Also called: Applied Scientist, Decision Scientist
Uses statistics, programming, and machine learning to find patterns in data and help organizations make decisions.
You pull millions of rows of customer data, clean up the mess, and build a model that predicts which users are about to cancel. Then you turn it into charts and a story that executives can act on.
May 2025 BLS median $120,230.
Master's degree, about 5 years after high school. Bachelor's in a quantitative field; many have a master's or PhD.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, Self-taught. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Economics.
Growing much faster than average (about 35% over 10 years). BLS projects 35% growth, 2025-35, one of the fastest of any occupation.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI agents now write analysis code and models, so fewer junior data scientists; framing questions and judging results stay human.
Classes: AP Statistics, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science A.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-2051.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.