California · 2025 pay · 88 people
How much does a research and development engineer make in California?
$94,496typical pay for a research and development engineer in 2025
$6,284 – $131,607what most people earned
Includes everyone paid during 2025, including part-year workers. Typical pay rose 6.5% from 2024.
✓ Official data from California State Controller's Office · Matches the agency's latest release · sco.ca.gov ↗
Where research and development engineers work
Typical pay at each employer, 2025 (everyone paid).
- University of California, Berkeley24 people$54,997
- University of California, San Diego24 people$125,990
- University of California, Los Angeles11 people$6,350
- University of California, Davis9 people$111,301
- University of California, Santa Barbara7 people$94,521
- University of California, Santa Cruz5 people$2,249
- University of California, Irvine4 people$126,944
- University of California, Merced2 people$98,770
- University of California, San Francisco1 person$104,086
- University of California, Riverside1 person$133,759
Pay by level
Levels with 5 or more people.
- Research and Development Engineer 118 people$2,540
- Research and Development Engineer 27 people$11,187
- Research and Development Engineer 322 people$102,627
- Research and Development Engineer 432 people$128,516
- Research and Development Engineer 59 people$161,305
Related jobs and the next step up
Same line of work at a different rank, by typical pay (full-year employees where we can tell).
- Research and Development Engineer (this page)$94,496 (everyone)
- Research and Development Engineer Supervisor$134,752 (everyone)
- Research and Development Engineer Manager$174,879 (everyone)
Highest-paid research and development engineers, 2025
Common questions
How much does a research and development engineer make in California?
The typical research and development engineer was paid $94,496 in 2025; most earned between $6,284 and $131,607. This counts all 88 people paid, including part-year workers.
How much of the pay is overtime?
Overtime made up 0.0% of all pay for research and development engineers in 2025.
Which job titles are included?
Everyone whose payroll title is Research and Development Engineer, at any level (for example "Research and Development Engineer 1"). Part-time-schedule titles (such as "20 hours") are left out. Senior, supervising and trainee titles have their own pages.
Job titles are written out in full from the payroll's abbreviations (for example "SR CRRECTNL POLC OFCR" → "Senior Correctional Police Officer"). "Typical pay" is the median; "most earned" is the middle half. How we calculate this