Best Data Scientist programs in North Dakota, ranked by enrollment
Develop and implement a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software.
9 schools in North Dakota run programs that feed this job, graduating 273 people a year. The job pays a median of $81,900 in North Dakota across about 210 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in North Dakota that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
10 programs in North Dakota that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in North Dakota (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own North Dakota page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 11.0701In North Dakota → | 139 | 50.9% | 3 | $70,374 | $23,250 |
| 2 | CIP 27.0101In North Dakota → | 44 | 16.1% | 5 | $48,772 | $21,544 |
| 3 | CIP 30.7102In North Dakota → | 17 | 6.2% | 1 | — | — |
| 4 | CIP 45.0603In North Dakota → | 17 | 6.2% | 1 | $51,725 | $22,907 |
| 5 | CIP 27.0501In North Dakota → | 15 | 5.5% | 1 | $59,718 | $20,150 |
| 6 | Data Science, Generalmain feeder CIP 30.7001In North Dakota → | 13 | 4.8% | 2 | — | — |
| 7 | CIP 52.1301In North Dakota → | 13 | 4.8% | 1 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 8 | CIP 11.0103In North Dakota → | 9 | 3.3% | 4 | $57,986 | $24,286 |
| 9 | CIP 26.1199In North Dakota → | 4 | 1.5% | 1 | $72,338 | $18,500 |
| 10 | CIP 27.0601In North Dakota → | 2 | 0.7% | 1 | — | — |
Top 9 schools in North Dakota
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 1 of the 9 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota State University - Main Campus Fargo, ND Public · 5 feeder programs | 179 | Computer Science | $60,426 | 64% | — | 95% |
| 2 | University of North Dakota Grand Forks, ND Public · 5 feeder programs | 67 | Mathematics, General | — | 60% | — | 77% |
| 3 | Minot State University Minot, ND Public · 2 feeder programs | 7 | Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Other | — | 45% | — | 65% |
| 4 | Mayville State University Mayville, ND Public · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Mathematics, General | — | 41% | — | — |
| 5 | United Tribes Technical College Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 5 | Information Technology | — | 21% | $2,819 | — |
| 6 | University of Mary Bismarck, ND Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 5 | Computer Science | — | 67% | $16,753 | 75% |
| 7 | Sitting Bull College Fort Yates, ND Public · 1 feeder programs | 2 | Information Technology | — | 22% | — | — |
| 8 | Valley City State University Valley City, ND Public · 2 feeder programs | 2 | Information Technology | — | 53% | — | 99% |
| 9 | University of Jamestown Jamestown, ND Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Information Technology | — | 49% | $19,583 | 88% |
All 9 schools in North Dakota
Every school in North Dakota with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Dakota State University - Main Campus | Fargo | Public | 179 | 5 |
| University of North Dakota | Grand Forks | Public | 67 | 5 |
| Minot State University | Minot | Public | 7 | 2 |
| Mayville State University | Mayville | Public | 5 | 1 |
| United Tribes Technical College | Bismarck | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 1 |
| University of Mary | Bismarck | Private not-for-profit | 5 | 2 |
| Sitting Bull College | Fort Yates | Public | 2 | 1 |
| Valley City State University | Valley City | Public | 2 | 2 |
| University of Jamestown | Jamestown | Private not-for-profit | 1 | 1 |
What data scientists earn in North Dakota
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $120,230. North Dakota pays below the national figure.
1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.
Metro areas in North Dakota
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Data Scientists page.
How to become a Data Scientist
Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in North Dakota
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 25 majors mapped to Data Scientists25 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 11.0102Artificial Intelligence
- 11.0103Information Technology
- 11.0701Computer Science
- 11.0802Data Modeling/Warehousing and Database Administration
- 11.0804Modeling, Virtual Environments and Simulation
- 26.1103Bioinformatics
- 26.1104Computational Biology
- 26.1199Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology, Other
- 27.0101Mathematics, General
- 27.0301Applied Mathematics, General
- 27.0303Computational Mathematics
- 27.0304Computational and Applied Mathematics
- 27.0305Financial Mathematics
- 27.0306Mathematical Biology
- 27.0399Applied Mathematics, Other
- 27.0501Statistics, General
- 27.0502Mathematical Statistics and Probability
- 27.0503Mathematics and Statistics
- 27.0601Applied Statistics, General
- 27.9999Mathematics and Statistics, Other
- 30.0801Mathematics and Computer Science
- 30.3001Computational Science
- 30.3901Economics and Computer Science
- 30.4801Linguistics and Computer Science
- 30.7001Data Science, General
Common questions
Answers for people weighing data scientists programs in North Dakota.
What degree do you need to become a Data Scientist?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Computer Science, which awarded 139 degrees in North Dakota in 2024-25, 50.9% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming a Data Scientist?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 10 programs to this occupation. The largest are Computer Science, Mathematics, Data Analytics, Economics, plus 6 more. Together they graduate about 273 people a year in North Dakota.
How much do data scientists earn in North Dakota?+
The median is $81,900 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 31.9% below the U.S. median of $120,230. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for data scientists growing?+
BLS projects a +33.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 23,400 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in North Dakota?+
9 institutions in North Dakota reported graduates from at least one of the 10 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do data scientists work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Intelligence Analyst, Clinical Data Manager, Data Management Manager, Market Intelligence Consultant, Competitive Intelligence Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst (BI Analyst) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-2051.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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