Staff Scientist Salary

Q: How much does a Staff Scientist make?

Staff scientists make $84,998 per year on average, or $40.86 per hour, in the United States. Staff scientists on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $56,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $127,000. Location impacts how much a staff scientist can expect to make. Staff scientists make the most in California, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.

Updated July 11, 2022

Average Staff Scientist Salary

$84,998 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

$40.86 hourly

Entry level Salary

$56,000 yearly

$56,000

10 %

$84,998

Median

$127,000

90 %

How much does a Staff Scientist make?

Staff scientists make $84,998 per year on average, or $40.86 per hour, in the United States. Staff scientists on the lower end of that spectrum, the bottom 10% to be exact, make roughly $56,000 a year, while the top 10% makes $127,000.

Location impacts how much a staff scientist can expect to make. Staff scientists make the most in California, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.

Highest Paying States For Staff Scientists

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

State View
County View

Average Salary:

Staff Scientist average salary by State

Rank	State	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Count
1	California	$111,047	$53.39	7,585
2	Rhode Island	$99,591	$47.88	238
3	Maine	$100,158	$48.15	233
4	Connecticut	$109,692	$52.74	533
5	Massachusetts	$93,976	$45.18	3,377
6	New Jersey	$95,796	$46.06	1,970
7	Maryland	$94,417	$45.39	1,466
8	Delaware	$90,881	$43.69	217
9	Oregon	$88,871	$42.73	772
10	Nevada	$89,295	$42.93	317
11	New York	$85,522	$41.12	2,922
12	Washington	$85,232	$40.98	1,477
13	Pennsylvania	$79,365	$38.16	2,621
14	Arizona	$86,831	$41.75	768
15	New Hampshire	$80,574	$38.74	277
16	Tennessee	$80,220	$38.57	725
17	Wisconsin	$80,913	$38.90	711
18	Minnesota	$81,239	$39.06	983
19	Montana	$75,922	$36.50	191
20	Virginia	$76,420	$36.74	1,814
21	Indiana	$80,874	$38.88	757
22	North Carolina	$75,571	$36.33	1,567
23	Hawaii	$86,213	$41.45	134
24	Michigan	$78,998	$37.98	917
25	Ohio	$75,689	$36.39	1,352
26	Vermont	$71,942	$34.59	135
27	Illinois	$71,336	$34.30	2,149
28	Utah	$68,742	$33.05	525
29	Idaho	$70,874	$34.07	226
30	District of Columbia	$73,022	$35.11	300
31	Wyoming	$63,258	$30.41	81
32	Alaska	$68,508	$32.94	99
33	Arkansas	$68,701	$33.03	271
34	Georgia	$66,335	$31.89	1,238
35	Colorado	$60,888	$29.27	875
36	Kentucky	$63,653	$30.60	361
37	Texas	$56,245	$27.04	2,984
38	Alabama	$59,036	$28.38	514
39	Kansas	$56,863	$27.34	369
40	West Virginia	$58,795	$28.27	173
41	Florida	$56,534	$27.18	2,006
42	New Mexico	$51,625	$24.82	300
43	Nebraska	$55,541	$26.70	259
44	Oklahoma	$57,320	$27.56	248
45	Mississippi	$57,040	$27.42	155
46	Missouri	$47,973	$23.06	902
47	Iowa	$52,946	$25.45	406
48	South Dakota	$50,438	$24.25	126
49	Louisiana	$48,363	$23.25	410
50	South Carolina	$47,772	$22.97	514
51	North Dakota	$49,020	$23.57	101

Top Staff Scientist Jobs Near You

Highest Paying Cities For Staff Scientists

Rank	City	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate
1	San Francisco, CA	$122,102	$58.70
2	Baltimore, MD	$94,961	$45.65
3	Framingham, MA	$94,064	$45.22
4	Wilmington, DE	$91,602	$44.04
5	Beaverton, OR	$87,886	$42.25
6	Phoenix, AZ	$87,271	$41.96
7	Rochester, NY	$86,937	$41.80
8	Seattle, WA	$86,793	$41.73
9	Memphis, TN	$80,189	$38.55
10	Philadelphia, PA	$79,392	$38.17
11	Madison, WI	$78,491	$37.74
12	Newport News, VA	$75,634	$36.36
13	Washington, DC	$73,047	$35.12
14	Chicago, IL	$72,137	$34.68
15	Oklahoma City, OK	$57,762	$27.77

Staff Scientist Salary Details

What is a Staff Scientist's Salary?

