By Laurence MacNaughton for Galvanize
The demand for data science skills is increasing so rapidly that it’s disrupting the job market, according to IBM. Data scientist is the number-one top job on Glassdoor’s annual list of Best Jobs in America. But which industries are willing to pay data scientists the highest salaries? The demand for data scientists is much stronger in some industries than others, and job seekers could be leaving money on the table by choosing the wrong industry.
How much money does a data scientist make?
Average salary rankings for data scientists can be misleading because there are so many different specialties in the field: data-driven decision-makers, functional analysts, data systems developers, and others. The sheer breadth of the field makes it difficult to draw universal conclusions about pay rates.
According to Glassdoor, data scientist salaries range anywhere between $79,000 on the low end to $245,000 on the high end. The average base pay across the United States for data scientists of all experience levels is $108,224 per year.
That doesn’t include any additional cash compensation, such as cash bonuses or profit-sharing. According to a Glassdoor survey of more than 4,000 anonymous data scientists, average additional cash compensation can range anywhere from about $3,000 to about $25,000, with an average of $10,916 per year.
Top 10 industries with high demand for data scientists
Salaries depend in large part on having sufficient experience and the particular skills most desired by employers. But it also requires working in the right industry.
The industries with the greatest demand for data scientists are finance and insurance, professional services, and IT, according to IBM. Altogether, those industries generate 59% of all data science jobs.
Here are 10 industries with the greatest demand for data science jobs:
- Finance and Insurance: 19%
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services: 18%
- Information Technology: 17%
- Management of Companies and Enterprises: 13%
- Manufacturing: 12%
- Utilities: 10%
- Wholesale Trade: 9%
- Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction: 9%
- Public Administration: 7%
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting: 6%

Top 3 data scientist salaries by industry
Not only do the finance and insurance sectors have the greatest need for data science job applicants, but they also pay the most on average, according to a report from IBM.
- Finance & Insurance: $113,754
- Professional Services: $107,185
- Manufacturing: $106,926
How to become a highly paid data scientist
While the average data analyst makes only $61,000 per year, the average data scientist makes much more. So it’s perfectly understandable why so many data analysts are eager to make the switch to data science. But how do you learn the necessary analytical, statistical and programming skills you need to break into this lucrative field?
The best place to start is by doing your own online research for free, according to Jack Bennetto, the lead instructor of the Data Science Immersive program at Galvanize in Seattle.
“One of the great things about the internet today is that there’s so much material available. Whenever I talk to anyone who’s first learning about data science, I encourage them to start by looking for free material, things like Coursera where they can take classes,” Bennetto says.
As long as you can keep learning on your own, you can keep building your knowledge and honing your skills. Eventually, you may find yourself getting stuck on certain problems, or have questions that you can’t get answered. When you’re not sure what steps to take next, it might be the right time to look into a data science bootcamp online or in person.
In these intensive courses, students can interact directly with instructors who can answer all of their questions.
“They have immediate access to instructors. Online, they are able to connect through Slack or a video call,” Bennetto says.
There’s also the added advantage of teaming up with other students to solve complex problems.

“Many of the programming assignments are done in pairs, where two students sit right next to each other, or they connect online for the remote courses, and they work on a problem together. It’s a good way to learn,” Bennetto says.
One of the challenges of adult education courses is that students come from different backgrounds, and have different skills and levels of experience. But the structure of a data science bootcamp turns that into an advantage.
“Often it’s helpful when one person has more experience than another. If two people sit down and work together and one has more experience, one can learn from the other,” Bennetto says. “Almost more importantly, the stronger one, the one who’s teaching the other, can deepen their knowledge by explaining it.”
Which industry should you choose?
As a data scientist, the future is wide open. While the mix of industries with the highest demand for data scientists may change over time, there’s no sign of overall demand slowing down.
Making the switch to a data science career puts you in the running for the most sought-after job in America, no matter what industry you want to work in.

0 comments on “Which industries pay data scientists the most?”