BLS OEWS, May 2025

Data scientist salary in San Jose, CA

What data scientists are paid in San Jose, 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

$185,080

Middle half earn

$149,570 to $219,460

People in this job here

6,060

Pay check

Am I underpaid?

$

Stays in your browser. No account needed.

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

10th percentile
$109,740
25th percentile
$149,570
Median
$185,080
75th percentile
$219,460
90th percentile
$282,840

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

At a glance

How San Jose, CA compares

  • The median here is 54% above the national median of $120,230.
  • San Jose, CA ranks 1st for median pay among the 50 largest US metros with published figures for this occupation.
  • About 6,060 people work in this occupation here, roughly 1 in every 187 jobs in the metro.
  • Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.6 times the 10th.

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

San Jose, CA against the national figures
PercentileSan Jose, CANational
10th percentile$109,740$67,240
25th percentile$149,570$85,660
Median$185,080$120,230
75th percentile$219,460$158,880
90th percentile$282,840$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 $149,570 puts you in the bottom quarter for data scientists in San Jose, CA. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.

The median, $185,080, 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 $219,460 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 Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA as BLS defines it.

Questions

Questions about data scientist pay in San Jose, CA

Know your number? Now get the offer.

Get a free resume score in seconds, read straight from your file.

Check my resume freeData scientist resume example