BLS OEWS, May 2025

Data scientist salary in San Diego, CA

What data scientists are paid in San Diego, CA, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.

Median annual pay

$130,990

Middle half earn

$93,420 to $164,160

People in this job here

2,830

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Data Scientists, San Diego, CA, annual pay, May 2025

10th percentile
$74,110
25th percentile
$93,420
Median
$130,990
75th percentile
$164,160
90th percentile
$201,190

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-2051. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.

At a glance

How San Diego, CA compares

  • The median here is 9% above the national median of $120,230.
  • San Diego, CA ranks 9th for median pay among the 50 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 2,830 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 543 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.7 times the 10th.

Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.

San Diego, CA against the national figures
PercentileSan Diego, CANational
10th percentile$74,110$67,240
25th percentile$93,420$85,660
Median$130,990$120,230
75th percentile$164,160$158,880
90th percentile$201,190$199,130

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 15-2051. National page for data scientists

By metro

Other metros for data scientists

Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.

Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Skills

What employers look for in a data scientist

The skills our data scientist resume example leads with, written for US employers.

  • Python
  • SQL
  • scikit-learn
  • PyTorch
  • Experimental design
  • Causal inference
  • Feature engineering
  • Model evaluation
  • Time series forecasting
  • NLP

See the full data scientist resume example, with bullets and keywords.

Negotiating

Using these numbers

Below $93,420 puts you in the bottom quarter for data scientists in San Diego, CA. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $130,990, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.

Asking for $164,160 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.

Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.

About the numbers

What these figures are

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Data Scientists, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.

They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living. The metro is San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about data scientist pay in San Diego, CA

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