Tech & data · profession tour1 / 6

Where data scientists earn online

Data scientists earn from prize competitions, freelance analysis and modelling projects, expert calls with investors, and AI training work that pays a premium for technical skills.

Also for

data analyst
machine learning engineer
statistician

15matched platforms

11specialist sites

15work from home

The routes2 / 6

How data scientists earn

1Prize competitions and hackathons with cash awards
2Freelance analytics, dashboards and machine-learning projects
3Paid expert calls and specialist AI training tasks

Tip

Competition rankings work as a public portfolio: strong placings help you win freelance clients.

Pay benchmark3 / 6

What the work is worth

Guess first: what does a typical US data scientist earn in a year?

$120,230median a year for US data scientists · $57.80 an hour

Median $120K10th percentile $67K90th $199K

262,400employed in the US

US employees in the closest official occupation (SOC 15-2051), Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025. A benchmark for what the work is worth, not what a platform pays.

Top platforms4 / 6