Pay by state · 50 areas

Data Scientist Salary by State (2026)

Name: Data Scientist annual wages by US state, May 2025
Creator: NueCareer
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Data Scientists earn the most in Washington at $163,350 a year and the least in Mississippi at $69,490 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The national median is $120,230. The table below covers 48 states, DC and Puerto Rico, with a cost-of-living adjusted column.

Highest median: $163,350Washington
National median: $120,230BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lowest median: $69,490Mississippi
Areas reporting: 50of 54 OEWS areas

Top and bottom

Highest- and lowest-paying states for data scientists

Ranked on the state median among the 48 reporting states and DC. Territories are in the full table but not ranked here.

Highest median pay

1Washington$163,350
2California$141,590
3Maryland$136,370
4New Jersey$135,280
5Massachusetts$131,750

Lowest median pay

1Mississippi$69,490
2Louisiana$78,760
3North Dakota$81,900
4Alaska$84,110
5West Virginia$85,090

All states

Data Scientist salary in every state

Sort by any column. Employment is the number of data scientists OEWS estimates in that state; blank cells are estimates BLS suppressed because the sample was too small.

Annual wages by state, sortable by median, quartiles, employment and cost-of-living adjusted median
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1	WAWashington	$163,350	$105,240	$208,320	9,600	$152,645
2	CACalifornia	$141,590	$103,360	$186,820	39,310	$127,881
3	MDMaryland	$136,370	$100,370	$169,510	3,340	$129,927
4	NJNew Jersey	$135,280	$101,970	$167,330	6,430	$124,333
5	MAMassachusetts	$131,750	$101,940	$166,180	9,420	$124,578
6	NYNew York	$130,460	$94,880	$171,580	23,970	$120,885
7	MNMinnesota	$128,800	$92,490	$160,910	4,020	$130,601
8	VTVermont	$127,070	$98,450	$143,170	200	$129,719
9	DCDistrict of Columbia	$126,490	$105,320	$174,650	2,680	$115,094
10	VAVirginia	$126,430	$97,390	$165,610	8,920	$125,049
11	CTConnecticut	$126,340	$94,480	$163,210	1,760	$121,938
12	OROregon	$125,990	$96,770	$163,710	2,140	$121,893
13	TXTexas	$122,090	$83,880	$146,030	25,860	$125,792
14	NCNorth Carolina	$119,090	$82,440	$147,540	11,430	$126,254
15	COColorado	$117,400	$96,300	$152,650	6,280	$113,923
16	FLFlorida	$115,820	$84,070	$140,210	10,240	$111,996
17	ARArkansas	$109,390	$97,510	$136,060	530	$125,827
18	UTUtah	$108,090	$78,720	$146,160	4,360	$109,332
19	AZArizona	$107,240	$80,820	$134,070	4,560	$106,519
20	PAPennsylvania	$106,850	$79,220	$129,160	13,810	$109,509
21	WIWisconsin	$106,680	$88,060	$133,860	4,370	$113,375
22	ILIllinois	$106,560	$84,610	$137,290	10,520	$106,605
23	GAGeorgia	$104,340	$84,120	$136,560	9,260	$108,357
24	ALAlabama	$103,120	$74,140	$127,660	1,740	$116,096
25	OHOhio	$102,630	$79,510	$130,920	6,100	$110,624
26	RIRhode Island	$102,440	$93,090	$130,150	1,160	$100,156
27	HIHawaii	$102,130	$87,640	$152,980	300	$92,887
28	NHNew Hampshire	$100,620	$82,750	$128,540	1,100	$96,597
29	MIMichigan	$100,590	$77,410	$130,240	7,360	$104,545
30	MTMontana	$100,490	$70,990	$127,840	220	$106,176
31	TNTennessee	$100,330	$77,770	$131,930	2,790	$109,209
32	NVNevada	$98,540	$76,190	$129,990	1,680	$98,561
33	NENebraska	$98,230	$80,900	$109,860	1,980	$109,020
34	KSKansas	$98,130	$75,970	$131,390	490	$108,951
35	MOMissouri	$97,090	$74,610	$127,680	4,730	$106,907
36	SDSouth Dakota	$96,150	$83,810	$123,260	220	$108,539
37	NMNew Mexico	$95,850	$64,250	$107,540	560	$103,945
38	IAIowa	$95,830	$71,010	$127,340	2,300	$109,193
39	SCSouth Carolina	$91,990	$78,550	$123,880	3,750	$98,124
40	KYKentucky	$91,760	$75,620	$121,850	1,540	$101,776
41	INIndiana	$91,470	$72,670	$127,510	3,580	$98,008
42	MEMaine	$90,880	$77,340	$115,170	1,210	$93,642
43	IDIdaho	$89,380	$80,940	$136,940	1,350	$93,598
44	OKOklahoma	$86,310	$68,580	$109,770	1,900	$98,255
45	WVWest Virginia	$85,090	$69,790	$112,770	390	$95,076
46	AKAlaska	$84,110	$57,350	$113,040	230	$82,172
47	NDNorth Dakota	$81,900	$64,270	$100,110	210	$92,065
48	PRPuerto Rico	$80,350	$66,750	$97,320	100	N/A
49	LALouisiana	$78,760	$63,560	$110,130	1,300	$89,290
50	MSMississippi	$69,490	$51,060	$99,030	440	$79,917

Method

How the cost-of-living adjustment works

The adjusted column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity (RPP) and multiplies by 100. RPPs measure how much a fixed basket of goods, services and rents costs in one state relative to the national average, so the result restates local pay in national-average dollars.

For data scientists, the adjustment does not change the leader: Washington is first on raw pay and still first once prices are taken into account, at $152,645.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024 (public domain). The adjustment is NueCareer's calculation, not a BLS or BEA published statistic.

Questions

Data Scientist pay by state: FAQ

Which state pays data scientists the most?

Washington reports the highest median wage for data scientists at $163,350 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025), followed by California ($141,590) and Maryland ($136,370).

Which state pays data scientists the least?

Among the 48 reporting states and DC, Mississippi reports the lowest median for data scientists at $69,490 a year, $93,860 below the highest-paying state (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Among the territories, Puerto Rico reports $80,350.

In which states do data scientists earn over $100,000?

31 of the 48 reporting states and DC have a median of $100,000 or more (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The highest is Washington; the lowest of them is Tennessee at $100,330. The rest report less, down to $69,490 in Mississippi.

Is the highest-paying state the best for data scientists after cost of living?

Yes. Washington stays first after dividing each state median by its BEA Regional Price Parity, at $152,645 in national-average dollars from a raw $163,350. BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024; the adjustment is NueCareer's calculation.

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