Typical comp shape
Research scientists usually earn rsu + sign-on rsu grants. Common employers include Meta FAIR, Google Research, Microsoft Research, Anthropic. Research scientist sign-on RSUs often vest on accelerated one-year cliffs, concentrating a big chunk of equity in year one.
What North Dakota changes
In North Dakota, every RSU vest, NSO exercise, and ESPP purchase carries 2.5% state tax on top of federal. For a senior research scientist with $300k+ of equity income, the state layer routinely adds $25-45k to the annual bill.
Planning cadence
For a research scientist in North Dakota, the three planning windows are: after each RSU vest (withholding check and sell-vs-hold), before any ISO exercise (AMT model at federal only), and in Q4 (estimated tax top-up to clear the safe harbor).