Computers and math
Data scientist
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
$120,230
Growth to 2035
+35%
much faster than average
Openings a year
24,800
Time to qualify*
1.8 years
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Data scientist
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
- On-the-job training
- None
- Prior experience
- None
- Required
- No license; most roles expect a quantitative master's or equivalent portfolio
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Data scientist: 38% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core tasks
- 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.
Outlook and AI
Data scientists held 275,600 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 371,000 by 2035 (+35%, much faster than average; all jobs: +3.5%).
Demand change - share increases as larger amounts of digital and electronic data are collected over the projections decade. Businesses in all industries will hire data scientists to analyze data to help improve business processes and design and develop new products.
Compare with
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