Computer Research Scientist Career Guide for 2027
- Median annual pay
- $140,300
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Projected growth, 2025-35
- 21.8%
- BLS Employment Projections
- Typical entry education
- Master’s
- BLS Employment Projections
Key takeaways
- Computer research scientists invent and test new ways of using computers: new algorithms, new languages, new approaches to problems like machine learning. BLS counts 37,200 computer and information research scientists, earning a median of $140,300 in May 2025, $4,320 more than software developers.
- This is the software career that asks for the most school. BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education, where most computing jobs ask for a bachelor’s. Plan on graduate study from the start, and on a doctorate if you want to lead research of your own.
- Demand is growing fast. BLS projects 21.8% growth from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, and ties it to demand for solutions to hard computing problems, including artificial intelligence. It is a small field, though: about 2,900 openings a year.
- The largest employer is not a tech company. Government (federal, state and local) employs 11,100, ahead of computer systems design and related services and scientific research and development services. Defense, national labs and research agencies hire many of these scientists, and some of those jobs require a security clearance.
- The career runs from research assistant to leading a lab or a research group, and many move between universities, government labs and industry research teams. BLS publishes no pay by level, so this guide shows the full pay range instead of a salary for each step. Pay by state and industry is in the computer research scientist salary report.
What computer research scientists do
Counted by BLS as computer and information research scientists.
Computer research scientists work at the edge of what computers can do. They study a problem, from how to make a program faster to how a machine can learn from data, design a new approach, and test it until they know whether it works and why.
BLS counts them as computer and information research scientists. The tasks below, from O*NET, show how much of the job is analysis and invention rather than building finished products.
The core tasks
- Analyze problems to develop solutions involving computer hardware and software.
- Apply theoretical expertise and innovation to create or apply new technology, such as adapting principles for applying computers to new uses.
- Assign or schedule tasks to meet work priorities and goals.
- Meet with managers, vendors, and others to solicit cooperation and resolve problems.
- Design computers and the software that runs them.
- Conduct logical analyses of business, scientific, engineering, and other technical problems, formulating mathematical models of problems for solution by computers.
Task statements for computer and information research scientists, quoted from O*NET OnLine, in O*NET’s order of importance.
Job titles you will see
- Computer Scientist
- Computer Specialist
- Control System Computer Scientist
- Research Scientist
- Scientific Programmer Analyst
Titles reported by workers in this occupation, O*NET OnLine.
Where computer research scientists work
The largest employers of computer and information research scientists among the 24 industries we checked, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Government is the largest employer, through defense, national laboratories and research agencies. Computer systems design firms, scientific research and development firms and universities follow, and large tech companies run research labs of their own.
Computer and Information Research Scientists, national industry-specific estimates, BLS OEWS, May 2025. A candidate list of industries, ranked by employment; not BLS’s complete industry ranking. Share is the industry’s employment divided by the occupation’s national employment, 37,200.
Ways to become a computer research scientist
BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education. Lengths are NCES’s definitions of each degree.
-
A bachelor’s, then a master’s in computer scienceusually at least four years of full-time study, then generally one or two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s · median 30 master’s credits
BLS lists a master’s as the typical entry education. Take extra math as an undergraduate, and choose a master’s with research in the area you care about.
Compare computer science master’s programs → -
A bachelor’s, then a master’s in software engineeringusually at least four years of full-time study, then generally one or two years of full-time study beyond the bachelor’s · median 30 master’s credits
Suits research in software systems, reliability and tools.
Compare software engineering master’s programs → -
Undergraduate research firstusually at least four years of full-time study · median 120 credits
Research assistant roles and summer research programs give you the project, and often the paper, that a graduate application needs.
Compare computer science bachelor’s programs → -
A doctoratebeyond the master’s; NCES sets no single length
The usual route to leading your own research, especially in universities and government labs.
Compare computer science master’s programs →
Degree lengths: NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Appendix B: Definitions. Credits: the median of the programs in each ranking that state a credit total on their own page.
