Data Scientist Salary for 2027
Key takeaways
- Data scientists earned a median of $120,230 a year in May 2025, and the middle half of workers fell between $85,660 and $158,880. Pay depends heavily on how technical the role is: building models and data pipelines sits higher in the range than reporting and dashboards.
- BLS projects data scientist jobs to grow 34.6% from 2025 to 2035, roughly 10 times the 3.5% for all occupations and the fastest of the computer occupations compared here. Its stated reason is simple: organizations keep collecting more data, and businesses in every industry will hire people to use it.
- That growth is a large share of hiring. New positions average about 9,540 a year, roughly 38% of the 24,800 openings BLS expects each year. For software developers the same share is about 18%; most of their openings come from replacing people who leave.
- Washington has the highest state median, $163,350, and 13 states sit above the national figure. BLS figures are not adjusted for living costs, so compare a state’s median with what living there costs. Find your own state in the state table.
- BLS publishes no pay by years of experience or by degree for data scientists, so this page does not either. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education. The 10th and 90th percentiles, $67,240 and $199,130, show the spread. Compare degree costs.
The national picture
Data Scientists, all industries, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- 10th percentile
- $67,240
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Median annual pay
- $120,230
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
- 90th percentile
- $199,130
- BLS OEWS, May 2025
| Percentile | What it means | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | One in ten earn less | $32.33 | $67,240 |
| 25th | A quarter earn less | $41.18 | $85,660 |
| Median | Half earn more, half less | $57.80 | $120,230 |
| 75th | A quarter earn more | $76.39 | $158,880 |
| 90th | One in ten earn more | $95.74 | $199,130 |
The mean, $126,800, sits above the median because a smaller group at the top of the range pulls the average up. For a sense of what most people earn, the median and the middle half, $85,660 to $158,880, are the better guide.
Data scientist or computer research scientist? BLS counts the most research-oriented computing work in a separate occupation, computer and information research scientists, with a median of $140,300. BLS lists a master’s degree as typical for entry there; for data scientists it lists a bachelor’s degree.
Data scientist salary by employer type
National industry-specific medians for data scientists, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Management of companies and enterprises employs the most data scientists among the industries here, 28,620, at a median of $128,050. That is 10.9% of all data scientists. The highest median belongs to software publishers, $156,220, and the lowest of these to employment services, $102,560.
- Management of companies and enterprises 28,620 employed, 10.9% of the occupation $128,050
- Computer systems design and related services 27,590 employed, 10.5% of the occupation $132,380
- Insurance carriers and related activities 22,510 employed, 8.6% of the occupation $108,650
- Banks and other credit intermediation 16,500 employed, 6.3% of the occupation $129,490
- Management, scientific and technical consulting services 15,060 employed, 5.7% of the occupation $112,520
- Scientific research and development services 11,480 employed, 4.4% of the occupation $131,420
- Computing infrastructure providers, data processing and web hosting 11,320 employed, 4.3% of the occupation $129,590
- Software publishers 10,950 employed, 4.2% of the occupation $156,220
- Employment services 8,050 employed, 3.1% of the occupation $102,560
- Securities, commodity contracts and other financial investments 7,210 employed, 2.7% of the occupation $134,510
Data scientist salary by state
Median annual pay, employment and location quotient in every state BLS publishes, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Washington pays the highest state median, $163,350, 36% above the national figure, and Mississippi the lowest, $69,490. California employs the most data scientists, 39,310. Search for your state, or sort by any column.
