Data Scientists
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Data Scientists in the United States earn a median salary of $120,230 per year — about $58 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 246K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of +34%.
AI & Automation Risk
Data science is a fully digital occupation centered on coding, statistical modeling, and data analysis—all areas where AI is rapidly achieving parity or superiority. While human judgment is still needed for business context and ethical oversight, AI can now automate significant portions of the data pipeline, including cleaning raw data, generating complex code, and even suggesting optimal model architectures.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho Falls, IDBEST VALUE | $167,840 | Below avg (90.8) | $184,860 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $185,080 | Above avg (113.1) | $163,702 |
| Kennewick-Richland, WA | $156,830 | Average (98.9) | $158,598 |
| Charlottesville, VA | $149,800 | Average (99.0) | $151,373 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $164,740 | Above avg (112.7) | $146,135 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $170,110 | Above avg (117.6) | $144,712 |
| North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL | $146,980 | Above avg (104.2) | $141,027 |
| Sheboygan, WI | $126,270 | Below avg (90.9) | $138,917 |
| Winchester, VA-WV | $129,990 | Below avg (94.6) | $137,471 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | $125,590 | Below avg (91.5) | $137,332 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $132,460 | Average (97.3) | $136,103 |
| Peoria, IL | $120,000 | Below avg (88.8) | $135,083 |
| Boulder, CO | $134,040 | Average (100.6) | $133,222 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT Metropolitan Statistical Area | $141,760 | Above avg (107.0) | $132,472 |
| Trenton-Princeton, NJ | $135,320 | Average (102.4) | $132,125 |