Data Scientists
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.
Median pay (national)
$112,590
$63,650–$194,410 (10th–90th)
Employed (US)
233,440
BLS OEWS, May 2024
Outlook 2024–34
+33.5%
~23,400 openings/yr
Typical entry
Bachelor's degree
What the numbers say
Refit analysis ·Pay for data scientists shows an unusually wide range: the top 10% earn $194,410 versus $63,650 at the bottom 10% — 3.1x. The median of $112,590 leaves roughly 73% of headroom to the 90th percentile, which is where seniority, specialization, and the skills below tend to pay off.
Refit analysis ·Employment is projected to change +33.5% from 2024 to 2034 — much faster than the 3% average for all occupations. Even so, BLS projects about 23,400 openings a year, mostly to replace workers who retire or change careers.
Refit analysis ·Where you work moves the number a lot. Across the 51 states with released data, Washington pays the most for this role (median $158,760, +41% vs the national median), while Mississippi sits lowest at $69,430 — a 129% spread for the same job title.
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What they actually do
Core O*NET tasks for this role.
- Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
- Apply feature selection algorithms to models predicting outcomes of interest, such as sales, attrition, and healthcare use.
- Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
- Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
- Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
- Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
- Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
- Design surveys, opinion polls, or other instruments to collect data.
- Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
- Identify relationships and trends or any factors that could affect the results of research.
Tools & technology
- Amazon Web Services AWS software
- Apache Hadoop
- Apache Spark
- C++
- Git
- Microsoft Azure software
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Power BI
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- NumPy
- pandas
- Python
- PyTorch
- R
- SAS
- Scikit-learn