How much does a senior research investigator make?

The average senior research investigator salary in the United States is $90,336. Senior research investigator salaries typically range between $58,000 and $139,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for senior research investigators is $43.43 per hour. Senior research investigator salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Senior research investigators earn the highest average salary in Alaska.

Senior research investigator salary

Q: What state pays Senior Research Investigators the most?

Alaska pays Senior Research Investigators the most in the United States, with an average salary of $159,700 per year, or $76.78 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a senior research investigator?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a senior research investigator 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 $156,485 per year.

Quoted expert

David Simon

Average senior research investigator salary

$90,336

$43.43 hourly rate

Entry-level senior research investigator salary

$58,000 yearly salary

Updated January 8, 2025

Understanding the Senior Research Investigator Salary

A Senior Research Investigator typically earns an average salary of $90,336 per year. This figure can vary significantly based on the state, sector, and years of experience. For instance, states like California and Massachusetts often offer higher compensation compared to others. With experience, salaries can increase substantially, and those in leadership positions or specialized roles tend to command even more.

Salary by State

To provide a clearer picture, here’s a brief overview of average salaries by state:

California: $105,000
Massachusetts: $98,000
New York: $95,000

Additionally, job opportunities in research organizations, universities, and pharmaceutical companies are prevalent. As the demand for innovative research continues to grow, so do the prospects for Senior Research Investigators. For those considering a career in this field, it’s beneficial to stay informed about the evolving landscape and potential salary increases based on advancements in research and technology.

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Where can a Senior Research Investigator earn more?

Compare salary by location

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82k

62k

42k

Columbus, OH$169,006

Birmingham, AL$71,759

Compare salary by company

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195k

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155k

135k

115k

95k

Crunchbase$197,931

Novartis$124,771

Senior research investigator salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Glassdoor and Comparably, the average salary for a senior research investigator typically falls between $90,336 and $156,575.

zippia

$90,336yearly

glassdoor[1]

$138,783yearly

comparably[2]

$156,575yearly

Average senior research investigator salary by state

The average senior research investigator salary in Alaska, Hawaii, and Connecticut are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average senior research investigator salary states are Missouri, South Carolina, and Georgia.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for senior research investigators

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	New Jersey	$144,732	$69.58
2	California	$148,928	$71.60
3	Rhode Island	$134,275	$64.56
4	Connecticut	$152,429	$73.28
5	Massachusetts	$123,679	$59.46
6	Hawaii	$156,485	$75.23
7	Delaware	$126,787	$60.96
8	Oregon	$110,912	$53.32
9	Tennessee	$120,784	$58.07
10	Alaska	$159,700	$76.78
11	Washington	$112,648	$54.16
12	Maine	$117,186	$56.34
13	New York	$115,428	$55.49
14	Michigan	$103,109	$49.57
15	Pennsylvania	$96,655	$46.47
16	Indiana	$116,916	$56.21
17	Vermont	$97,989	$47.11
18	Arizona	$104,922	$50.44
19	Minnesota	$93,469	$44.94
20	Ohio	$100,321	$48.23
21	New Hampshire	$94,492	$45.43
22	District of Columbia	$97,985	$47.11
23	Maryland	$108,014	$51.93
24	Illinois	$94,141	$45.26
25	Nevada	$103,427	$49.72
26	Wisconsin	$94,977	$45.66
27	North Carolina	$81,576	$39.22
28	Virginia	$88,798	$42.69
29	Montana	$89,338	$42.95
30	Colorado	$79,608	$38.27
31	West Virginia	$81,524	$39.19
32	New Mexico	$71,399	$34.33
33	Kentucky	$80,162	$38.54
34	Wyoming	$72,860	$35.03
35	South Dakota	$72,648	$34.93
36	Idaho	$74,789	$35.96
37	Iowa	$75,640	$36.37
38	Texas	$72,260	$34.74
39	Arkansas	$74,777	$35.95
40	Utah	$69,123	$33.23
41	Oklahoma	$73,179	$35.18
42	Florida	$65,595	$31.54
43	Nebraska	$59,822	$28.76
44	Missouri	$62,834	$30.21
45	North Dakota	$71,259	$34.26
46	Alabama	$71,695	$34.47
47	Kansas	$66,814	$32.12
48	Georgia	$60,728	$29.20
49	South Carolina	$62,615	$30.10
50	Mississippi	$58,765	$28.25
51	Louisiana	$57,173	$27.49

Top senior research investigator jobs near you

Highest paying cities for senior research investigators

The highest-paying cities for senior research investigators are San Francisco, CA, Wallingford, CT, and Bridgewater, NJ.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$169,006	$81.25
2	Wallingford, CT	$155,154	$74.59
3	Bridgewater, NJ	$146,046	$70.21
4	Wilmington, DE	$127,713	$61.40
5	Boston, MA	$124,102	$59.66
6	Memphis, TN	$117,321	$56.40
7	Seattle, WA	$116,596	$56.06
8	New York, NY	$115,574	$55.56
9	Portland, OR	$111,491	$53.60
10	Warren, MI	$103,848	$49.93
11	Columbus, OH	$99,420	$47.80
12	Washington, DC	$98,036	$47.13
13	Philadelphia, PA	$97,197	$46.73
14	Chicago, IL	$95,257	$45.80
15	Minneapolis, MN	$93,566	$44.98
16	Alexandria, VA	$91,724	$44.10
17	Chapel Hill, NC	$83,012	$39.91
18	Denver, CO	$79,560	$38.25
19	Austin, TX	$73,042	$35.12
20	Birmingham, AL	$71,759	$34.50

