Are you looking for an exciting career that has tremendous growth opportunities and attractive salary prospects? If yes, then you may not need to look further than data science. It is one of the fastest-growing career fields, according to LinkedIn. In fact, PwC and Glassdoor ranked the data science profession among the best careers in Europe and the United States based on the number of job postings and the salary package it commands. Data science has grown significantly over the years and its multidisciplinary nature is becoming more prominent in all industrial sectors.

There are a number of job roles you can find in the field of data science, the most popular one being the data scientist. Such professionals use statistical analysis, machine learning algorithms, and other tools to transform raw data into actionable insights. As the role is relatively new and requires specialized technical skills, there aren’t enough skilled professionals to fill the data scientist open positions. This is the reason companies are paying premium salaries to the candidate fit for the job. Professionals further improve their earning potential by attending the best data science certification online and then take their careers to new heights.
Are you curious to know how much do data scientists earn across the world? Well, this article makes you aware of the salary prospects of data scientists across major countries and which companies hire them in large numbers.
Exploring the Data Scientist Salary
Salary is one of the major factors people are concerned about when selecting the right job for themselves. Well, if you are a data scientist, then you need not worry about your salary package, you can earn higher even at an entry-level position. A study by IBM found that employers are ready to pay a premium of over $8K above the average bachelor’s and graduate-level salaries to entry-level data scientists, with a starting salary package of around $80K. The prospects are even better when you gain some experience in data science.
Here are the salary figures and other interesting information related to data scientists across different countries.
India
According to Payscale, the national average salary of data scientists in India is Rs. 824K per year. Here are the salary figures according to experience level:
- Entry-level – Rs. 557K
- Mid-career (5 to 9 years experience) – Rs. 14 lakhs
- Experienced (10 to 19 years experience) – Rs. 17 lakhs
The top skills that contribute to better salaries are machine learning, Python programming, R programming, statistical analysis, and data analysis. Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Delhi NCR are the top cities where data scientists get better job opportunities and earn higher salaries.
The United States
The national median base pay, as per the data from Payscale, of a data scientist in the US is around $97K per year. Here are the salary figures according to the experience level:
- Entry-level – $ 85K
- Mid-career (5 to 9 years experience) – $109K
- Experienced (10 to 19 years experience) – $122K
The top skills employers pay higher salaries for are cyber security, image processing, apache kafka, data warehousing, and C++ programming language. San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and Seattle are the top US cities offering better job opportunities for data science aspirants.
The United Kingdom
Data scientists residing in the UK earn an average annual salary of £40,640 (source – Payscale). According to experience level, here are the salaries data scientists earn:
- Entry-level – £34,422
- Mid-career (5 to 9 years experience) – £50,743
- Experienced (10 to 19 years experience) – £52,402
The employers in the UK pay higher to data scientists who have skills like Apache Scala, deep learning, natural language processing, Apache Spark, and Artificial Intelligence. London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cambridge are the top UK cities offering good career opportunities for data scientists.
Australia
According to Payscale, the national average salary of data scientists in Australia is AU$ 92K per year. Here are the salary figures according to experience level:
- Entry-level – AU$ 75K
- Mid-career (5 to 9 years experience) – AU$ 116K
- Experienced (10 to 19 years experience) – AU$ 123K
The top skills that contribute to better salaries are Apache Spark, SQL, data visualization, statistical analysis, and big data analysis. Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and Adelaide are the top cities where data scientists get better job opportunities and earn higher salaries.
Singapore
The national median base pay, as per the data from Payscale, of a data scientist in Singapore is around S$ 70K per year. Here are the salary figures according to the experience level:
- Entry-level – S$ 57K
- Mid-career (5 to 9 years experience) – S$ 87K
- Experienced (10 to 19 years experience) – S$ 103K
The top skills employers pay higher salaries for are Tableau software, deep learning, big data analytics, and data mining. Accenture, Grab, and DBS are the top Singapore companies offering high salaries to data scientists.
Apart from the countries mentioned above, data scientists earn impressive salaries across other countries as well. So, if you are interested in becoming a successful data scientist, then take up an online data science course and gain job-ready skills.