Elite Data Scientists Riding Big Data Movement To 8% Increases, $250,000 Salaries, $56,000 Bonuses

EVANSTON, Ill., April 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Elite data scientists, increasingly in demand from  U.S. leading corporations, are riding high on the Big Data movement, with top-level managers seeing an eight percent increase in base salary over last year and median bonuses topping $56,000. Data scientists can score 16 percent increases in their median base salary when changing jobs.

The second annual Burtch Works Study: Salaries of Data Scientists,the only U.S. study looking at salaries, education levels, gender, and geographical location of this breakout profession, confirmed that the elusive kingpins in the Big Data movement can earn base salaries of well over $250,000, when managing a team of ten or more. The study also found that the vast majority of data scientists have at least a master's degree and probably a Ph.D., and one in three are foreign born. Over a third of all data scientists remain on the West Coast working for technology and gaming companies.

The full news release can be found at http://www.burtchworks.com/2014/01/06/data-science-study-press-release-2015/ and a copy of the 2015 Burtch Works study at http://www.burtchworks.com/big-data-analyst-salary/big-data-career-tips/the-burtch-works-study/.

Data scientists are becoming more mainstream as corporate America embraces the data movement and pursues data-driven growth opportunities. So many more large, established companies have hired data scientists that the proportion of data scientists employed by startups – the firms that were the first to use Big Data – declined from 29 percent in 2014 to 14 percent in 2015.

The study also found that the median years of experience of data scientists in the sample was only 6, down from 9 in 2014's study, suggesting that millennials are starting to flood the hot field and as a result, many academic programs are forming to produce these specially trained graduates. The study also found median junior level salaries of $91,000 on data science teams.

Study Highlights
The study of 371 data scientists was conducted by Burtch Works, one the country's most sought-after executive recruiting firms that specializes in the placement of quantitative business professionals, whose clients range from growing startups, to Fortune 50 global corporations, to major consulting firms, to Wall Street hedge funds. Phone interviews were held with each participant during the past 12 months. 

SOURCE Burtch Works

Related Links

http://www.burtchworks.com