PHD Researcher Salary

Q: How much does an PHD Researcher make?

Phd researchers make $51,634 per year on average, or $24.82 per hour, in the United States. Phd researchers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $35,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $76,000. Location impacts how much an phd researcher can expect to make. Phd researchers make the most in California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Maine, and Rhode Island.

Updated February 6, 2023

Average PHD Researcher Salary

$51,634yearly

$24.82 hourly

Entry level Salary

$35,000 yearly

$35,00010%

$51,634Median

$76,00090%

How much does an PHD Researcher make?

Phd researchers make $51,634 per year on average, or $24.82 per hour, in the United States. Phd researchers on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $35,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $76,000.

Location impacts how much an phd researcher can expect to make. Phd researchers make the most in California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Maine, and Rhode Island.

Highest Paying States For PHD Researchers

Throughout the U.S., the average salary for an phd researcher is roughly $51,634 per year, which boils down to $24.82 per hour. Interestingly enough, phd researchers have the highest salaries in Novato, CA at about $78,617 per year. For those who are just starting out, the average entry-level salary in Novato, CA is $48,000. Additionally, phd researchers make more than the average salary in Urban Honolulu, HI, Oak Ridge, TN, Newark, NJ, Tempe, AZ, and Falmouth, MA. On a more broad level, phd researcher salaries are highest in California, Hawaii, Tennessee, Maine, Rhode Island, Arizona, and New Jersey. On the contrary, Georgia, North Dakota, and West Virginia offer the lowest phd researcher salaries.

State View
County View

Average Salary:

PHD Researcher average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	California	$74,323	$35.73	1,440
2	Tennessee	$66,216	$31.83	177
3	Rhode Island	$59,828	$28.76	34
4	Maine	$60,187	$28.94	37
5	New Jersey	$57,417	$27.60	640
6	Massachusetts	$56,841	$27.33	1,185
7	Oregon	$55,079	$26.48	237
8	Washington	$54,947	$26.42	498
9	Minnesota	$54,178	$26.05	258
10	Maryland	$56,691	$27.26	266
11	Montana	$55,944	$26.90	31
12	Hawaii	$73,129	$35.16	14
13	Arizona	$57,506	$27.65	105
14	New York	$54,014	$25.97	1,085
15	Colorado	$52,573	$25.28	281
16	Connecticut	$57,145	$27.47	69
17	Pennsylvania	$51,259	$24.64	343
18	Delaware	$51,571	$24.79	41
19	Alaska	$52,094	$25.05	24
20	Illinois	$50,686	$24.37	355
21	Indiana	$53,888	$25.91	94
22	Nevada	$56,140	$26.99	21
23	Wyoming	$51,358	$24.69	9
24	Oklahoma	$51,212	$24.62	44
25	Wisconsin	$47,876	$23.02	93
26	District of Columbia	$45,757	$22.00	109
27	New Hampshire	$48,466	$23.30	27
28	Nebraska	$43,218	$20.78	67
29	Idaho	$47,451	$22.81	29
30	Virginia	$45,713	$21.98	259
31	Michigan	$43,917	$21.11	169
32	Arkansas	$46,118	$22.17	19
33	Missouri	$42,650	$20.50	171
34	Iowa	$42,406	$20.39	103
35	North Carolina	$43,229	$20.78	267
36	New Mexico	$43,660	$20.99	49
37	South Dakota	$44,554	$21.42	16
38	Ohio	$42,304	$20.34	237
39	Vermont	$43,329	$20.83	19
40	Kentucky	$42,599	$20.48	66
41	Texas	$41,586	$19.99	511
42	Utah	$42,895	$20.62	60
43	West Virginia	$37,389	$17.98	48
44	Kansas	$42,865	$20.61	32
45	Florida	$41,683	$20.04	288
46	Georgia	$38,798	$18.65	264
47	North Dakota	$38,572	$18.54	18
48	Alabama	$39,830	$19.15	53
49	Louisiana	$36,753	$17.67	72
50	Mississippi	$36,757	$17.67	35
51	South Carolina	$33,936	$16.32	52

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Highest Paying Cities For PHD Researchers

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	Novato, CA	$78,617	$37.80	1
2	Urban Honolulu, HI	$73,118	$35.15	2
3	Oak Ridge, TN	$65,348	$31.42
4	Newark, NJ	$57,824	$27.80	2
5	Tempe, AZ	$57,536	$27.66
6	Falmouth, MA	$57,165	$27.48
7	Gaithersburg, MD	$56,452	$27.14
8	Bozeman, MT	$56,178	$27.01	1
9	Eugene, OR	$55,876	$26.86	2
10	Syracuse, NY	$54,239	$26.08	5
11	Boulder, CO	$52,669	$25.32	7
12	Newark, DE	$51,685	$24.85	2
13	Philadelphia, PA	$51,535	$24.78
14	Laramie, WY	$51,212	$24.62
15	Chicago, IL	$50,728	$24.39	1

