USA · Technology · Salary

Data scientists: pay by state and city

What data scientists — the main job for this pathway — earn across the U.S., from the latest BLS wage survey (May 2025).

U.S. median$120,230
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
15-2051 Data scientists
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
U.S. average (mean)$126,800
Jobs in the survey262,440
Most jobsCalifornia39,310 jobs · median $141,590

Pay where you want to work

Pick a state or search a metro area. The bar shows the spread from the lowest-paid 10% to the top 10% in that place.

United States

Data scientists · annual wages, May 2025
BLS OEWS · May 2025
Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Period
May 2025
SOC
15-2051 Data scientists
File
oe.data.0.Current (download.bls.gov)
View official data
Lowest 10% below
$67,240
25th percentile
$85,660
Median
$120,230
75th percentile
$158,880
Top 10% above
$199,130
Middle half of workersMedianMean $126,800Jobs 262,440

BLS publishes this occupation for 51 state-level areas (50 states, DC and territories where available) and 373 metro and nonmetro areas. Places it does not publish are not estimated here.

Where the jobs are, and where pay is highest

Median annual pay, May 2025. Highest-pay lists only include places with at least 500 jobs. BLS wages are not adjusted for living costs, which are usually higher where pay is higher.

States with the most jobs

  1. California39,310 jobs$141,590
  2. Texas25,860 jobs$122,090
  3. New York23,970 jobs$130,460
  4. Pennsylvania13,810 jobs$106,850
  5. North Carolina11,430 jobs$119,090

Highest-paying states

  1. Washington9,600 jobs$163,350
  2. California39,310 jobs$141,590
  3. Maryland3,340 jobs$136,370
  4. New Jersey6,430 jobs$135,280
  5. Massachusetts9,420 jobs$131,750

Metro areas with the most jobs

  1. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ23,160 jobs$135,980
  2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA10,460 jobs$170,110
  3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX10,120 jobs$127,750
  4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA9,850 jobs$129,740
  5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV9,260 jobs$132,200

Highest-paying metro areas

  1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA6,060 jobs$185,080
  2. San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA10,460 jobs$170,110
  3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA8,370 jobs$164,740
  4. Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT570 jobs$141,760
  5. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ23,160 jobs$135,980
All 51 state-level areas (sortable)
Pay by state; select a column heading to sort
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Every job in this pathway

National figures. A field of study leads to several occupations, each with its own pay.

OccupationLowest 10%MedianTop 10%Jobs
Data scientists —$120,230——
Mathematicians and statisticians —$105,720——
Operations research analysts —$88,940——
Database administrators and architects —$126,760——

"Jobs" counts wage-and-salary jobs in the OEWS survey; it differs from the employment totals in BLS projections. "—": BLS publishes this group as separate occupations; the median shown is the group figure from the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Median pay by industry · data scientists

  • Publishing, broadcasting, and content providers$142,240
  • Computer systems design and related services$132,380
  • Insurance carriers$108,650
  • Management of companies and enterprises$128,050
  • Credit intermediation and related activities$129,490
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national, state, metro and nonmetro estimates). How Margdarshan sources its data → · Back to Data Science