Data scientist salary 2026
Data scientist salary 2026 in the US: junior to senior, SF vs national, finance vs tech. Based on Ganloss listings.
Data scientist is still the most visible AI role on job boards. Here is how US pay looks in 2026.
National bands
Junior (0–2 years): $95–125k. Mid (3–5 years): $125–165k. Senior / lead: $165–210k. Staff or manager: $200–260k. Contract: $80–150/hr depending on sector.
By market
San Francisco / NYC: +$20–40k vs national median. Chicago and Denver: near median. Remote US roles from coastal HQs often anchor on SF/NYC bands.
By sector
Finance and insurance: +$10–25k vs pure tech at the same level. Health/medtech: competitive when mission-driven. Consulting: lower median but high volume of openings.
Keep exploring
FAQ
- Data scientist vs ML engineer — who earns more?
- ML engineers and MLOps usually median higher (+$15–35k) because roles skew toward production and infrastructure.
AI jobs you may like
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GenAI tooling for podcast creators — Boston tech hub.
Kernel and inference optimizations for LLM serving — Austin AI research lab.
Graph neural networks for drug target discovery — SF biotech partnerships.
Real-time voice agents and telephony LLM integrations — Denver engineering office.
Sources: US AI/tech market data (2026), Ganloss job listings, public training catalogs.