Career comparison
Computer Science Professor vs. Data Scientist
Side-by-side pay, training, growth and day-to-day duties to help you choose between two related careers.
Data scientists earn more at the median ($120,230 vs. $96,980), while data scientists usually get to work faster (4–6 years of training). Computer science professors teach programming, algorithms and computing at the college level. Data scientists turn data into insights and predictions that guide decisions.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Computer Science Professor | Data Scientist | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $96,980 | $120,230 ($57.80/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $49,460 – $170,200 | $67,240 – $199,130 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +4.9% (about as fast as average) | +34.6% (much faster than average) |
| Openings per year | 3,200 | 24,800 |
| Typical entry education | Doctoral or professional degree | Bachelor's degree |
| Training time | 5–7 years after a bachelor’s | 4–6 years |
| Key credential | Ph.D. in computer science | Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate |
| Work setting | CS faculty work in classrooms, labs and offices at colleges and universities.. | Data scientists work in offices or remotely at computers, collaborating with engineers, analysts and business teams.. |
What each job does
Computer Science Professor
- Teach computing courses
- Design programming assignments
- Run labs and recitations
- Mentor student projects
- Conduct research
Data Scientist
- 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
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, working independently, desk work, and problem-solving. They sit in different fields, education & childcare and technology, but share transferable skills such as clear explanation and curiosity.
Which should you choose?
Choose computer science professor if…
- I love computing
- I enjoy explaining code
- I want to do research
Choose data scientist if…
- I love working with numbers and data
- I enjoy statistics and coding
- I like finding patterns
Still torn? Take the Computer Science Professor fit quiz and the Data Scientist fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, computer science professor or data scientist?
Data Scientists earn more at the median: $120,230 versus $96,980 for computer science professors, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Data Scientists typically train faster (4–6 years) than computer science professors (5–7 years after a bachelor’s).
Which career has better job growth?
BLS projects data scientists to grow +34.6% from 2025–35, compared with +4.9% for computer science professors.