Software Developer
Design, build and improve the apps and systems people use every day.
- $135,980
- 4 years or bootcamp plus portfolio
Technology career
Data Scientist
Also called: Data Analyst · Machine Learning Engineer · Analytics Specialist · Applied Scientist
What data scientists do, what they earn, how long training takes and how to get started, with official BLS pay data and practical, job-level detail.
What does a data scientist do?
Data scientists collect, clean and analyze data, build statistical and machine learning models, and communicate findings that help organizations make decisions. The median pay is $120,230 per year (BLS, May 2025), most people train for about 4–6 years, and employment is projected to grow +34.6% from 2025–35.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
- Median pay$120,230$57.80/hour · May 2025
- Job growth+34.6%2025–35, much faster than average
- Openings per year24,800Average, 2025–35
- Typical entry educationBachelor's degreeBLS classification
- Time to train4–6 yearsTypical program length
- U.S. jobs275,600Employment, 2025
What data scientists do
Data scientists find patterns and answers in data. They write SQL and Python to gather and clean data, explore it with statistics and visualizations, build predictive models, run experiments and explain results to decision-makers. They work in tech, healthcare, finance, retail, government and nearly every other industry.
Most data scientists have at least a bachelor’s degree in a quantitative field, and many have master’s degrees. Strong programming, statistics and communication skills matter most. It is one of the fastest-growing occupations, and many people enter through data analyst roles.
Typical duties
- Gather and clean data from many sources
- Explore data with statistics and visualizations
- Build predictive and machine learning models
- Design and analyze experiments
- Deploy and monitor models
- Create dashboards and reports
- Explain findings to stakeholders
Work environment and schedule
Data scientists work in offices or remotely at computers, collaborating with engineers, analysts and business teams.
Schedule: Most work full-time with flexible hours and occasional deadline crunches.
A day in the life
- Review dashboard metrics and check on a model running in production.
- Write SQL to pull customer data for a churn analysis.
- Clean the data and explore patterns in a notebook.
- Train and compare machine learning models.
See a full day in the life of a data scientist →
Data Scientist salary
Half of data scientists earned more than $120,230 and half earned less in May 2025. Pay ranged from about $67,240 for the lowest 10% to $199,130 for the top 10%.
Full data scientist pay scale and hourly rates →
How to become a data scientist
- Build math and programming skills
- Earn a quantitative degree
- Do real projects
- Start as an analyst or junior data scientist
- Advance
A bachelor’s degree in statistics, math, computer science, economics or a related field is typical, and many employers prefer a master’s. Bootcamps and portfolios help people transition from analyst roles.
Step-by-step guide to becoming a data scientist →
Skills and tools
Technical skills
- Python or R
- SQL
- Statistics
- Machine learning
- Data visualization
People skills
- Curiosity
- Communication
- Critical thinking
- Business sense
All data scientist skills and tools →
Pros and cons
Pros
- Very fast job growth
- High pay
- Interesting, varied problems
- Remote-friendly
Cons
- Messy data takes most of the time
- Requires strong math and programming
- Results can be hard to explain
- Competitive entry roles
Certifications and licenses
- Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate: Training in statistics, Python and modeling.
- Microsoft Certified: Azure Data Scientist Associate: Certification for machine learning on Azure.
- AWS Certified Machine Learning: Cloud machine learning certification.
- Databricks certifications: Credentials for data engineering and machine learning on Databricks.
Career path
- Data Analyst: Analyze and report on data.
- Data Scientist: Build models and analyses.
- Senior or Lead Data Scientist: Lead projects and mentor others.
- Analytics Manager or ML Engineer: Lead teams or build production ML systems.
Learn the job before day one
Our Data Scientist training (12 hours, $109.99) covers the role, 15+ key terms, step-by-step procedures such as clean a dataset for analysis and build and evaluate a prediction model, safety and how to land your first job.
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Data Scientist FAQ
Do data scientists need a master’s degree?
Not always, but many have one.
What’s the difference between a data analyst and data scientist?
Analysts focus on reporting and analysis; data scientists also build predictive models.
Which languages should I learn?
Python and SQL are the most important.
How much does a data scientist make?
The median annual wage for data scientists was $120,230 ($57.80 per hour) in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lowest 10% earned less than $67,240 and the highest 10% earned more than $199,130.
How long does it take to become a data scientist?
Most people need about 4–6 years of training. A bachelor’s degree in statistics, math, computer science, economics or a related field is typical, and many employers prefer a master’s. Bootcamps and portfolios help people transition from analyst roles.
Do you need a degree to be a data scientist?
Usually. BLS lists a bachelor’s degree as typical, and many data scientists have master’s degrees. Some move up from data analyst roles with strong skills and portfolios.
More data scientist questions →
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025, SOC 15-2051 (Data scientists).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2 (2025–35).
- O*NET OnLine summary for Data scientists (U.S. Department of Labor).
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook.
Reviewed by the Career Education Institute Curriculum Team. Pay figures are national estimates; local pay varies. See our editorial policy.