Data Scientists pay in the United States

Goes furthest in Washington
·Computer and Mathematical·
262k jobs
Biggest filer Amazon.com Services LLC909 certified filings on public record
$57.80/hr median
262,440 employed
+35% to 2035
66% AI exposure
Bachelor's degree
50 states reported
and more...

What this work is

Develop and implement a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software. Apply data mining, data modeling, natural language processing, and machine learning to extract and analyze information from large structured and unstructured datasets. Visualize, interpret, and report data findings. May create dynamic data reports.

Where the money actually goes furthest

Washington pays the most both before and after cost of living — $163,350, worth $152,649 once local prices are counted.

Pay by state

50 states and territories publish a median for this occupation. Switch the ranking to see how much the order changes.

Adjusted for what things cost in that state.

Median pay for Data Scientists by state, ranked by what it is worth locally
StateHourlyAnnualWorth locallyAfter state taxJobs
Washington$78.54/hr$163,350$152,649$163,3509,600
Minnesota$61.92/hr$128,800$130,602$121,4294,020
Maryland$65.56/hr$136,370$129,925$129,9673,340
Vermont$61.09/hr$127,070$129,716$120,520200
California$68.07/hr$141,590$127,881$132,39439,310
North Carolina$57.25/hr$119,090$126,248$114,57011,430
Arkansas$52.59/hr$109,390$125,822$105,300530
Texas$58.70/hr$122,090$125,788$122,09025,860
Virginia$60.79/hr$126,430$125,054$119,9068,920
Massachusetts$63.34/hr$131,750$124,574$125,1629,420
New Jersey$65.04/hr$135,280$124,326$128,7886,430
Connecticut$60.74/hr$126,340$121,938$120,0091,760
Oregon$60.57/hr$125,990$121,894$115,5072,140
New York$62.72/hr$130,460$120,885$123,68023,970
Alabama$49.58/hr$103,120$116,099$98,1541,740
District of Columbia$60.81/hr$126,490$115,095$118,5792,680
Colorado$56.44/hr$117,400$113,925$113,0316,280
Wisconsin$51.29/hr$106,680$113,368$102,1234,370
Florida$55.69/hr$115,820$112,000$115,82010,240
Ohio$49.34/hr$102,630$110,628$100,5246,100
Pennsylvania$51.37/hr$106,850$109,511$103,56913,810
Utah$51.97/hr$108,090$109,336$103,1714,360
Tennessee$48.24/hr$100,330$109,208$100,3302,790
Iowa$46.07/hr$95,830$109,195$92,7432,300
Nebraska$47.23/hr$98,230$109,023$94,0311,980
Kansas$47.18/hr$98,130$108,948$92,942490
South Dakota$46.22/hr$96,150$108,533$96,150220
Georgia$50.16/hr$104,340$108,360$99,5479,260
Missouri$46.68/hr$97,090$106,903$93,3834,730
Illinois$51.23/hr$106,560$106,602$101,42210,520
Arizona$51.56/hr$107,240$106,515$104,9244,560
Montana$48.31/hr$100,490$106,170$95,675220
Michigan$48.36/hr$100,590$104,541$96,5527,360
New Mexico$46.08/hr$95,850$103,947$92,118560
Kentucky$44.12/hr$91,760$101,774$88,2161,540
Rhode Island$49.25/hr$102,440$100,156$98,8741,160
Nevada$47.37/hr$98,540$98,559$98,5401,680
Oklahoma$41.49/hr$86,310$98,258$82,7001,900
South Carolina$44.23/hr$91,990$98,122$87,8693,750
Indiana$43.98/hr$91,470$98,007$88,7553,580
New Hampshire$48.37/hr$100,620$96,592$100,6201,100
West Virginia$40.91/hr$85,090$95,072$81,827390
Maine$43.69/hr$90,880$93,642$85,9341,210
Idaho$42.97/hr$89,380$93,601$85,4161,350
Hawaii$49.10/hr$102,130$92,887$95,811300
North Dakota$39.37/hr$81,900$92,063$81,532210
Louisiana$37.86/hr$78,760$89,286$76,7721,300
Alaska$40.44/hr$84,110$82,170$84,110230
Mississippi$33.41/hr$69,490$79,919$66,533440
Puerto Rico$38.63/hr$80,350Not publishedNot published100

National median for comparison: $120,230. “Worth locally” divides pay by the area’s price level, so a figure above the headline means money goes further there than the US average.

$120,230/year

$57.80/hr an hour, national median

Across the states

$51,060$208,320

25th to 75th percentile, lowest and highest state

Drop your résumé — it never leaves your browser

How much of this job could software do?

66%High exposure
Hands, places, peopleLanguage and information

The two methods broadly agree.

Method 1 — ability mix59%

Cognitive share of O*NET ability importance (element families 1.A.1–1.A.4), O*NET 31.0

Method 2 — task content73%

Importance-weighted share of O*NET tasks classed as language or information work, O*NET 31.0

What this does and does not mean

Exposure means a model could plausibly do a meaningful share of the tasks in this job. It is not a forecast that the job disappears, and it says nothing about whether any employer will actually automate it.

For what the labour market expects, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment in this occupation to change by +35% between 2025 and 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year.

Which parts are exposed

  • Generate standard or custom reports summarizing business, financial, or economic data for review by executives, managers, clients, and other stakeholders.
  • Design and validate clinical databases, including designing or testing logic checks.
  • Process clinical data, including receipt, entry, verification, or filing of information.
  • Maintain or update business intelligence tools, databases, dashboards, systems, or methods.
  • Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
  • Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.

Amber marks language and information work. Green marks tasks that need a person in a place.

What named employers said they would pay

From certified US Department of Labor visa filings. These are wages employers committed to for sponsored roles — not company-wide averages, and not necessarily what everyone in the job earns. Cells with fewer than three filings are withheld so no individual’s pay is identifiable.

EmployerRole as filedState25thMedian75thFilings
Amazon.com Services LLCBusiness Intelligence Engineer IIWA$123,800$142,600$163,322909
Microsoft CorporationResponsible Content ModerationWA$160,765$176,500$195,000471
Capital One, National AssociationSenior Business ManagerVA$119,629$131,369$179,247306
WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.Senior Manager, Data EngineeringAR$121,702$138,860$163,444288
Google LLCData ScientistCA$181,592$200,000$222,000274
Meta Platforms, IncData ScientistCA$177,870$191,222$221,770258
Capital One Services, LLCSenior Business AnalystVA$119,629$142,352$172,427232
WAL-MART ASSOCIATES, INC.Senior, Data EngineerCA$184,056$203,085$229,085209
Amazon.com Services LLCBusiness Intelligence Engineer ITX$109,520$132,100$151,400196
LINKEDIN CORPORATIONSr. Software Engineer, Machine LearningCA$206,652$236,556$244,977187
Adobe Inc.Machine Learning EngineerCA$177,279$199,690$222,500170
Amazon.com Services LLCData Engineer ICA$129,525$160,000$177,600164
Apple Inc.ML - Data ScientistCA$177,750$197,602$226,600133
Amazon.com Services LLCData Engineer IINY$142,975$160,180$182,850116
TT Commerce & Global Services LLCData ScientistCA$177,000$220,000$264,500107

Where data scientists move next

Occupations that share most of this one’s skills, with the pay difference and the change in AI exposure.

Location

San Diego, CA, United States of America (SAN-San Diego Intl.)

Photograph by Abdul Kayum.