What employers expect
BLS’s typical entry requirements for computer and information research scientists, BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35.
- Typical entry education
- Master’s degree
- Work experience in a related occupation
- None
- Typical on-the-job training
- None
Programs to start with
The top two programs in each of our rankings, with the score and rank they carry there.
- North Carolina State University at Raleigh #1 in our Master’s in Computer Science for Software Engineers Score 96.6 of 100
- Texas A&M University #2 in our Master’s in Computer Science for Software Engineers Score 93.7 of 100
- The University of Texas at Arlington #1 in Software Engineering Master’s Programs Score 86.9 of 100
- Arizona State University #2 in Software Engineering Master’s Programs Score 86.1 of 100
- California State University-Long Beach #1 in our Computer Science Degrees for Software Engineers Score 94.1 of 100
- California State University-Fullerton #2 in our Computer Science Degrees for Software Engineers Score 93.0 of 100
What the degree costs
IPEDS tuition, 2023–24, at the programs in our rankings: in-state undergraduate for bachelor’s, the school’s average graduate rate for master’s.
Tuition is before fees, housing and financial aid, and it is the school-wide IPEDS figure, so the price a student pays can differ widely from the sticker. Public schools charging in-state rates sit at the low end of the bachelor’s range.
For what the job pays once you are in it, the computer research scientist salary report shows pay in every state BLS publishes and across industries.
Computer research scientist pay and job outlook
Computer and Information Research Scientists, BLS OEWS, May 2025; BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35.
Top-paying factors
Where the highest medians are, against the national median of $140,300. Each is a published median from the same release, not an estimate for any one person.
Computer and Information Research Scientists, BLS OEWS, May 2025: state, metropolitan area and national industry-specific medians.
Half of computer and information research scientists earned more than $140,300 in May 2025 and half earned less; the middle half fell between $103,570 and $188,700. Oregon has the highest state median, $206,220. BLS publishes no pay by years of experience, so this guide gives the range, not a ladder of salaries. The computer research scientist salary report breaks pay down by state, metro and industry.
How the career moves
Typical stages. Titles and scope change by employer; BLS publishes no stages or pay by level.
-
Research assistant
Graduate Research Assistant · Research Engineer · Research Programmer
Build the software and run the experiments for someone else’s research question, usually while finishing a graduate degree. The skill being built is designing an experiment that actually tests the idea.
-
Research scientist
Research Scientist · Computer Scientist · Applied Scientist
Own a line of research inside a team: propose the approach, build the prototype, measure it against what came before, and write it up for a paper, a patent or a product team.
-
Senior or principal scientist
Senior Research Scientist · Principal Scientist · Staff Researcher
Set the research direction for a group, decide which problems are worth years of work, and mentor junior researchers. Funding and publication records start to matter as much as code.
-
Lab or research leader
Research Director · Lab Director · Professor
Run a lab, a research division or a university group: win funding, hire scientists and choose the agenda. Some move the other way, into engineering leadership, carrying research into products.
Pros and cons
What people like about being a computer research scientist, and what wears on them.
What draws people in
- Pro: The highest median pay of the computing careers compared on this site.
- Pro: Fast projected growth, with demand tied to artificial intelligence and other new technology.
- Pro: Work on problems no one has solved yet, often with the freedom to choose your approach.
- Pro: A wide set of employers: government labs, universities, research firms and tech companies.
What to weigh first
- Con: A long road in: a master’s is the typical entry point, and leading research usually takes a doctorate.
- Con: A small field, so there are far fewer openings each year than in software development.
- Con: Research fails often, and progress can take months or years to show.
- Con: Some of the largest employers are in defense and government, where a security clearance may be required.
A day in the job
Illustrative: a composite day built from the job’s core tasks, not a record of one person’s day. Real days vary by team and employer.
- MorningReading the results of an overnight experiment and checking whether the new method actually beat the old one or only got lucky on this data.
