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Data Scientist

$120,230
median / year
$67,240 – $199,130
what most earn per year (10th–90th percentile)

What the job actually is

Collect, clean, and analyze large sets of data, then build models to find patterns and guide decisions.

Where you work

Offices or remote; at a desk, most of the day at a screen.

The hours

Usually full-time.

The day to day

What you'd actually spend time doing

  • 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.

Good fit if you like…

Investigative

solving problems, analyzing evidence, and figuring out how things work

Conventional

organizing information, following systems, and getting details right

Artistic

creating, designing, performing, or working without a rigid script

O*NET job zone 4 of 5

High preparation—usually a four-year degree plus experience—is common.

Work styles that matter most

Intellectual CuriosityAttention to DetailInnovationDependability

Software that shows up in the work

Examples employers report—not a checklist you must already know.

Amazon Web Services AWS softwareApache HadoopApache SparkC++GitMicrosoft Azure software

By the numbers

May 2025 BLS wage & employment data · 2024–34 BLS employment projections.

Median pay
$120,230
per year
Hourly median
$57.80
per hour
What most earn
$67,240–$199,130
yearly, 10th to 90th percentile
Openings a year
~23,400
projected, 2024–34
Outlook to 2034
+33.5%
Much faster than average
Working in the U.S.
262,440
people, nationwide

Openings a year counts new jobs plus the ones that open when people retire or move on — a truer picture of your odds than growth alone.

“Median” means half earn more and half earn less. Your city, employer, and years on the job move it a lot — that is what the 10th-to-90th range shows.

BLS estimates 1.8% of workers in this occupation are self-employed.

What it pays in your state

Statewide medians are a better starting point than the national number. Your city and experience still matter.

BLS state wage tables

How you get in

Typical starting education

Bachelor's degree

Training path: A quantitative degree.

Related work experience: None.

On-the-job training: None.

License or certification

No license required; skills and a project portfolio matter most.

Check the path where you live

Licensing rules and available programs change by state. These federal tools take you to the current official listings.

What it takes

Analytical thinkingMath skillsProblem solvingCommunication

The honest take

Statistics plus code — every industry is hiring for it.

Standard Occupational Classification 15-2051. Pay and employment from the BLS May 2025 OEWS survey; outlook and openings from the 2024–34 employment projections; job context from the Occupational Outlook Handbook; tasks, interests, work styles, software examples, and job zone from O*NET 30.3. See something off? Tell us.