What it pays
Government survey numbers — not estimates, not ads.
Half of all Data Scientists in the U.S. earn more than $120,230 a year — the middle 80% land between $67,240 and $199,130. About 262,440 people in the U.S. do this work. Figures are for the U.S. occupation group “Data Scientists”. (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey, published 2025.) In India, Professionals earn about ₹38,298 a month on average — around ₹4.6 lakh a year (government PLFS survey via ILOSTAT, occupation-family figure).
$120,230typical pay / year
262,440people in this work
$199,130+top 10% earn
₹4.6 lakha year in India (family avg)
Think you get this job?Six quick questions on how it really works — with a hint and the reason behind every answer.
Test yourself →The work, task by task
These are the real jobs-to-be-done, not a wish list. Each task shows where we found it, and the prompt underneath is written for that exact task.
Manage large amounts of data
+Reorganise the observatory's raw and reduced data lakes: define partitioning and retention rules, implement…
Manage large amounts of data
+Reorganise the observatory's raw and reduced data lakes: define partitioning and retention rules, implement an ETL that deduplicates and cleans telemetry, benchmark query performance on representative 100 TB, and document the pipeline for the ops team.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache HadoopESCOO*NETWikipedia
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Develop and test data models
+Develop and validate predictive models for transient detection using the latest cleaned telescope telemetry…
Develop and test data models
+Develop and validate predictive models for transient detection using the latest cleaned telescope telemetry and labeled events, run cross-validation across nights to measure recall and false positive rates, and save reproducible model code and metrics.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache HadoopESCOjob descriptionsWikipedia
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Present findings through reports and presentations
+Draft a results report and a 12‑slide presentation summarising detection rates, model limitations, and…
Present findings through reports and presentations
+Draft a results report and a 12‑slide presentation summarising detection rates, model limitations, and recommended observing changes, include key plots and tables from the latest run, and circulate to the instrument scientist and head of operations by Tuesday.
The tools that do the workAtlassian ConfluenceESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
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Communicate insights to stakeholders
+Prepare a one‑page insights brief and a 10‑minute demo for the program manager and data curator explaining…
Communicate insights to stakeholders
+Prepare a one‑page insights brief and a 10‑minute demo for the program manager and data curator explaining the new classifier behaviour, actionable recommendations for pipeline thresholds, and where further labeling is required; request a 30‑minute follow‑up next week.
The tools that do the workAtlassian ConfluenceESCOjob descriptionsO*NET
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Apply machine learning techniques
+Train and benchmark a suite of supervised and unsupervised algorithms on the cleaned lightcurve dataset, log…
Apply machine learning techniques
+Train and benchmark a suite of supervised and unsupervised algorithms on the cleaned lightcurve dataset, log hyperparameters and performance comparisons, and produce a reproducible pipeline so the team can rerun experiments on new runs.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache Kafkajob descriptionsO*NET
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Merge data sources
+Combine spectroscopic, photometric, and telemetry tables into a single canonical dataset with unified…
Merge data sources
+Combine spectroscopic, photometric, and telemetry tables into a single canonical dataset with unified timestamps and provenance, resolve schema mismatches, flag uncertain joins, and produce a versioned output the analysis team can use.
The tools that do the workApache HiveApache SparkESCOjob descriptions
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Combine statistical knowledge with coding
+Combine the telescope logs, calibrated photometry tables and survey metadata into a reproducible analysis…
Combine statistical knowledge with coding
+Combine the telescope logs, calibrated photometry tables and survey metadata into a reproducible analysis pipeline, implement the statistical models and productionize the code so colleagues can rerun nightly batch recommendations.
The tools that do the workApache SparkWikipedia
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Visualize data to identify patterns
+Create interactive plots of light curves, color–magnitude diagrams and spatial density maps to reveal…
Visualize data to identify patterns
+Create interactive plots of light curves, color–magnitude diagrams and spatial density maps to reveal periodicities and clustering, annotate anomalies and produce a one-page figure set for the weekly meeting.
The tools that do the workApache SparkWikipedia
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Find and interpret rich data sources
+Search archival surveys, observatory logs and instrument telemetry for deep, multi-band records, extract and…
Find and interpret rich data sources
+Search archival surveys, observatory logs and instrument telemetry for deep, multi-band records, extract and standardise candidate tables, then write a short memo interpreting which sources add value to our models.
The tools that do the workApache HiveESCO
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Ensure consistency of data-sets
+Reconcile duplicate object IDs, align time stamps and units across catalogs, implement schema checks and…
Ensure consistency of data-sets
+Reconcile duplicate object IDs, align time stamps and units across catalogs, implement schema checks and automated tests so nightly ingests fail loudly if any dataset deviates from the canonical format.
The tools that do the workApache AirflowESCO
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Read scientific articles, conference papers, or other sources of research to identify emerging analytic trends and technologies.
