Occupation salary profile

Data Scientists

SOC 15-2051 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

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. Excludes “Statisticians” (15-2041), “Cartographers and Photogrammetrists” (17-1021), and “Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars” (29-9021).

National median · BLS
$120,230
▲ +6.79% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$123,531
▲ +0.43% YoY · 30,933 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$126,800
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
262,440
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Data Scientists

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 30,933 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$67,240$80,000
25th$85,660$95,700
Median (50th)$120,230$123,531
75th$158,880$158,642
90th — top pay$199,130$190,471
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $123,531 for Data Scientists — 2.7% above the BLS national median of $120,230.

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Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Data Scientists

BLS projects employment of data scientists to grow 34.6% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 24,800 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
275,600 → 371,000
+95,400 jobs
Projected change
+34.6%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
24,800
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
1.9% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $123,531
Change vs prior year +0.43%
After inflation (CPI-U) -2.62%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 5,903 19.1% $72,000 $82,763 $97,240
Level II 11,764 38% $96,000 $110,748 $135,000
Level III 5,927 19.2% $126,000 $149,760 $175,100
Level IV 4,553 14.7% $148,741 $170,400 $200,905
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Data Scientists

The 50 most-filed job titles inside SOC 15-2051, from 30,933 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Data Scientist 4,831 15.62% $103,500 $133,952 $170,000 -1.51%
Data Engineer 2,810 9.08% $93,974 $116,100 $147,000 +3.69%
Data Analyst 2,269 7.34% $80,000 $93,095 $110,739 +0.19%
Business Analyst 1,422 4.6% $81,500 $94,233 $110,739 +0.28%
Business Intelligence Analyst 918 2.97% $82,763 $96,521 $116,444 +3.44%
Business Intelligence Engineer 734 2.37% $110,739 $129,709 $143,400 -0.57%
Machine Learning Engineer 672 2.17% $136,800 $171,284 $215,000 +0.76%
Software Engineer 331 1.07% $129,854 $174,304 $186,142 +17.22%
Data Science 255 0.82% $158,200 $168,730 $192,750 +4.09%
Product Manager 241 0.78% $137,766 $158,398 $190,000 -0.85%
Business Intel Engineer 218 0.7% $116,500 $136,900 $150,550 -2.42%
Manager, Data Science 205 0.66% $145,625 $166,858 $183,581 +0%
Associate generic 195 0.63% $96,500 $114,088 $142,000 +1.86%
Staff Data Scientist 192 0.62% $171,337 $187,570 $215,000 +9.47%
Business Systems Analyst 182 0.59% $93,470 $107,158 $133,675 -6.82%
Consultant generic 180 0.58% $104,988 $118,414 $140,000 -1.32%
Applied Science 179 0.58% $165,800 $178,000 $194,136 +0.51%
Manager generic 165 0.53% $132,000 $161,079 $185,000 +0.67%
Analyst generic 152 0.49% $80,934 $94,291 $110,000 -1.01%
Lead Data Scientist 148 0.48% $139,876 $166,600 $194,955 +12.04%
Associate Data Scientist 139 0.45% $90,200 $106,600 $125,740 +1.52%
Data Engineering 129 0.42% $160,000 $174,112 $192,676 +1.71%
Business Intelligence Developer 127 0.41% $89,985 $100,000 $127,898 +0%
IT Consultant 120 0.39% $96,117 $115,939 $129,709 -2.09%
Principal Data Scientist 117 0.38% $161,483 $175,000 $198,965 -2.78%
Manager, Advanced Analytics 110 0.36% $113,949 $138,086 $152,148 +2.97%
Business Data Analyst 107 0.35% $75,000 $89,378 $103,288 -1.52%
Principal Data Analyst 105 0.34% $112,904 $118,401 $128,786 +6.92%
Business Manager 102 0.33% $154,486 $163,524 $166,858 +4.13%
Applied Scientist 99 0.32% $163,161 $180,000 $205,700 +0.42%
Data Science Engineer 97 0.31% $96,034 $129,709 $179,000 -14.38%
Analytics Engineer 97 0.31% $108,191 $144,000 $177,000 +5.88%
Clinical Data Manager 95 0.31% $85,119 $105,000 $130,000 +3.11%
Associate Principal 89 0.29% $131,155 $150,433 $170,373 +35.84%
Machine Learning Scientist 88 0.28% $144,190 $181,500 $196,914 +7.76%
Assistant Vice President 84 0.27% $125,000 $142,636 $152,948 -0.32%
Manager, Data Analytics 84 0.27% $114,945 $130,000 $147,064 -10.66%
BI Analyst 82 0.27% $76,690 $89,204 $100,979 -0.88%
AI Engineer 81 0.26% $94,557 $115,000 $160,099 -15.64%
Data Science Analyst 79 0.26% $88,000 $96,928 $122,500 +3.56%
Manager, Business Intelligence 73 0.24% $139,220 $147,700 $163,322 +0.06%
Deployment Strategist 67 0.22% $120,000 $130,000 $140,000 -7.14%
IT Business Analyst 63 0.2% $80,000 $93,974 $107,540 +4.56%
Director, Data Science 61 0.2% $163,342 $194,100 $230,000 +11.48%
Product Analyst 60 0.19% $84,912 $109,491 $134,062 -24.49%
BI Developer 58 0.19% $82,400 $98,000 $113,556 +3.7%
Data Analytics Engineer 55 0.18% $94,924 $103,958 $127,060 +1.04%
Research Scientist 54 0.17% $125,229 $192,104 $222,749 +12.88%
Associate, Data Science 53 0.17% $110,739 $111,966 $121,200 +3.38%
Technical Program Management 52 0.17% $145,530 $164,476 $182,625 -3.53%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Data Scientists

