Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies

Best Data Science institutions in the US, ranked by earnings

Compare 237 U.S. colleges offering Data Science by graduate earnings, cost, and outcomes. Federal data across 43 states.

Institutions
237
offering CIP 30.70
States offered
43
with a program page
With earnings data
0
College Scorecard
Degrees / yr
7,217
IPEDS completions 2026
Median grad earnings
1 year after graduation
US pay · Data Scientists
$124,590
BLS OEWS 2024

About Data Science programs

The Data Science program is an interdisciplinary field that combines statistics, scientific computing, and coding to extract knowledge from various types of data. This program is designed for students interested in analyzing and interpreting complex data sets to inform decision-making across multiple sectors, including business, healthcare, and technology.

Learn more about Data Science

What you'll learn

Students in the Data Science program will gain core skills in data analysis, statistical software usage, and algorithm application. Coursework typically includes data manipulation, feature selection, and model comparison to effectively summarize and interpret data.

Top 237 institutions, ranked by graduate earnings

Earnings = median 1 year after graduation (College Scorecard, predominant credential).

Graduate earnings for this program are not yet reported by College Scorecard. Explore the states below to see where it's offered.

Offered across 43 states

The same program, compared state by state. Pick a state for in-state earnings and institutions.

StateInstitutionsMedian earningsTop institution by earnings
Arizona7
Arkansaslimited2
California10
Minnesota8
Colorado5
Connecticut5
Delawarelimited1
District of Columbialimited2
Florida10
Georgia5
Idaholimited2
Illinois8
Indiana5
Iowa5
Kansas3
Kentucky3
Louisianalimited1
Maryland10
Massachusetts8
Michigan8
Mississippilimited1
Missouri7
Nebraskalimited1
New Hampshirelimited2
New Jersey8
New York10
North Carolina5
North Dakotalimited2
Ohio11
Oklahomalimited1
Oregon3
Pennsylvania20
Rhode Islandlimited2
South Carolinalimited1
South Dakotalimited2
Tennessee7
Texas11
Utah5
Vermont3
Virginia7
Washington3
West Virginialimited1
Wisconsin16

Careers & outlook

The payoff after graduation: occupation 15-2051, Data Scientists, and its national outlook.

Graduates of the Data Science program can expect a promising career outlook, with a projected growth rate of 33.5% and approximately 23,400 annual job openings. The median wage for data scientists is $112,590, and a typical educational requirement is a Bachelor's degree.

Projected growth (2024–2034)
+33.5%
Much faster than average
Openings / yr (US)
~23,400
BLS Employment Projections
US median wage
$112,590
typically Bachelor's degree
National employment
233,440
Data Scientists
US average pay
$124,590
annual, BLS OEWS 2024
US median pay
$112,590
annual

Top-paying metros

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
$225,590avg
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
$164,690avg
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
$163,640avg
Idaho Falls, ID
$159,920avg
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
$150,200avg

Related careers

Software Developers
$144,570 avg · 1,654,440 jobs
Computer and Information Systems Managers
$187,990 avg · 645,970 jobs
Data Scientists
$124,590 avg · 233,440 jobs
Database Architects
$142,620 avg · 64,770 jobs

Skills & knowledge in Data Science programs

From the U.S. Dept. of Labor for the occupation this program most leads to.

What graduates do on the job

  • Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
  • Apply feature selection algorithms to models predicting outcomes of interest, such as sales, attrition, and healthcare use.
  • Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
  • Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
  • Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
  • Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.

Tools & technology

Alteryx softwareAmazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2Amazon RedshiftAmazon Simple Storage Service S3Amazon Web Services AWS SageMakerAmazon Web Services AWS softwareApache AirflowApache Cassandra

Concentrations within Data Science

Specializations under this field (NCES CIP 2020).

  • Data Science, General
    CIP 30.7001

    A program that focuses on the analysis of large scale data sources from the interdisciplinary perspectives of applied statistics, computer science, data storage, data representation, data modeling, ma

  • Data Science, Other
    CIP 30.7099

    Any instructional program in data science not listed above.

Common questions

What is Data Science?+

Data Science is an interdisciplinary field focused on extracting knowledge from structured and unstructured data using various methods and tools.

What skills will I learn?+

You will learn skills in data analysis, statistical software, and algorithm application, among others.

What is the job outlook for data scientists?+

The job outlook is very positive, with a growth rate of 33.5% and about 23,400 annual openings.

What is the typical salary for a data scientist?+

The median wage for data scientists is $112,590.

Related programs

Other programs in the same field of study.

Zoom outAll programs

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