Percentile	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate
90th Percentile	$127,000	$10,583	$61
75th Percentile	$105,000	$8,750	$50
Average	$84,998	$7,083	$41
25th Percentile	$68,000	$5,667	$33
10th Percentile	$56,000	$4,667	$27

Average Salary By Related Titles

Job Title	Annual Salary	Monthly Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
Research Fellow	$52,724	$4,394	$25.35	59,746
Laboratory Analyst	$44,766	$3,731	$21.52	44,074
Research Technician	$41,218	$3,435	$19.82	64,786
Quality Control Analyst	$51,248	$4,271	$24.64	85,546
Microbiologist	$56,411	$4,701	$27.12	11,444
Chemist	$58,294	$4,858	$28.03	20,221

Here are the five companies hiring the most now:

Which Companies Pay Staff Scientists The Most?

The highest paying companies for staff scientists are Occidental Petroleum and Etsy according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, companies like LinkedIn and Los Alamos National Laboratory report highly competitive wages for staff scientists.

Rank	Company	Average Salary	Hourly Rate	Job Openings
1	Occidental Petroleum	$160,657	$77.24	9
2	Etsy	$157,735	$75.83
3	LinkedIn	$150,839	$72.52
4	Los Alamos National Laboratory	$148,156	$71.23	94
5	Sandia National Labs	$147,212	$70.78	50
6	Oak Ridge National Laboratory	$146,677	$70.52
7	Broadcom	$146,280	$70.33	5
8	Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory	$145,887	$70.14	24
9	Kopin	$140,914	$67.75
10	Jefferson Lab	$139,769	$67.20
11	Visa	$136,070	$65.42	174
12	10x Genomics	$129,963	$62.48
13	ConocoPhillips	$127,662	$61.38	4
14	Choate, Hall & Stewart	$125,768	$60.47
15	Luxim	$125,630	$60.40
16	Honeywell	$124,643	$59.92	29
17	venn	$123,470	$59.36
18	Ashland	$122,314	$58.80	12
19	Integrated DNA Technologies	$121,238	$58.29	46
20	Raytheon Technologies	$119,811	$57.60	47

How Much Do Staff Scientists Make In Different Industries?

Here are some examples of how much a staff scientist salaries can based on different industries:

The manufacturing industry pays staff scientists an average salary of $105,272
The pharmaceutical industry pay $99,161
The lowest paying industry for staff scientists is the education industry. Staff scientists in this industry earn an average salary of $67,465

Highest Paying Industries For Staff Scientists

Rank	Industry	Average Salary	Hourly Rate
1	Manufacturing	$105,272	$50.61
2	Pharmaceutical	$99,161	$47.67
3	Technology	$97,984	$47.11
4	Health Care	$86,569	$41.62
5	Professional	$85,519	$41.11
6	Government	$81,224	$39.05
7	Education	$67,465	$32.44

High Paying Staff Scientist Jobs

Staff Scientist Salary Trends

The salary for a staff scientist 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 Staff Scientist Salary Over Time

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

Staff Scientist Salary By Year

Year	Avg. Salary	Hourly Rate	% Change
2022	$85,000	$40.86	+3.0%
2021	$82,500	$39.65	+4.5%
2020	$78,800	$37.87	+3.2%
2019	$76,200	$36.66	+1.9%
2018	$74,800	$35.96	-2.1%

Recently Added Staff Scientist Salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date Added	Salary
University of Pennsylvania	Staff Scientist (Radiology)	Philadelphia, PA	05/23/2022	$50,684
Oregon Health & Science University	Assistant Staff Scientist	Portland, OR	05/18/2022	$57,222
Msacl Connect	Staff Scientist-Neurology	Saint Louis, MO	05/10/2022	$44,700
University of Pittsburgh	Staff Scientist	Pittsburgh, PA	05/10/2022	$46,644
Medical University of South Carolina	Univ-Staff Scientist I	Charleston, SC	05/10/2022	$41,778
Jefferson Lab	Engineering Staff Scientist	Newport News, VA	05/04/2022	$83,300
Jefferson Lab	Engineering Staff Scientist	Newport News, VA	05/04/2022	$83,300
Peraton	Staff Scientist IV	Chantilly, VA	05/03/2022	$82,618
Perspecta	Staff Scientist IV	Chantilly, VA	05/01/2022	$82,618
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.	Staff Scientist, Community Science	New York, NY	05/01/2022	$103,500

Staff Scientist Salaries FAQs

What state pays Staff Scientists the most?

California pays Staff Scientists the most in the United States, with an average salary of $111,047 per year, or $53.39 per hour.

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

You know if you are being paid fairly as a Staff Scientist if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Connecticut you should be paid close to $109,692 per year.

What type of Staff Scientist gets paid the most?

Senior Scientist gets paid the most. Senior Scientist made a median salary of $110,673. The best-paid 10 percent make $132,000, while the lowest-paid 10 percent make $92,000.

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

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