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Mathematics4.4
  • Critical Thinking4.3
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Complex Problem Solving3.8
  • Programming3.8
  • Active Learning3.6
  • Speaking3.6
  • Active Listening3.5
  • Writing3.5
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.4
Top knowledge areas
  • Mathematics4.5
  • Computers and Electronics4.2
  • English Language3.0
  • Engineering and Technology2.9
  • Education and Training2.3
  • Communications and Media2.2
  • Administration and Management2.1
  • Design2.1
Software and technology used
Amazon Web Services AWS softwareApache HadoopApache SparkC++GitMicrosoft Azure softwareMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Power BIMicrosoft PowerPointPythonPyTorchRSASSnowflakeStructured query language SQLTableauTensorFlowThe MathWorks MATLAB

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What data scientists do

  • Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
  • Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
  • Test, validate, and reformulate models to ensure accurate prediction of outcomes of interest.
  • Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
  • Recommend data-driven solutions to key stakeholders.
  • Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
  • Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
  • Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
Specialties within this occupation
  • Business Intelligence Analysts
  • Clinical Data Managers
More job titles for this occupation (75)
AbstractorAnalystAnalytical Data MinerAnalytics ConsultantApplication AnalystApplication CoordinatorApplied ScientistBusiness AnalystBusiness ConsultantBusiness Data AnalystBusiness Database AnalystBusiness Information AnalystBusiness Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst)Business Intelligence Consultant (BI Consultant)Business Intelligence Coordinator (BI Coordinator)Business Intelligence EngineerBusiness Intelligence Specialist (BI Specialist)Business Process AnalystBusiness Systems AnalystBusiness Systems ConsultantBusiness Technology ConsultantClinical Applications DirectorClinical Biostatistics DirectorClinical Data AbstractorClinical Data AnalystClinical Data CoordinatorClinical Data Management Director (CDM Director)Clinical Data Management Manager (CDM Manager)Clinical Data ManagerClinical Informatics ManagerClinical Statistics ManagerClinical Trials Data CoordinatorCompetitive Intelligence AnalystData AnalystData Analytic ScientistData Analytics ScientistData Analytics SpecialistData ArchitectData ConsultantData CoordinatorData Deliverables ManagerData EconomistData EngineerData Management ManagerData Management ScientistData Mining AnalystData ModelerData Quality AnalystData Science EngineerData Science InternData SpecialistEDI Analyst (Electronic Data Interchange Analyst)Health Informatics AnalystInformation AnalystInformation SpecialistInpatient Orders AnalystIntelligence AnalystMachine Learning Data ScientistMachine Learning EngineerMachine Learning ScientistMachine Learning Software EngineerMarket Intelligence AnalystMarket Intelligence ConsultantMarketing Data ScientistMarketing Database AnalystPsychometric ConsultantQuantitative MethodologistQuantitative ResearcherReporting AnalystReports AnalystResearch AnalystResearch ScientistStatistical AnalystStatistical ConsultantStrategic Business and Technology Intelligence Consultant

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.