Actuaries
Median $130,000
Occupation · SOC 15-2051
Data Scientists: pay and where the jobs are
What data scientists earn in the U.S., how pay varies across workers and states, and tools to plan around it.
National pay, May 2025
$120,230 median annual wage
- Mean (average) annual wage
- $126,800
- Median hourly wage
- $57.80
- Mean hourly wage
- $60.96
- Employment
- 262,440
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 (released 2026-05-15), SOC 15-2051.
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How much do data scientists make?
The median annual wage for data scientists was $120,230 in May 2025, so half of workers earned more and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $67,240 and the highest-paid 10% more than $199,130. As an hourly rate, the median is $57.80. About 262,440 people work in this occupation nationwide. The highest state medians are in Washington ($163,350), California ($141,590) and Maryland ($136,370). Washington also comes out on top after taxes and local prices.
Pay ladder
What each step of the pay range for data scientists looks like per month. Take-home here includes federal tax, Social Security and Medicare for a single filer; add your state in the paycheck calculator.
| Step | Annual | Hourly | Monthly gross | Monthly after federal tax & FICA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $67,240 | $32.33 | $5,603 | $4,678 |
| 25th percentile | $85,660 | $41.18 | $7,138 | $5,758 |
| Median | $120,230 | $57.80 | $10,019 | $7,784 |
| 75th percentile | $158,880 | $76.39 | $13,240 | $9,988 |
| 90th percentile | $199,130 | $95.74 | $16,594 | $12,281 |
Data Scientists: pay by state
50 states and territories have a published median, sorted from highest to lowest. The last two columns are our estimates: the median after 2026 federal and state taxes, and that take-home restated in national-average prices.
1
$112,743 take-home in national prices
2
$97,586 take-home in national prices
3
$94,251 take-home in national prices
Where a median data scientist paycheck goes furthest after 2026 taxes and BEA price levels.
| State | Employment | Median | 10th pct. | 90th pct. | Median after tax* | In national prices† |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington | 9,600 | $163,350 | $79,930 | $220,040 | $120,650 | $112,743 |
| California | 39,310 | $141,590 | $77,480 | $224,920 | $97,279 | $87,861 |
| Maryland | 3,340 | $136,370 | $77,930 | $213,270 | $98,151 | $93,514 |
| New Jersey | 6,430 | $135,280 | $80,720 | $203,950 | $96,544 | $88,731 |
| Massachusetts | 9,420 | $131,750 | $81,030 | $206,220 | $94,344 | $89,208 |
| New York | 23,970 | $130,460 | $73,330 | $214,080 | $93,335 | $86,485 |
| Minnesota | 4,020 | $128,800 | $65,730 | $179,640 | $91,456 | $92,735 |
| Vermont | 200 | $127,070 | $76,570 | $160,430 | $92,236 | $94,159 |
| District of Columbia | 2,680 | $126,490 | $89,750 | $209,730 | $89,939 | $81,836 |
| Virginia | 8,920 | $126,430 | $76,420 | $207,890 | $91,225 | $90,229 |
| Connecticut | 1,760 | $126,340 | $75,700 | $204,680 | $90,657 | $87,499 |
| Oregon | 2,140 | $125,990 | $78,110 | $206,550 | $86,901 | $84,076 |
| Texas | 25,860 | $122,090 | $64,540 | $170,780 | $94,715 | $97,586 |
