Career comparison
Data Scientist vs. Database Administrator
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. $104,620), while data scientists usually get to work faster (4–6 years of training). Data scientists turn data into insights and predictions that guide decisions. Database administrators keep databases fast, secure, backed up and available.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Data Scientist | Database Administrator | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $120,230 ($57.80/hr) | $104,620 ($50.30/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $67,240 – $199,130 | $60,230 – $163,320 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +34.6% (much faster than average) | -0.1% (little or no change) |
| Openings per year | 24,800 | 3,300 |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's degree | Bachelor's degree |
| Training time | 4–6 years | 4 years plus experience |
| Key credential | Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate | Microsoft Certified: Azure Database Administrator Associate |
| Work setting | Data scientists work in offices or remotely at computers, collaborating with engineers, analysts and business teams.. | DBAs work in offices or remotely, at computers, with some after-hours work for maintenance and emergencies.. |
What each job does
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
Database Administrator
- Install, configure and upgrade databases
- Plan and test backups and recovery
- Monitor and tune performance
- Manage user access and security
- Apply patches and updates
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, desk work, problem-solving, and working independently. Both are part of the technology field, so many skills transfer between them.
Which should you choose?
Choose data scientist if…
- I love working with numbers and data
- I enjoy statistics and coding
- I like finding patterns
Choose database administrator if…
- I like organizing data
- I’m careful and detail-oriented
- I enjoy troubleshooting performance
Still torn? Take the Data Scientist fit quiz and the Database Administrator fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, data scientist or database administrator?
Data Scientists earn more at the median: $120,230 versus $104,620 for database administrators, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Data Scientists typically train faster (4–6 years) than database administrators (4 years plus experience).
Which career has better job growth?
BLS projects data scientists to grow +34.6% from 2025–35, compared with -0.1% for database administrators.