+Scan the latest journal issues and conference proceedings in astrophysics and machine learning, extract…
Read scientific articles, conference papers, or other sources of research to identify emerging analytic trends and technologies.
+Scan the latest journal issues and conference proceedings in astrophysics and machine learning, extract methods and tools mentioned more than twice, and produce a one-page memo on emerging analytic trends and prototype technologies by Friday.
The tools that do the workApache SparkAtlassian ConfluenceO*NET
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Determine available and useful data for projects
+Inventory available observational, simulation, and catalog datasets for the exoplanet pipeline, note access…
Determine available and useful data for projects
+Inventory available observational, simulation, and catalog datasets for the exoplanet pipeline, note access restrictions, metadata quality, and missing fields, and recommend which datasets to use for the six-month proposal by next Wednesday.
The tools that do the workApache Hivejob descriptions
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Clean and process raw data
+Take the latest raw photometry and spectroscopy dumps, run the standard cleaning steps to remove bad…
Clean and process raw data
+Take the latest raw photometry and spectroscopy dumps, run the standard cleaning steps to remove bad exposures and flag cosmic rays, normalize and interpolate gaps, then output a versioned, analysis-ready table with quality flags before noon Monday.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache Airflowjob descriptions
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Interpret data analysis results
+Summarise the model outputs for the past quarter: quantify detection rates, false positives, and parameter…
Interpret data analysis results
+Summarise the model outputs for the past quarter: quantify detection rates, false positives, and parameter biases, interpret what they imply for physical hypotheses, and draft talking points for the PI meeting on Thursday.
The tools that do the workApache Sparkjob descriptions
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Monitor and improve model performance
+Monitor the transit-detection model over the next two weeks, track drift in key metrics, retrain with the…
Monitor and improve model performance
+Monitor the transit-detection model over the next two weeks, track drift in key metrics, retrain with the latest labeled set if recall drops more than five percent, and log changes and rationale to the project record.
The tools that do the workApache KafkaApache Airflowjob descriptions
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Collaborate with cross-functional teams
+Prepare a one-hour workshop with the telescope ops lead and two instrument scientists to align on data needs,…
Collaborate with cross-functional teams
+Prepare a one-hour workshop with the telescope ops lead and two instrument scientists to align on data needs, explain the classifier's failure modes with examples, and agree on a two-week action list to improve labels and telemetry.
The tools that do the workAtlassian ConfluenceAtlassian JIRAjob descriptions
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Identify business problems and data solutions
+Map the telescope program's top operational pains and propose three data-driven solutions linking each pain…
Identify business problems and data solutions
+Map the telescope program's top operational pains and propose three data-driven solutions linking each pain to available telemetry, survey catalogs, or observer logs, estimate required data cleansing effort and a six-week first milestone.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache Hivejob descriptionsO*NET
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Analyze data to identify patterns and trends
+Run exploratory analysis on the last three observing seasons to surface repeating signal patterns and…
Analyze data to identify patterns and trends
+Run exploratory analysis on the last three observing seasons to surface repeating signal patterns and seasonal trends, flag anomalies by night and instrument, and produce a short write-up with candidate causes and next hypotheses to test.
The tools that do the workApache SparkApache Kafkajob descriptionsO*NET
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Categorize and organize data
+Classify the incoming object and observation records into standard research categories, deduplicate using…
Categorize and organize data
+Classify the incoming object and observation records into standard research categories, deduplicate using cross-match rules against the master catalog, and produce a clean dataset with provenance fields for downstream modeling.
The tools that do the workApache HiveApache Sparkjob descriptionsWikipedia
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Create data visualizations and dashboards
+Build a set of interactive dashboards showing nightly throughput, detection rates by field, and instrument…
Create data visualizations and dashboards
+Build a set of interactive dashboards showing nightly throughput, detection rates by field, and instrument health, include drilldowns to per-exposure detail and exportable CSVs for the science team ahead of Monday's review.
The tools that do the workApache SparkESCOjob descriptions
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Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
+Determine the optimal sampling plan for the follow-up campaign: estimate required sample sizes for…
Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
+Determine the optimal sampling plan for the follow-up campaign: estimate required sample sizes for high-priority object classes, recommend stratified sampling by magnitude and RA, and draft a protocol for full enumeration where feasible.
The tools that do the workAlteryxO*NET
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Design surveys, opinion polls, or other instruments to collect data.
+Draft the survey instrument for the next observing run: list required fields, validation rules, and metadata…
Design surveys, opinion polls, or other instruments to collect data.
+Draft the survey instrument for the next observing run: list required fields, validation rules, and metadata to capture for each observer entry, include consent language and a one-page data quality checklist for pre-submission review.
The tools that do the workAlteryxO*NET
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Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses
Built on public evidence: O*NET®, ESCO, Wikipedia, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, ILOSTAT. All sources & licenses