The median data scientist posting at a tech startup offers $223K base, with the middle half between $190K and $270K — from 109 live pay ranges at 52 companies.
| Level | Postings | Median | Middle 50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level not stated | 44 | $232K | $189K–$334K |
| Senior | 41 | $198K | $187K–$225K |
| Staff+ | 24 | $248K | $226K–$270K |
| City | Postings | Median | Middle 50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 44 | $235K | $210K–$333K |
| New York | 17 | $270K | $203K–$333K |
| Mountain View | 8 | $231K | $218K–$243K |
| Seattle | 6 | $333K | $333K–$333K |
| Foster City | 5 | $269K | $247K–$269K |
| Company | Postings | Median | Middle 50% |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | 13 | $396K | $365K–$404K |
| Anthropic | 6 | $333K | $333K–$333K |
| Airwallex | 2 | $275K | $275K–$275K |
| Suno | 5 | $270K | $270K–$270K |
| Replit | 2 | $269K | $269K–$269K |
| Confido | 2 | $243K | $229K–$256K |
| Waymo | 5 | $238K | $232K–$257K |
| Plaid | 3 | $227K | $214K–$227K |
| Databricks | 4 | $226K | $212K–$226K |
| Wayve | 2 | $225K | $225K–$225K |
| Zoox | 4 | $222K | $197K–$256K |
| Mercury | 2 | $217K | $213K–$222K |
| Ramp | 2 | $217K | $217K–$217K |
| Zocdoc | 2 | $213K | $201K–$224K |
| True Anomaly | 2 | $198K | $198K–$198K |
| Data Scientist, Ads Demand OpenAI |
$293K–$515K |
| Data Scientist, SMB Ads Growth OpenAI |
$293K–$515K |
| Data Scientist, Cybersecurity OpenAI |
$263K–$515K |
| Data Scientist, FinEng OpenAI |
$293K–$515K |
| Data Scientist, B2B Strategy & Intelligence OpenAI |
$347K–$510K |
| Product Data Scientist - Youth, Families and Learning OpenAI |
$401K–$510K |
| Data Scientist Mercor |
$160K–$500K |
| Machine Learning Data Scientist - Consumer Forecasting OpenAI |
$347K–$445K |
Figures are the midpoint of each pay range published in a job posting (US$, base salary as posted), across open roles at the startups we track, recalculated daily. Postings without a range, interns and contractors are excluded. Updated Oct 27, 2026.