Data Scientist Salary: $108K US Median

The 2026 US national median Data Scientist salary is $108,020 per year. Entry-level (25th percentile) starts at $67,780, while experienced professionals (90th percentile) earn $184,090 or more. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, blended with 2026 market data from Levels.fyi, Glassdoor, and Robert Half.

Yes — Data Scientist salaries grew approximately 520.0% year-over-year, from $17,423 in 2025 to $108,020 in 2026 (+$90,597). This reflects the Technology sector's 2025-2026 wage growth, driven by demand for LLMs and PyTorch.

The 5 highest-paying US cities for Data Scientists: San Francisco, CA ($167K); Oakland, CA ($151K); New York, NY ($146K); Seattle, WA ($143K); Washington, DC ($140K). Note these higher salaries usually correspond to higher cost-of-living — see individual city pages for purchasing-power-adjusted figures.

Lowest-paying metros for Data Scientists: Wichita ($92K), El Paso ($92K), Tulsa ($95K). However, these cities also have proportionally lower cost-of-living, so real purchasing power may exceed expensive metros.

Data scientist employment is projected to grow 36% through 2034 — one of the fastest-growing occupations. AI/ML adoption across industries is driving unprecedented demand. BLS projects 36% employment growth from 2024-2034 — much faster than average compared to all US occupations.

The hottest 2026 skills are: LLMs, PyTorch, MLOps, dbt, Snowflake, GenAI. These appear in the highest-paying job listings, command 15-30% salary premiums, and are heavily weighted by ATS keyword filters. Adding them to your resume — naturally and in context — significantly improves your match rate.

Master's degree preferred (Bachelor's acceptable with strong portfolio). However, the 2026 market increasingly values demonstrable skills, portfolios, and certifications alongside (or in place of) traditional degrees — particularly in Technology. Top recognized credentials: Google Data Analytics, TensorFlow Developer, AWS ML Specialty.

Based on levels.fyi data and what I'm seeing from comparable offers, total compensation for this level is closer to $X base plus equity. Can we close the gap on base or front-load the RSU grant? Key leverage points for Technology: Reference levels.fyi total compensation data for your level (L4/L5/etc.) at comparable companies; Quantify recent shipped impact: latency reduced, revenue driven, on-call incidents resolved; Hold a competing offer (or credible interview pipeline) before the salary conversation. Beyond base salary, negotiate: Sign-on bonus ($25K-$100K is standard at Big Tech), RSU refreshers and accelerated vesting cliffs, Remote/hybrid flexibility and home-office stipend, Annual learning budget and conference allowance.

Major US employers hiring Data Scientists include: Google, Meta, Netflix, Uber, Airbnb, OpenAI, Anthropic, Databricks. Most use ATS software (Workday, Greenhouse, Taleo, iCIMS) to screen resumes — meaning your resume must be ATS-optimized to even reach a human recruiter.

Entry-level (0–1 year) Data Scientists typically earn around $78,200. By year 2–3, salary climbs to $85,000. With 7–10 years of experience, Data Scientists earn $165,000 on average. Senior/lead roles (15+ years) reach $174,545 or more.