Career comparison
Data Scientist vs. Operations Research 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. $88,940), while operations research analysts usually get to work faster (Entry-level with a quantitative degree of training). Data scientists turn data into insights and predictions that guide decisions. Operations research analysts use math models to help organizations make better decisions.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Data Scientist | Operations Research Analyst | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $120,230 ($57.80/hr) | $88,940 ($42.76/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $67,240 – $199,130 | $57,060 – $159,910 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +34.6% (much faster than average) | +11.9% (much faster than average) |
| Openings per year | 24,800 | 7,500 |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's degree | Bachelor's degree |
| Training time | 4–6 years | Entry-level with a quantitative degree |
| Key credential | Google Advanced Data Analytics Certificate | CAP |
| Work setting | Data scientists work in offices or remotely at computers, collaborating with engineers, analysts and business teams.. | Analysts work in offices, often remotely.. |
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
Operations Research Analyst
- Define business problems
- Gather data
- Build optimization models
- Run simulations
- Analyze results
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, desk work, problem-solving, and remote-friendly work. They sit in different fields, technology and business & office, but share transferable skills such as curiosity and problem-solving.
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 operations research analyst if…
- I love math puzzles
- I like real-world problems
- I can code
Still torn? Take the Data Scientist fit quiz and the Operations Research Analyst fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, data scientist or operations research analyst?
Data Scientists earn more at the median: $120,230 versus $88,940 for operations research analysts, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Operations Research Analysts typically train faster (Entry-level with a quantitative degree) 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 +11.9% for operations research analysts.