18	Washington	$64,720	$31.12	186
19	Maryland	$66,913	$32.17	162
20	New Hampshire	$63,769	$30.66	34
21	Wyoming	$60,014	$28.85	15
22	West Virginia	$59,812	$28.76	38
23	Michigan	$63,095	$30.33	117
24	District of Columbia	$65,213	$31.35	95
25	Colorado	$60,304	$28.99	177
26	Ohio	$61,183	$29.41	111
27	Kentucky	$58,205	$27.98	59
28	Hawaii	$67,116	$32.27	11
29	Iowa	$56,119	$26.98	93
30	Vermont	$56,526	$27.18	26
31	South Dakota	$59,434	$28.57	12
32	Alaska	$57,019	$27.41	22
33	Virginia	$58,805	$28.27	187
34	Montana	$59,053	$28.39	14
35	Nebraska	$57,541	$27.66	29
36	Kansas	$52,621	$25.30	56
37	Oklahoma	$53,928	$25.93	47
38	New Mexico	$53,914	$25.92	31
39	Nevada	$57,375	$27.58	15
40	Arkansas	$55,607	$26.73	22
41	North Carolina	$56,334	$27.08	94
42	Georgia	$47,110	$22.65	245
43	Florida	$53,058	$25.51	159
44	Texas	$51,785	$24.90	202
45	Missouri	$53,627	$25.78	40
46	North Dakota	$44,224	$21.26	15
47	Alabama	$50,510	$24.28	40
48	Utah	$48,070	$23.11	36
49	South Carolina	$46,230	$22.23	59
50	Mississippi	$47,356	$22.77	22
51	Louisiana	$41,963	$20.17	40

Highest Paying Cities For Fellows

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Oak Ridge, TN	$88,437	$42.52
2	San Francisco, CA	$85,846	$41.27
3	Bridgeport, CT	$79,571	$38.26
4	Providence, RI	$76,640	$36.85
5	Portland, ME	$71,234	$34.25
6	Indianapolis, IN	$71,202	$34.23
7	New York, NY	$70,223	$33.76
8	Milwaukee, WI	$69,955	$33.63
9	Springfield, MA	$69,275	$33.31
10	Chicago, IL	$69,075	$33.21
11	Allentown, PA	$68,650	$33.00
12	Minneapolis, MN	$68,485	$32.93
13	Baltimore, MD	$67,232	$32.32
14	Seattle, WA	$65,425	$31.45
15	Washington, DC	$65,278	$31.38

Here Are The Five Most In Demand Cities Right Now:

Fellow Salary Details

What is a Fellow's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$86,000	$7,167	$41
75th Percentile	$73,000	$6,083	$35
Average	$61,218	$5,102	$29
25th Percentile	$50,000	$4,167	$24
10th Percentile	$43,000	$3,583	$21

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Public Affairs Internship	$33,409	$2,784	$16.06	57,898
Laboratory Researcher	$39,225	$3,269	$18.86	57,359
Research Scientist	$84,125	$7,010	$40.44	93,013
Policy Internship	$59,308	$4,942	$28.51	47,625
Staff Scientist	$84,998	$7,083	$40.86	121,054
PHD Researcher	$51,221	$4,268	$24.63	19,736

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Fellows The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Cincinnati Eye Institute and Middlesex Health are the highest paying companies for fellows.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Cincinnati Eye Institute	$132,155	$63.54
2	Middlesex Health	$118,463	$56.95	1
3	Amd	$116,433	$55.98	2
4	Parkview Health	$115,352	$55.46
5	Middlebury College	$114,146	$54.88	1
6	McKinsey & Company Inc	$113,111	$54.38	67
7	Northwestern Medical Center	$110,961	$53.35
8	OrthoIndy	$108,579	$52.20
9	Lewis & Clark College	$107,667	$51.76
10	BuzzFeed	$106,750	$51.32
11	Federal Reserve	$104,547	$50.26	2
12	East-West Center	$98,898	$47.55
13	Johnson & Johnson	$98,610	$47.41	81
14	Massachusetts Medical Society	$98,423	$47.32	1
15	Foreign Policy	$98,164	$47.19
16	Micron Technology	$97,622	$46.93
17	Center for American Progress	$96,119	$46.21
18	East Tennessee State University	$94,686	$45.52
19	AT&T	$94,366	$45.37	8
20	Alcon	$93,560	$44.98

Fellow Salary Trends

The salary for a fellow can vary depending on the years of experience that a person has, from entry level to senior level. Data on how experience level affects total compensation is provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) as part of their National Compensation Survey, which is based on factors such as knowledge, complexity, contacts, and environment.

Average Fellow Salary Over Time

Compare salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Fellow Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$61,200	$29.43	+3.0%
2021	$59,400	$28.56	+4.5%
2020	$56,700	$27.28	+3.2%
2019	$54,900	$26.40	+1.9%
2018	$53,900	$25.90	-2.1%

Recently Added Fellow Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Uchealth	or Fellowship-Surgery Center	Englewood, CO	06/01/2022	$69,038
The Forward Association	Editorial Fellow	New York, NY	06/01/2022	$37,304
Govhr USA	Leadership In Conservation Fellow-Champaign County Forest Preserve District	Champaign, IL	05/31/2022	$45,000
Blueprint Math Fellow 2020-2021 In Oakland, California	Americorps Member Math Fellow	Nashville, TN	05/31/2022	$30,345
Blueprint Math Fellow 2020-2021 In Oakland, California	Americorps Member Math Fellow	Denver, CO	05/31/2022	$31,345
Blueprint Math Fellow 2020-2021 In Oakland, California	Americorps Member Math Fellow	East Saint Louis, IL	05/31/2022	$31,345
Blueprint Math Fellow 2020-2021 In Oakland, California	Americorps Member Math Fellow	Oakland, CA	05/31/2022	$34,345
Blueprint Math Fellow 2020-2021 In Oakland, California	Americorps Member Math Fellow	Washington, DC	05/31/2022	$34,345
Saga Education	Americorps Member Math Fellow	Columbia, SC	05/29/2022	$26,000
James Madison University	Woodson Martin Democracy Fellow	Harrisonburg, VA	05/29/2022	$36,523

Fellow Salaries FAQs

What state pays Fellows the most?

Tennessee pays Fellows the most in the United States, with an average salary of $88,338 per year, or $42.47 per hour.

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a Fellow?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Fellow if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in California you should be paid close to $79,799 per year.

What type of Fellow gets paid the most?

Medical Science Liaison gets paid the most. Medical Science Liaison made a median salary of $113,905. The best-paid 10 percent make $174,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $74,000.

What is a good starting salary for a Fellow?

A good starting salary for a fellow is $43,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a fellow in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for fellows is $61,218, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a fellow can vary by state.

Have more questions? See all answers to common life, physical, and social science questions.

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