Here’s How Much Money Data Scientists Make In Every State In 2022

Employment of data scientists has exploded in recent years as more and more companies have … [+] recognized the central importance of transforming their wealth of data into useable and actionable material for business goals.

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In recent years, data scientists have become more and more essential to the objectives of companies of all types. Data scientists play diverse roles, including developing and applying techniques or analytics applications to convert raw data into significant and useful information, typically by utilizing data-oriented programming languages and visualization software. Employment of data scientists, as of May 2021 — the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) — stands at 105,980. That’s up 244% from 2019, meaning it more than tripled.

Using occupational data from the BLS on data scientists, we’ve analyzed and compiled a round-up of the average data scientist salary by state in the U.S. Read on for a full breakdown of where data scientists make the most money, and where they’re making the least, in 2022.

10 States Where Data Scientists Earn the Most Money in 2022

The national average annual wage of a data scientist is $108,660, according to the BLS, just around $50,000 more than the average annual salary for all occupations, $58,260. The average data scientist salary can vary substantially from state to state. The state with the highest average data scientist salary has an average that is $69,540 greater than the average salary for data scientists in the lowest-paying state. The highest-paying state for data scientists also has an average salary that’s also $25,240 more than the corresponding national average for data scientists of $108,660. The average national data scientist salary per hour is $52.24.

Below is a list of the top-10 highest-paying states for data scientists:

1. Washington average data scientist salary: $133,900
2. California average data scientist salary: $133,110
3. Delaware average data scientist salary: $127,810
4. New York average data scientist salary: $122,540
5. New Jersey average data scientist salary: $120,240
6. Maryland average data scientist salary: $117,660
7. Vermont average data scientist salary: $116,220
8. Virginia average data scientist salary: $115,630
9. Texas average data scientist salary: $114,360
10. North Carolina average data scientist salary: $113,980

The District of Columbia, though not a state, ranks between Maryland and Vermont with an average data scientist salary of $117,470. The BLS only has employment and wage data on data scientists going back to 2019, so we can only look at the change in wages over a two-year period.

Looking at one-year growth in wages, out of the top-10 states where data scientists earn the most, it is No. 8 Virginia that has experienced the greatest increase in pay: From $99,670 in 2020 to $115,630, a rise of 16% in just one year. In terms of two-year growth among the top-10 highest-paying states, Texas witnessed the greatest increase in its average data scientist salary: 16.3%, from $98,340 in 2019 to $114,360 in 2021.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the industry that has the highest level of employment of data scientists is the Computer Systems Design and Related Services industry, which employs 16,620 data scientists. The industry’s average data scientist salary is $116,300, nearly $8,000 more than the national average overall for data scientists. However, the industry with the highest pay for data scientists is the Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing industry, which boasts an average annual wage of $148,290 for data scientists, about 36.5% higher than the national average data scientist salary.

10 States Where Data Scientists Earn the Least Money in 2022

The bottom-10 states where data scientists make the least money show some geographical patterns. The upper Midwest, Mountain states, and Southwest dominate the list of the states with the lowest average data scientist salaries. The state where the average data scientist salary is the lowest is more than $44,000 less than the mean annual wage for data scientists nationally.

Here’s a breakdown of the 10 states with the lowest pay for data scientists:

1. West Virginia average data scientist salary: $64,360
2. Wisconsin average data scientist salary: $71,710
3. Indiana average data scientist salary: $75,280
4. Montana average data scientist salary: $77,830
5. Louisiana average data scientist salary: $79,470
6. Utah average data scientist salary: $79,830
7. Kentucky average data scientist salary: $79,860
8. Oklahoma average data scientist salary: $80,040
9. New Mexico average data scientist salary: $80,290
10. Nebraska average data scientist salary: $80,590

Many of these 10 states have experienced declines in wages for data scientists. The No. 1 lowest-paying state for data scientists — West Virginia — has seen its average data scientist salary decline by 12.9%, from $73,900 in 2020 to $64,360 in 2021. The second lowest-paying state — Wisconsin — witnessed an even larger decline over the last year: 13.9%, from $83,330 in 2020 to $71,710 in 2021. On the other hand, the No. 10 state with the lowest pay for data scientists — Nebraska — has seen its average data scientist salary increase by 48.6% from 2019 to 2021, and 25.6% from 2020 to 2021.

How Much Do Data Scientists Make in Each State in 2022?

Below you’ll find a table of all average data scientist annual wages for all 50 states, which the exception of states that the BLS has no wage data for.