Career comparison
Data Scientist vs. Financial Analyst
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. $102,740), while financial analysts usually get to work faster (4 years of training). Data scientists turn data into insights and predictions that guide decisions. Financial analysts analyze financial data to guide business and investment decisions.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Data Scientist | Financial Analyst | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $120,230 ($57.80/hr) | $102,740 ($49.40/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $67,240 – $199,130 | $63,720 – $180,860 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +34.6% (much faster than average) | +7.2% (much faster than average) |
| Openings per year | 24,800 | 24,700 |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's degree | Bachelor's degree |
| Training time | 4–6 years | 4 years |
| Key credential | Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate | Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) |
| Work setting | Data scientists work in offices or remotely at computers, collaborating with engineers, analysts and business teams.. | Analysts work in offices or remotely at banks, corporations, investment firms, insurers and government agencies. |
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
Financial Analyst
- Build financial models and forecasts
- Analyze financial statements and performance
- Prepare budgets and variance analyses
- Research companies, industries and markets
- Evaluate investments and projects
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, desk work, problem-solving, and working independently. They sit in different fields, technology and business & office, but share transferable skills such as curiosity and analytical thinking.
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 financial analyst if…
- I love numbers and spreadsheets
- I like finding the story in data
- I’m detail-oriented
Still torn? Take the Data Scientist fit quiz and the Financial Analyst fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, data scientist or financial analyst?
Data Scientists earn more at the median: $120,230 versus $102,740 for financial analysts, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Financial Analysts typically train faster (4 years) than data scientists (4–6 years).
Which career has better job growth?
BLS projects data scientists to grow +34.6% from 2025–35, compared with +7.2% for financial analysts.