- Late morningA research meeting: talking through what the numbers mean, what went wrong and which experiment to run next.
- AfternoonWriting code for a prototype, working out the math behind a model, and setting up the next round of experiments.
- Late afternoonReading recent papers in the area and meeting with engineers who want to use the research in a product.
- End of dayDrafting part of a paper or a project report, so the work can be checked, repeated and built on.
Five questions before you commit
If most of these get a yes, the job is likely a good match.
- Do you like open-ended problems with no answer in the back of the book?Research means working on questions where nobody knows the answer yet, including you.
- Are you comfortable with a lot of math?Algorithms, statistics and proofs are everyday tools, not one course to get through.
- Are you ready for graduate school?A master’s is the usual way in, and many research roles expect a doctorate.
- Can you keep going when experiments fail?Most ideas don’t work the first time, and some never do.
- Do you enjoy writing and explaining your work?Research only counts once others can read it, check it and use it.
Frequently asked questions
What does a computer research scientist do?
They study computing problems and invent new ways to solve them, then test those ideas in experiments and software. O*NET’s top task for the occupation is to “Analyze problems to develop solutions involving computer hardware and software.”
What degree do you need to be a computer research scientist?
BLS lists a master’s degree as the typical entry education, usually in computer science or a related field such as computer engineering or mathematics. Research roles that set their own agenda, especially in universities, generally go to people with a doctorate.
How much do computer research scientists make?
Computer and information research scientists earned a median of $140,300 in May 2025, according to BLS. The 10th percentile was $82,200 and the 90th was $230,630.
Is computer research science a growing field?
Yes. BLS projects 21.8% growth from 2025 to 2035, against 3.5% for all occupations, with about 2,900 openings a year. BLS ties the growth to demand for new technology, including artificial intelligence.
Can a software engineering degree lead to computer research?
Yes, as a first step. A software engineering bachelor’s gives you programming, systems and design. Research adds theory and mathematics, so most people go on to a master’s or PhD in computer science, and they choose electives in algorithms, statistics and machine learning along the way.
What is the difference between a computer scientist and a software engineer?
Software engineers build and maintain software people use; computer research scientists study what computing can do and invent new methods, which engineers later put into products. BLS counts them as separate occupations, and research scientists earned a median $4,320 higher in May 2025.
Where do computer research scientists work?
Government (federal, state and local) employs the most, 11,100, followed by computer systems design and related services and, further down, colleges, universities and professional schools. Large tech companies also run research labs.
How much does the degree path cost?
At the 44 master’s programs in our software engineering ranking with a figure, the median graduate tuition for 2023–24 was $17,549 a year. Doctoral students in computer science are often funded through research or teaching assistantships, so ask each program how it supports its students.
References
Every figure on this page comes from one of these, read by the site’s data scripts and computed at build time, never typed in.
- 1 Computer and Information Research Scientists, O*NET OnLine Task statements and reported job titles, quoted verbatim. O*NET OnLine, read 2026-10-06.
- 2 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national, industry Computer and information research scientists: employment, median and percentiles nationally, and employment and median in the 24 industries we checked. Read .
- 3 BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 Projected employment change and annual openings, 2025 to 2035, for computer and information research scientists and the related occupations.
- 4 BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35 Table 1.2: BLS’s typical entry education, work experience and on-the-job training.
- 5 NCES, Digest of Education Statistics 2022, Appendix B: Definitions Definitions of the bachelor’s and master’s degree, including their usual length in full-time study.
- 6 NCES IPEDS IC2023_AY, 2023-24: undergraduate tuition for bachelor’s programs; for master’s, the school-wide average graduate tuition, which excludes program fees Tuition for the 75 ranked bachelor’s and 44 ranked master’s programs, the same figures the ranking pages show.
- 7 BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35: table 1.12 BLS’s stated factor behind the projection for computer and information research scientists: demand for solutions to complex computing challenges and new technologies, including AI.