| vs national median | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | $163,350+36% | $152,664 | 9,600 | 1.60 | |
| California | $141,590+18% | $127,904 | 39,310 | 1.28 | |
| Maryland | $136,370+13% | $129,876 | 3,340 | 0.72 | |
| New Jersey | $135,280+13% | $124,338 | 6,430 | 0.89 | |
| Massachusetts | $131,750+10% | $124,527 | 9,420 | 1.53 | |
| New York | $130,460+9% | $120,908 | 23,970 | 1.47 | |
| Minnesota | $128,800+7% | $130,629 | 4,020 | 0.81 | |
| Vermont | $127,070+6% | $129,663 | 200 | 0.38 | |
| District of Columbia | $126,490+5% | $115,096 | 2,680 | 2.27 | |
| Virginia | $126,430+5% | $125,054 | 8,920 | 1.29 | |
| Connecticut | $126,340+5% | $121,950 | 1,760 | 0.61 | |
| Oregon | $125,990+5% | $121,847 | 2,140 | 0.65 | |
| Texas | $122,090+2% | $125,736 | 25,860 | 1.09 | |
| North Carolina | $119,090−1% | $126,288 | 11,430 | 1.37 | |
| Colorado | $117,400−2% | $113,870 | 6,280 | 1.29 | |
| Florida | $115,820−4% | $112,012 | 10,240 | 0.61 | |
| Delaware | $109,910Philadelphia–Wilmington area−9% | – | 770 | 0.94 | |
| Arkansas | $109,390−9% | $125,880 | 530 | 0.24 | |
| Utah | $108,090−10% | $109,292 | 4,360 | 1.49 | |
| Arizona | $107,240−11% | $106,495 | 4,560 | 0.83 | |
| Pennsylvania | $106,850−11% | $109,477 | 13,810 | 1.35 | |
| Wisconsin | $106,680−11% | $113,369 | 4,370 | 0.88 | |
| Illinois | $106,560−11% | $106,560 | 10,520 | 1.02 | |
| Georgia | $104,340−13% | $108,349 | 9,260 | 1.12 | |
| Alabama | $103,120−14% | $116,126 | 1,740 | 0.49 | |
| Ohio | $102,630−15% | $110,593 | 6,100 | 0.65 | |
| Rhode Island | $102,440−15% | $100,137 | 1,160 | 1.37 | |
| Hawaii | $102,130−15% | $92,845 | 300 | 0.29 | |
| New Hampshire | $100,620−16% | $96,564 | 1,100 | 0.95 | |
| Michigan | $100,590−16% | $104,563 | 7,360 | 0.99 | |
| Montana | $100,490−16% | $106,226 | 220 | 0.25 | |
| Tennessee | $100,330−17% | $109,173 | 2,790 | 0.50 | |
| Nevada | $98,540−18% | $98,540 | 1,680 | 0.64 | |
| Nebraska | $98,230−18% | $109,023 | 1,980 | 1.15 | |
| Kansas | $98,130−18% | $108,912 | 490 | 0.20 | |
| Missouri | $97,090−19% | $106,927 | 4,730 | 0.95 | |
| South Dakota | $96,150−20% | $108,521 | 220 | 0.29 | |
| New Mexico | $95,850−20% | $103,959 | 560 | 0.38 | |
| Iowa | $95,830−20% | $109,146 | 2,300 | 0.87 | |
| South Carolina | $91,990−23% | $98,175 | 3,750 | 0.96 | |
| Kentucky | $91,760−24% | $101,729 | 1,540 | 0.46 | |
| Indiana | $91,470−24% | $98,039 | 3,580 | 0.66 | |
| Maine | $90,880−24% | $93,594 | 1,210 | 1.12 | |
| Idaho | $89,380−26% | $93,592 | 1,350 | 0.94 | |
| Oklahoma | $86,310−28% | $98,303 | 1,900 | 0.66 | |
| West Virginia | $85,090−29% | $95,073 | 390 | 0.33 | |
| Alaska | $84,110−30% | $82,139 | 230 | 0.43 | |
| North Dakota | $81,900−32% | $92,022 | 210 | 0.29 | |
| Louisiana | $78,760−34% | $89,297 | 1,300 | 0.40 | |
| Mississippi | $69,490−42% | $79,874 | 440 | 0.23 |
No state matches.