PHD Researchers Salary Details

Average PHD Researcher Salary Graph, Trends, and Summary

What is an PHD Researcher's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$76,000	$6,333	$37
75th Percentile	$63,000	$5,250	$30
Average	$51,634	$4,303	$25
25th Percentile	$42,000	$3,500	$20
10th Percentile	$35,000	$2,917	$17

Highest Paying Types of PHD Researchers

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Fellow	$66,364	$5,530	$31.91	7,459
Scientist	$97,344	$8,112	$46.80	62,467
Doctoral Fellow	$53,366	$4,447	$25.66	22,661
Staff Scientist	$93,941	$7,828	$45.16	121,054
Postdoctoral Scholar	$57,587	$4,799	$27.69	18,983
Research And Development Scientist	$90,278	$7,523	$43.40	129,803

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay PHD Researchers The Most?

According to our most recent salary estimates, Meta and IBM are the highest paying companies for phd researchers.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Meta	$144,606	$69.52	345
2	IBM	$121,793	$58.55	6
3	Amd	$101,577	$48.84	1
4	Los Alamos National Security LLC	$78,108	$37.55
5	Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory	$78,010	$37.50	1
6	Argonne National Laboratory	$77,972	$37.49	106
7	Sandia National Labs	$77,861	$37.43	40
8	Ncar - The National Center For Atmospheric Research	$77,324	$37.17	2
9	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory	$77,314	$37.17	65
10	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory	$77,005	$37.02	80
11	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	$76,634	$36.84
12	Los Alamos National Laboratory	$76,563	$36.81	76
13	Genentech	$72,284	$34.75	156
14	Novartis	$72,183	$34.70	13
15	American Society for Engineering Education	$70,858	$34.07
16	Bradley University	$67,765	$32.58
17	Stanford University	$65,712	$31.59	40
18	San Francisco University High School	$65,347	$31.42
19	New York University	$65,162	$31.33	60
20	Arizona State University	$64,021	$30.78

How Much Do PHD Researchers Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much an phd researcher salaries can based on different industries:

The technology industry pays phd researchers an average salary of $79,949
The manufacturing industry pay $52,586
The lowest paying industry for phd researchers is the non profits industry. Phd researchers in this industry earn an average salary of $47,904

Highest Paying Industries For PHD Researchers

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Technology	$79,949	$38.44
2	Manufacturing	$52,586	$25.28
3	Education	$52,376	$25.18
4	Non Profits	$47,904	$23.03

High Paying PHD Researcher Jobs

PHD Researcher Pay Trends

Average PHD Researcher Salary Over Time

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

PHD Researcher Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2023	$51,600	$24.82	+3.0%
2022	$50,100	$24.09	+4.5%
2021	$47,900	$23.01	+3.2%
2020	$46,300	$22.27	+1.9%
2019	$45,400	$21.85	-2.1%

Recently Added PHD Researcher Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
Nrel	Postdoctoral Researcher-Computational Materials Design for Decarbonization	Golden, CO	11/22/2022	$69,400
Fan Lab, Uc Davis	Postdoctoral Researcher	Davis, CA	11/20/2022	$55,631
Fan Lab, Uc Davis	Postdoctoral Researcher	Davis, CA	11/20/2022	$55,631
Woodwell Climate Research Center	Postdoctoral Researcher-Water Program	Falmouth, MA	11/16/2022	$62,000
Columbia University	Postdoctoral Research Scholar	New York, NY	11/14/2022	$70,000
Columbia University	Postdoctoral Research Scholar	New York, NY	11/14/2022	$70,000
New York University	Postdoctoral-Level Researcher	New York, NY	11/14/2022	$65,000
New York University	Postdoctoral-Level Researcher	New York, NY	11/14/2022	$65,000
Southwest Research Institute	Postdoctoral Researcher-Solar and Heliospheric Physics	Boulder, CO	11/12/2022	$70,000
Southwest Research Institute	Postdoctoral Researcher-Solar and Heliospheric Physics	Boulder, CO	11/12/2022	$70,000

PHD Researcher Salaries FAQs

What State Pays Phd Researchers The Most?

California pays PHD Researchers the most in the United States, with an average salary of $74,323 per year, or $35.73 per hour.

How Do I Know If I'm Being Paid Fairly As An Phd Researcher?

You know if you are being paid fairly as an PHD Researcher if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Hawaii you should be paid close to $73,129 per year.

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

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Updated February 6, 2023