Harvard Business Review (HBR) first touted data science as “The Sexiest Job of the 21st Century” over ten years ago, noting how shortages in many sectors caused demand to surge for these professionals to increase significantly; HBR suggested salaries would remain highly competitive even among smaller businesses and startups.
Ten years on, the industry has changed substantially. Businesses produce an exponential amount of data, necessitating more professionals within this field; roles have emerged for data engineers, machine learning engineers, and analysts. This shift has led many to question whether data science remains an attractive career option in 2023 and whether its pay is as steady. Furthermore, competition within data science appears to have grown substantially, as some believe the field has become oversaturated.
In this article, we’ll take you on an international journey of data scientist salaries. This guide includes industry, skill set, and job level details to determine whether becoming one remains viable in 2024 based on where you reside. You can learn about data analyst pay worldwide and top data analyst careers in separate articles.
Data Science Salaries by Experience
According to Glassdoor’s estimates, data scientists in the US average annual base pay of about $146-4222. Their estimations can be trusted as exact estimates are produced by their peers and employers.
PayScale reports that an aspiring data scientist seeking their first job should expect, on average, an annual salary of $87,000; data scientists with one to four years of experience should expect average compensation between $98,000 and 113,000; five nine-year experienced professionals can anticipate receiving between 113000 to 136000 as annual compensation; this has increased since last time we collected this data in 2022 and continues to rise significantly with seniority with mean salaries reaching 136000 annually for senior scientists with over twenty years experience!
As expected, salaries vary with experience levels in data science roles. PayScale reports say an entry-level data scientist with less than a year of experience typically earns $86,694. In contrast, those with 1-4 years can expect a total median compensation of $97,691, while 5-9 years experience could mean earning as much as $112 954 annually – this does not account for senior data scientists, however, as their annual salaries can often surpass that threshold of $ 135 000!
These estimates align with those reported in O’Reilly’s 2021 Data/AI Salary Survey, which estimated an annualized increase in compensation of 9.252% since 2016.
Factors Influencing Data Scientist Salaries in India
One of the greatest draws of pursuing Data Science as a career is its potential salary potential; Indian Data Scientists enjoy attractive compensation packages even as newcomers to the industry. Ambition Box reports that the average salary for data scientists in India is INR 9,20,000 per year; however, several factors such as experience, skill sets, job roles, company, and location affect data scientists’ salaries.
Experience is one of the primary factors governing data science salaries, from entry-level designers who may start at lower wages as they gain experience to mid-level and veteran Data Scientists with several years under their belts who demand higher pay due to keeping up with industry changes and technological innovations.
Data Science Salary Based On Experience
As an entry-level data scientist with less than one year of experience, you should expect an annual data scientist salary between INR 5 and 7 lakhs per annum. With experience comes an increased earnings potential of approximately INR 8-9 Lakhs annually. Mid-career data scientists with 5-9 years of experience can earn up to an annual average salary of INR 16 Lakhs; those with 10-19 years can make as much as INR 25 Lakhs annually.
Data Science Salary Based On Skill Set
Possessing an array of in-demand skills such as machine learning, Python scripting language programming, statistical analysis, and big data analytics will immediately and positively affect the salary as a data scientist. These will increase your earning power.
Employers appreciate professionals with comprehensive understandings of data analysis and problem-solving skills as these help make for more efficient data analysis and problem-solving processes. By continuously upgrading these abilities, professionals in data science jobs will remain more competitive on the market – commanding higher salaries while remaining cost-competitive for employers.
Data Scientists with Machine Learning expertise may earn between 5 lakhs INR to 16 lakhs INR as they advance within their industry careers. Data Scientists with vast AI knowledge may earn even higher earnings. Professionals specializing in Big data can command higher pay than their counterparts in other disciplines.
Data Science Salary Based On Companies
Employer choice also plays an instrumental role in establishing data science salaries in India, with prominent organizations often offering more generous compensation packages to attract top talent. A company’s size and reputation ultimately dictate its employees’ salaries; IBM, Wipro, Deloitte, Amazon, Microsoft Accenture, and Flipkart have become known for offering highly competitive data scientist compensation packages.
Data Science Salary Based On Location
Geographic location plays an influential role in data science salaries in India. Cities like Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, and Pune Noida offer ample job opportunities in data science fields – these cities also provide significant cost of living benefits and demand. Therefore, their salaries vary accordingly.
Data Scientist Salaries by Location
– An average data scientist in Bangalore should expect an annual salary between INR 10-11 Lakhs, while those working in Mumbai typically bring home INR 8-9 Lakhs each year.