Delaware: BLS released no statewide median for this occupation, so the row shows the Philadelphia–Wilmington metro area’s median from the same release.
Data Scientists, BLS OEWS, May 2025. Location quotient: the state’s share of employment in this job divided by the national share; above 1.00 means the job is more concentrated there than nationally. – means no published figure.
A higher median does not always mean more money left over, because prices differ between states. The price-adjusted column divides each state’s median by its all-items Regional Price Parity from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (2024, US = 100), which puts every state’s median in national-average prices. Adjusted that way, Washington comes out highest, at $152,664.
Top-paying metro areas
Among the 50 largest metro areas this site covers with a published median, BLS OEWS metro data, May 2025.
Metro pay spreads wider than state pay. San Jose leads at $185,080, 54% above the national median. The biggest job markets are not always the best paid: New York employs the most data scientists of any metro here, 23,160, at a median of $135,980.
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA 6,060 employed $185,080
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA 10,460 employed $170,110
- Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA 8,370 employed $164,740
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ 23,160 employed $135,980
- Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD 1,090 employed $134,320
- Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC 4,420 employed $132,460
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV 9,260 employed $132,200
- Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH 7,930 employed $132,040
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA 2,830 employed $130,990
- Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI 3,250 employed $129,780
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA 9,850 employed $129,740
- Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 1,700 employed $129,600
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX 10,120 employed $127,750
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL 3,040 employed $127,450
- Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX 3,730 employed $127,360
The largest job markets
- New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ median $135,980 23,160
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA median $170,110 10,460
- Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX median $127,750 10,120
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA median $129,740 9,850
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV median $132,200 9,260
What moves your pay
Each lever is the gap between two published medians, BLS OEWS, May 2025, ranked by size. Places run lowest to highest.
BLS does not publish pay by years of experience or by degree for data scientists, so this ranking uses the gaps it does publish: between places, between employers and between occupations. Each is a gap between two medians, not a raise anyone is promised.
- L1 +$93,860
Which state you work in
Among the 49 states (District of Columbia included) with a published median, Mississippi $69,490 to Washington $163,350
- L2 +$93,840
Which metro you work in
Among the 50 metro areas this site covers with a published median, Oklahoma City metro $91,240 to San Jose metro $185,080
- L3 +$54,910
Moving into management
National medians, Data Scientists $120,230 to Computer and Information Systems Managers $175,140
- L4 +$53,660
Which industry employs you
Among the 10 largest employing industries, Employment services $102,560 to Software publishers $156,220
- L5 +$20,070
Moving into a related occupation
National medians, Data Scientists $120,230 to Computer and Information Research Scientists $140,300
How to raise your pay
What the figures above suggest, in order of how much they move the numbers.
- Build, don’t only report. Within this broad occupation, roles that build models, pipelines and products tend to sit higher in the range than roles that produce reports. That is our reading of how the occupation is defined, not a BLS pay split.
- Know your market before you negotiate. The gap between the highest and lowest state medians is $93,860. Check your own state above and compare an offer with the local median rather than the national one.
- Pick the industry deliberately. BLS expects every industry to hire data scientists, but they do not pay alike. Among the industries we checked, software publishers pays the highest median, $156,220.
- Strengthen the engineering side. Software developers earn a median $15,750 higher. Production code, data engineering and deploying models are where the two jobs overlap, and where data scientists can move toward that pay.
- Weigh a graduate degree against its cost. If you are considering one, compare tuition and program size in our master’s ranking before committing.
How data scientist pay compares
National medians for related BLS occupations, BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Among closely related computer occupations, computer and information research scientists have the highest median, $140,300, and web developers the lowest, $92,650. Data scientists sit at $120,230, the fourth-highest of the 9.