| North Carolina | 11,430 | $119,090 | $65,970 | $172,830 | $88,367 | $93,682 |
| Colorado | 6,280 | $117,400 | $74,470 | $189,630 | $86,447 | $83,887 |
| Florida | 10,240 | $115,820 | $63,080 | $174,140 | $90,309 | $87,328 |
| Arkansas | 530 | $109,390 | $67,090 | $169,110 | $81,939 | $94,251 |
| Utah | 4,360 | $108,090 | $60,680 | $167,890 | $80,061 | $80,981 |
| Arizona | 4,560 | $107,240 | $65,200 | $161,730 | $81,986 | $81,435 |
| Pennsylvania | 13,810 | $106,850 | $63,340 | $162,290 | $80,644 | $82,651 |
| Wisconsin | 4,370 | $106,680 | $76,300 | $168,810 | $79,055 | $84,017 |
| Illinois | 10,520 | $106,560 | $68,810 | $168,880 | $78,665 | $78,698 |
| Georgia | 9,260 | $104,340 | $67,750 | $170,010 | $77,775 | $80,769 |
| Alabama | 1,740 | $103,120 | $59,130 | $161,590 | $77,152 | $86,860 |
| Ohio | 6,100 | $102,630 | $61,710 | $160,650 | $78,645 | $84,770 |
| Rhode Island | 1,160 | $102,440 | $75,310 | $158,820 | $76,533 | $74,826 |
| Hawaii | 300 | $102,130 | $77,270 | $172,870 | $74,330 | $67,603 |
| New Hampshire | 1,100 | $100,620 | $73,480 | $155,020 | $79,616 | $76,433 |
| Michigan | 7,360 | $100,590 | $60,830 | $162,670 | $75,571 | $78,542 |
| Montana | 220 | $100,490 | $67,120 | $167,150 | $75,208 | $79,463 |
| Tennessee | 2,790 | $100,330 | $60,200 | $156,160 | $79,412 | $86,440 |
| Nevada | 1,680 | $98,540 | $57,150 | $164,110 | $78,153 | $78,169 |
| Nebraska | 1,980 | $98,230 | $66,230 | $133,140 | $74,345 | $82,511 |
| Kansas | 490 | $98,130 | $60,520 | $154,990 | $73,188 | $81,259 |
| Missouri | 4,730 | $97,090 | $58,960 | $151,380 | $73,507 | $80,940 |
| South Dakota | 220 | $96,150 | $67,510 | $145,510 | $76,472 | $86,325 |
| New Mexico | 560 | $95,850 | $49,990 | $133,660 | $72,895 | $79,051 |
| Iowa | 2,300 | $95,830 | $56,070 | $146,700 | $73,257 | $83,472 |
| South Carolina | 3,750 | $91,990 | $61,600 | $156,000 | $69,761 | $74,413 |
| Kentucky | 1,540 | $91,760 | $61,990 | $156,480 | $70,289 | $77,961 |
| Indiana | 3,580 | $91,470 | $58,750 | $141,250 | $70,510 | $75,550 |
| Maine | 1,210 | $90,880 | $60,280 | $138,530 | $67,833 | $69,895 |
| Idaho | 1,350 | $89,380 | $63,980 | $169,010 | $68,080 | $71,292 |
| Oklahoma | 1,900 | $86,310 | $58,690 | $145,580 | $66,211 | $75,374 |
| West Virginia | 390 | $85,090 | $57,500 | $125,100 | $65,683 | $73,391 |
| Alaska | 230 | $84,110 | $51,550 | $138,400 | $67,730 | $66,169 |
| North Dakota | 210 | $81,900 | $59,030 | $126,710 | $66,109 | $74,314 |
| Puerto Rico | 100 | $80,350 | $56,880 | $108,890 | — | — |
| Louisiana | 1,300 | $78,760 | $53,050 | $128,210 | $62,261 | $70,585 |
| Mississippi | 440 | $69,490 | $43,940 | $125,990 | $55,669 | $64,022 |
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025 (released 2026-05-15), SOC 15-2051. *Our estimate for a single filer paid biweekly with no pre-tax deductions or local tax, 2026 federal and state rules. †Take-home ÷ BEA Regional Price Parity × 100 (2024 price levels).
Sources
- OEWS May 2025 (oesm25nat.zip) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed 2026-10-09.
- OEWS May 2025 (oesm25st.zip) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Accessed 2026-10-09.