Senior research investigator salary details

A senior research investigator's salary ranges from $58,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $139,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average senior research investigator salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a senior research investigator's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$139,000	$11,583	$67
75th Percentile	$113,000	$9,417	$54
Average	$90,336	$7,528	$43
25th Percentile	$71,000	$5,917	$34
10th Percentile	$58,000	$4,833	$28

Highest paying senior research investigator jobs

The highest paying types of senior research investigators are research leader, senior scientist, and scientist.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Fellow	$66,364	$5,530	$31.91	7,459
Doctoral Fellow	$53,366	$4,447	$25.66	22,661
Postdoctoral Scholar	$57,587	$4,799	$27.69	18,983
Scientist	$97,344	$8,112	$46.80	62,467
Graduate Research Student	$34,658	$2,888	$16.66	58,921
Research Fellow	$53,823	$4,485	$25.88	59,746

How would you rate the starting salaries for senior research investigators, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

David Simon

Professor, Stonehill College

According to the American Institute of Physics Employment & Careers Report in Physics (available at aip.org/statistics/reports/employments-and-careers-physics), they are starting salaries for new physics Ph.D.'s range roughly from $40k - $65k for academic positions, $60k-$75k for government positions, and $85k-115$ in the private sector. Starting salaries for recent graduates with bachelor's degrees range from about $30k-$70k. In all employment areas, salaries grow at a reasonable rate with increased experience and seniority. The unemployment rate for graduates at both the bachelor's and Ph.D. levels have been well below 10% in recent years.

In most cases, academic positions have significantly lower starting salaries than industry, since the standard academic salary is for nine or ten months of teaching rather than for 12 months. However, the tradeoff is that academic jobs allow a greater degree of freedom in how you spend your time and what type of research you pursue. Furthermore, academic salaries can be supplemented by extra teaching, consultant work, or grant-funded summer salaries, which, in many cases, can raise a professor's total income to levels close to what would be earned in the industry. So, although salary is certainly a consideration, ultimately, the deciding factor for what type of career to pursue should be based on what type of work would make you happiest in the long term.

Top companies hiring senior research investigators now:

Which companies pay senior research investigators the most?

Senior research investigator salaries at Crunchbase and Twitter are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average senior research investigator salary at companies like Apple and Microsoft are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Crunchbase	$197,931	$95.16
2	Twitter	$179,128	$86.12
3	Apple	$176,084	$84.66
4	Microsoft	$175,645	$84.44
5	VMware	$171,481	$82.44
6	Palo Alto Networks	$159,021	$76.45
7	Adobe	$157,036	$75.50
8	Amazon	$148,988	$71.63
9	Salesforce	$146,009	$70.20
10	Nokia	$143,791	$69.13
11	Warner Bros.	$143,699	$69.09
12	Statoil	$142,463	$68.49
13	Citrix	$141,210	$67.89
14	Kaiser Permanente	$140,482	$67.54
15	SHRM	$139,850	$67.24
16	Genentech	$130,168	$62.58
17	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$126,632	$60.88
18	State Street	$125,675	$60.42
19	Incyte	$125,502	$60.34
20	Novartis	$124,771	$59.99

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$89,000$88,600$88,200$87,800$87,400$87,000

MaleFemale

Senior research investigator salary trends

The average senior research investigator salary has risen by $15,182 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average senior research investigator earned $75,154 annually, but today, they earn $90,336 a year. That works out to a 14% change in pay for senior research investigators over the last decade.

Compare senior research investigator salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average senior research investigator salary over time

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

Senior research investigator salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$90,300	$43.43	+3.0%
2024	$87,700	$42.14	+4.5%
2023	$83,700	$40.25	+3.2%
2022	$81,000	$38.96	+1.9%
2021	$79,500	$38.22	-2.1%

Recently added senior research investigator salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Toyota Research Institute	Senior Human-Computer Interaction Researcher	Los Altos, CA	06/27/2025	$162,000
Roblox	Senior User Researcher	San Mateo, CA	06/14/2025	$180,090
Adobe Systems Incorporated	Senior Applied Researcher, AI Foundations-Adobe Express	San Jose, CA	06/12/2025	$142,700
Microsoft Corporation	Senior Researcher-Azure Research Systems	Redmond, WA	06/11/2025	$158,400
University of Pennsylvania	Senior Research Investigator	Philadelphia, PA	06/11/2025	$79,500
HP Inc.	Senior Machine Learning Researcher, On-Device Optimization	Palo Alto, CA	06/10/2025	$150,000
Rubrik	Senior User Researcher	Palo Alto, CA	06/09/2025	$167,300
Bristol Myers Squibb	Senior Research Investigator/Associate Director, Clinical QSP Team	Seattle, WA	06/06/2025	$180,000
Bristol Myers Squibb	Senior Research Investigator/Associate Director, Clinical QSP Team	Cambridge, MA	06/06/2025	$180,000
Bristol Myers Squibb	Senior Research Investigator/Associate Director, Clinical QSP Team	Princeton, NJ	06/06/2025	$180,000

Senior research investigator salary FAQs

What state pays Senior Research Investigators the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a senior research investigator?

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Updated January 8, 2025

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