- Computer and Information Research Scientists 21.8% projected change, 2025-35 $140,300
- Software Developers 10.2% projected change, 2025-35 $135,980
- Information Security Analysts 21% projected change, 2025-35 $129,180
- Data Scientists 34.6% projected change, 2025-35 $120,230
- Computer Systems Analysts 7.9% projected change, 2025-35 $105,850
- Database Administrators -0.1% projected change, 2025-35 $104,620
- Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers 5.7% projected change, 2025-35 $104,300
- Computer Programmers -7.3% projected change, 2025-35 $100,390
- Web Developers 3.8% projected change, 2025-35 $92,650
Job outlook
BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35.
BLS projects data scientists employment to rise from 275,600 in 2025 to 371,000 in 2035, a gain of 95,400 jobs. Growth is only part of the story: new jobs average about 9,540 a year, about 38% of the 24,800 openings a year; the rest open when people retire, change occupations or leave the workforce.
Among the related occupations above, data scientists have the fastest projected growth. A projection is a model of the next decade, not a promise, and BLS revises it every year.
Keep reading
Frequently asked questions
How much does a data scientist make?
Data scientists earned a median of $120,230 a year in May 2025, or $57.80 an hour. The 10th percentile was $67,240 and the 90th was $199,130.
What is the hourly pay for a data scientist?
The national median was $57.80 an hour in May 2025, with a 10th percentile of $32.33 and a 90th of $95.74, from the BLS hourly series for data scientists.
Is data science a growing field?
Yes, by BLS’s projections. Employment is projected to rise from 275,600 in 2025 to 371,000 in 2035, a 34.6% increase, with about 24,800 openings a year. BLS ties the growth to the amount of data organizations collect.
Do data scientists make more than software engineers?
Not on BLS’s national figures. Software developers, the occupation that includes software engineers, had a median of $135,980 in May 2025, against $120,230 for data scientists. Data scientist jobs are projected to grow faster, 34.6% against 10.2%.
Which state pays data scientists the most?
Washington, with a median of $163,350 in May 2025. 13 states sit above the national $120,230, and Mississippi is lowest at $69,490.
Which state employs the most data scientists?
California, with 39,310 in May 2025. By location quotient, which compares a state’s share of these jobs with the national share, District of Columbia, Washington and Massachusetts are the most concentrated.
Which industries pay data scientists the most?
Among the 24 industries we checked in BLS data, software publishers has the highest median for data scientists, $156,220. Management of companies and enterprises employs the most, 28,620.
Do you need a master’s degree to be a data scientist?
BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry education for data scientists. BLS publishes no pay split by degree, so whether a master’s pays for itself depends on the program’s cost and the role you are aiming at.
What do entry-level data scientists make?
BLS does not publish pay by experience. Its 10th and 25th percentiles, $67,240 and $85,660, show the lower part of the range; it is an inference, not a published figure, that many first data jobs fall there.
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 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: national and state Data scientists: employment, annual median and 10th to 90th percentiles, national and by state. The national row is cross-checked against the BLS API. Read .
- 2 BLS OEWS May 2025, via api.bls.gov: hourly, location quotient and industry series Hourly percentiles, location quotient by state, and national industry-specific employment and medians for data scientists (24 industries checked).
- 3 BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan areas, May 2025 Metro employment and median for data scientists in the metro areas this site covers.
- 4 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, metropolitan areas, May 2025, via api.bls.gov Delaware: the Philadelphia–Wilmington metro area median, shown where BLS released no statewide median. Read .
- 5 BLS Employment Projections, 2025-35 Projected employment change and annual openings, 2025 to 2035, for data scientists and the related occupations compared here.
- 6 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by State (SARPP), 2024 All-items Regional Price Parity by state (US = 100), used for the price-adjusted column in the state table.
- 7 BLS Employment Projections, occupation tables 1.2, 1.10 and 1.12, 2025-35 Table 1.2, typical entry education, and table 1.12, BLS’s stated factor behind the projected growth for data scientists.