– Chennai-based Data Scientists typically receive annual salaries between INR 8-9 Lakhs, while those working in Delhi make between 9-10 Lakhs annually.
– Data science encompasses various job roles and salary ranges. Analysts, scientists, and engineers all play integral parts in data science, key roles being those that collect, organize, and interpret information to solve business issues more accurately, helping business stakeholders make more informed decisions.
– Based on Job Roles, Data Scientists typically command an annual average salary of INR 8 Lakhs due to their expertise in data gathering, analysis, and translating insights into actionable strategies.
– Data engineers specializing in managing and processing raw data typically earn an annual salary between INR 8-8.5 Lakhs.
Top Industries Hiring Data Scientists in India with Their Salaries
Data science can be applied across numerous industries, providing Data Scientists ample opportunities and salaries in India. Let’s look at some of these industries along with their salary offerings for Data Scientists:
Data Science Salary in Retail:
Amazon and Flipkart typically pay their Data Scientists average annual salaries of approximately INR 20 Lakhs
Data Science Salary in Healthcare
Leading pharmaceutical firms provide data scientists with average compensation packages of INR 12 Lakhs annually.
Data Science Salary in Logistics
Logistics firms generally compensate them at roughly INR 12 Lakhs each.
Data Science Salary in Finance
Bajaj Finserv typically offers compensation of INR 12 lakhs as their data scientist salary.
Data Science Salary in Banking
HDFC Bank provides an average Data Scientist salary of INR 17 Lakhs annually for data scientists working within their banking division.
Data Science Salary in Telecommunication
At the same time, Vodafone Telecom pays data scientists an annual salary of INR 11 Lakhs on average. Both firms also employ automotive data specialists.
Data Science Salary in Automotive
Tata Motors, one of India’s premier automobile manufacturing firms, provides an average data scientist salary between INR 12-13 Lakhs annually for employees working as data scientists
Data Science Salary in Digital Marketing
Digital Marketing Companies with an average yearly compensation between INR 10- 10 LPA in India.
Data Science Salary in Professional Services
Accenture Professional Services in India currently pays its Data Scientists an annual salary of INR 12 Lakhs
Data Science Salary in Cyber Security
McAfee, a cybersecurity company, offers its mid-level and senior data scientists salaries of INR 19-21 lakhs annually.
Data Science Salary in Mining, Quarrying, and Oil/Gas Extraction.
Shell, one of the leading data science companies, pays senior data scientists an estimated annual salary between INR 19-22 Lakhs per annum
Data Science Salary in Media and entertainment company
ZEE Entertainment & Enterprises offers similar compensation packages; their Data Scientists average around INR 18 Lakhs annually as salary.
Tips to Increase Data Scientist Salary
If your goal is to maximize your earning potential as a data scientist, here are three strategies you may wish to employ. Staying current on developments within Data Science is vital to career success, rewarding jobs with higher salaries and career development. Let us examine which skills enable Data Scientists to increase their salaries exponentially.
Career Development
As your career evolves, the role of Data Scientist becomes much broader: from organizing data sets and categorizing results to mastering trending tools like Power BI Tableau and Microsoft Excel for data visualization purposes. Mastering visualization will allow you to effectively demonstrate its worth by presenting your findings to stakeholders and potential clients.
Enhancing your expertise in machine learning, programming languages (e.g., Python), statistical analysis, and big data analytics will position you more favorably among prospective employers while opening doors to more opportunities.
Interpersonal Skills
You must develop corporate interpersonal skills like communication, team management, listening, organizing, and storytelling as part of the job requirements for success in cloud computing environments. Improving these interpersonal abilities will allow you to collaborate efficiently while developing strong working relationships.
Cloud Computing
As an emerging Data Scientist, you should become proficient with cloud computing tools such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. As a data scientist, mastery of machine learning and deep learning techniques is paramount. They allow data collectors and synthesizers to collect, synthesize, and predict outcomes of data sets more efficiently in future analyses.
Building Your Portfolio
A solid online portfolio can make a compelling statement when entering the Data Science job market. It can bring attention to technical projects and visualization skills you possess that may garner you higher-paying positions with lucrative salaries. Achieving success on projects by showing results can increase salary potential significantly and improve job prospects overall.
Experience is vital when calculating data science salaries, so look for opportunities to work on demanding projects, assume leadership positions, and constantly expand your skillset.
Conclusion
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our article. Data science is an exciting field with plenty of opportunity and significant profitability; if you want to venture into it, FunctionUp offers courses explicitly designed to introduce novice data scientists to this exciting realm of numbers and analytics. Explore our course catalog today and begin your learning adventure today.
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