Data scientist vs senior data scientist

The differences between data scientists and senior data scientists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a data scientist and a senior data scientist. Additionally, a senior data scientist has an average salary of $124,093, which is higher than the $106,104 average annual salary of a data scientist.

The top three skills for a data scientist include python, data science and visualization. The most important skills for a senior data scientist are python, data science, and visualization.

Data scientist vs senior data scientist overview

	Data Scientist	Senior Data Scientist
Yearly salary	$106,104	$124,093
Hourly rate	$51.01	$59.66
Growth rate	16%	16%
Number of jobs	106,973	103,618
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age	41	41
Years of experience	4	4

What does a data scientist do?

A Data Scientist analyzes information from multiple sources in order to gain maximum insight that can give the company a competitive advantage. They work in different domains, including manufacturing, healthcare, education, and finance.

What does a senior data scientist do?

A senior data scientist is responsible for overseeing the work of the junior data scientist and providing advanced expertise in mathematical and statistical concepts for the analytics and data department. You will perform various tasks, including outlining the work requirements, monitoring the performance of junior data scientists, and assigning tasks to them. Other typical duties include preparing non-technical reports detailing the limitations and successes of projects, providing recommendations on how insights might be utilized to inform business strategy, and keeping up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in data science.

Data scientist vs senior data scientist salary

Data scientists and senior data scientists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Scientist	Senior Data Scientist
Average salary	$106,104	$124,093
Salary range	Between $75,000 And $148,000	Between $90,000 And $170,000
Highest paying City	Richmond, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	The Citadel	Brex
Best paying industry	Start-up	Start-up

Differences between data scientist and senior data scientist education

There are a few differences between a data scientist and a senior data scientist in terms of educational background:

	Data Scientist	Senior Data Scientist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common major	Computer Science	Mathematics
Most common college	Columbia University in the City of New York	Columbia University in the City of New York

Data scientist vs senior data scientist demographics

Here are the differences between data scientists' and senior data scientists' demographics:

	Data Scientist	Senior Data Scientist
Average age	41	41
Gender ratio	Male, 79.6% Female, 20.4%	Male, 86.5% Female, 13.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 18.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 4.2% Unknown, 5.4% Hispanic or Latino, 6.9% Asian, 18.8% White, 64.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between data scientist and senior data scientist duties and responsibilities

Data scientist example responsibilities.

Update, maintain, and manage regional CRM database and records for customers, vendors, and suppliers.
Configure and manage JobScope ERP system for a make-to-order/make-to-stock design and manufacturing environment.
Lead the analysis in SAS for data integration of mortality data using meta-analysis integration methods.
Implement a proximal stochastic gradient descent with a line search to fit a regularize logistic regression in Scala
Perform cross-validation-test on linear regression model of data using scikit-learn.
Develop python base statistical visualization to provide insights of fuzzy social media data.

Senior data scientist example responsibilities.

Administrate SharePoint database access; manage classified documents and applications.
Configure and manage JobScope ERP system for a make-to-order/make-to-stock design and manufacturing environment.
Administer business intelligence systems and done business data analysis, visualization and reporting.
Develop MapReduce jobs in java for data cleaning and preprocessing.
Integrate internal and external data via API for cross platform marketing campaign evaluations.
Diagnose denial of service attacks and improve security using AWS security groups and network ACLs.

Data scientist vs senior data scientist skills

Common data scientist skills

Python, 13%
Data Science, 10%
Visualization, 5%
Java, 4%
Hadoop, 4%
Tableau, 3%

Common senior data scientist skills

Python, 14%
Data Science, 11%
Visualization, 5%
Java, 5%
Data Analysis, 4%
Hadoop, 4%

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Data Scientist vs Senior Data Scientist

Updated January 8, 2025

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