Jobs / Data and analytics / 15-2051.00
Data Scientists
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. Apply data mining, data modeling, natural language processing, and machine learning to extract and analyze information from large structured and unstructured datasets. Visualize, interpret, and report data findings. May create dynamic data reports.
- US jobs
- 262,440
- Median wage
- $120,230 a year
- Job family
- Data and analytics
Can agents do the work of data scientists?
We read the evidence for the whole job family, Data and analytics: Some tasks (no change in 12 months)
Agents complete 20% or more of the tasks (or projects) on a direct benchmark.
Evidence: Spider 2.0, 96.7% of tasks completed.
13% of this occupation's work, by O*NET work activities, is measured by a direct benchmark.
- 11%Analyze market or industry conditionsNot measured
- 9%Develop operational or technical procedures or standardsNot measured
- 8%Present research or technical informationNot measured
- 7%Process digital or online dataMeasured
- 6%Analyze data to improve operationsNot measured
- 6%Analyze scientific or applied data using mathematical principlesNot measured
- 5%Maintain current knowledge in area of expertiseNot measured
- 4%Communicate with others about specifications or project detailsMeasured
Benchmarks for this occupation
These benchmarks name this occupation in their job mapping.
Direct evidence
Work benchmarks mapped primary to this family. They set the step when they report how many tasks agents complete.
- BIRD-Interactby HKU and Google Cloud22.7%MERIT + GPT-5.4 (GPT-4o user simulator) · 22 May 2026Emerging
- 96.7%Genloop's Sentinel Agent v2 Pro · 1 Mar 2026Saturated
Also relevant
These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in data and analytics, not always this occupation's tasks.
Also relevant
These benchmarks cover part of this family's work, or have no result yet. They do not set its step.
- 54.5%arito · 13 Sep 2026Emerging
Context only
These benchmarks span many occupations, or they test how agents behave. They give context but do not set the step.
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
- Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
- Test, validate, and reformulate models to ensure accurate prediction of outcomes of interest.
- Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
- Recommend data-driven solutions to key stakeholders.
- Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
- Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
- Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
- Identify solutions to business problems, such as budgeting, staffing, and marketing decisions, using the results of data analysis.
- Apply feature selection algorithms to models predicting outcomes of interest, such as sales, attrition, and healthcare use.
- Identify relationships and trends or any factors that could affect the results of research.
- Write new functions or applications in programming languages to conduct analyses.
Other job titles for this occupation (29)
Analytics Consultant · Applied Scientist · Data Analyst · Data Analytic Scientist · Data Analytics Scientist · Data Analytics Specialist · Data Architect · Data Consultant · Data Economist · Data Engineer · Data Management Scientist · Data Mining Analyst · Data Modeler · Data Quality Analyst · Data Science Engineer · Data Science Intern · Data Specialist · Machine Learning Data Scientist · Machine Learning Engineer · Machine Learning Scientist · Machine Learning Software Engineer · Marketing Data Scientist · Psychometric Consultant · Quantitative Methodologist · Quantitative Researcher · Research Analyst · Research Scientist · Statistical Analyst · Statistical Consultant