Salaries/Data Analyst vs Data Scientist

Data Analyst vs Data Scientist Salary

Side-by-side 2026 salary comparison across entry-level, mid-level, and senior pay for Data Analyst and Data Scientist roles in the US.

Bottom line (mid-level, US median)

Data Scientists earn $38,000 (30% more) than Data Analysts on average.

Data Analyst vs Data Scientist by City

LocationData Analyst (Mid)Data Scientist (Mid)Difference
New York$122K$173K$-51K
Los Angeles$109K$155K$-46K
Chicago$100K$142K$-42K
Dallas$95K$135K$-40K
Houston$94K$134K$-40K
Washington D.C.$114K$162K$-48K
Philadelphia$97K$138K$-41K
Atlanta$95K$135K$-40K

Data & AI

Data Analyst

Turn business questions into SQL, dashboards, and decisions.

See Data Analyst salaries in all cities →

Data & AI

Data Scientist

Analyze complex datasets, build ML models, and derive business insights.

See Data Scientist salaries in all cities →
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