Salary of Data Scientist – 5 Key Factors That Affect It

The demand for skilled data scientists is soaring. As a result, organizations are ready to hire them for the large salary they asked for.

So, how much does a data scientist make in the US?

The average base salary for a Data Scientist in the US is around $124,907. The average extra cash compensation that every Data Scientist receives in the US is around $13,743. So, the average total compensation that a data scientist earns in the US becomes $138,650.

These figures are just for giving you an idea of data scientist’s approximate salaries. These figures can go up and down with time. Because there are certain factors that affect data scientist salary.

In this blog, we will discuss a few key factors that would help you know how much you can expect to take home as a data scientist.

Five Major Factors that Affect the Salary of Data Scientist

Salary contributes a lot to employees’ motivation and loyalty. It makes them feel respected and must be practically determined. Therefore, here we have compiled a few reasons that actually affect the data scientist’s salary.

1. Location Matters

Location plays a crucial role in deciding the salary of the senior data scientist. In the United States, data scientists receive a good package unlike in other countries.

This may be because of the rising demand for data science skills or due to higher senior data scientist salary in the US.

Also, staying nearby the tech companies’ locations could make you earn money too. Because companies also prefer to hire a candidate who can commute easily.

Data scientists who lie within the range of 100 miles of a technology company are expected to earn an additional $14k per year than other individuals in their field.

2. Industry

Industries, where data scientist works, are BFSI, Media & Entertainment, Healthcare, Retail, Telecommunications, Automotive, and so on.

Data scientists working in the tech sector expect to make a lot of money.

For instance, data scientists working at Google earn $250,467/yr per year.

Whereas, data scientists doing work in the healthcare industry make less than those in various industries.

The average healthcare data scientist salary in the US is $141,951.

This is probably because data science has a quite small role to play in healthcare than it does in various industries.

3. Roles

Data scientists can play a variety of roles. Some data scientists concentrate on commercial difficulties, while others concentrate on technical issues such as machine learning techniques or databases.

A “business” oriented data scientist earns an average of $138,000 per year, whereas those focused on technology earn an average of $142,500 per year.

This could be because some organizations prefer to hire people who specialize in one field over another and do not want someone with considerable knowledge in both.

However, many companies want tech-savvy individuals who have knowledge of coding. Even, they need to have hands-on experience in using new tools as well as frameworks such as Spark.

4. Years of Experience

Another crucial aspect that affects the senior data scientist salary is experience.

As per Payscale, senior-level data scientists in the US (with more than 10+ years of experience) can make between $137K – $197K annually.

This could be due to the great demand for experienced data scientists or because they have gained a new skill set that makes them get a higher salary.

Also, it’s required to note that salaries vary greatly by company.

Professional data scientists working for Meta, Uber, etc. can tend to earn $300,000 per year while those working for companies other than this may only earn $85,000-$100,000.

5. Level of Education

The fifth factor that hugely affects a data scientist’s salary is their education level.

Data science includes both technical skills (such as know-how of programming languages like Python, C, and R) and soft skills (such as good communication).

Only having technical skills doesn’t land you a lucrative job. Having able to express your ideas and think out-of-the-box is also desirable to get hired as a talented data scientist in a renowned organization.

When it comes to education, the individual must have a graduation degree. Those who have done PhDs, are capable of earning more than others regardless of the experience and other factors.

However, not every educational option result in greater incomes as projected. In fact, some programs may reduce your earning potential rather than increase it.

For instance, data scientists with an MBA degree in hand earn salaries similar to those who are undergraduates.

Individuals, who are interested to get into this soaring field, can go for any trusted and best data science certification course. This enables you to become skilled in various in-demand programming languages and a lot more.

Wrapping Up

These are some of the factors that hugely affect the amount of salary you can expect to earn as a data scientist. Understand, the type of organization you work for makes a great difference whereas skills and location have an equal impact too. Considering all these factors may help you find the right job and pay for you.