National median: $115K (range: 75K–180K). Salaries adjusted by state cost index. Ranked by cost-adjusted purchasing power. The difference between the best and worst state is $14,603/year in real purchasing power.
Data science salaries ($75K–$180K) put most practitioners in the 22–32% federal bracket. Like software engineers, many data scientists can work remotely, making state residency a genuine tax optimization lever.
The highest-paying state for data scientists is Hawaii with an estimated salary of $221K and take-home of $148,424. But the best purchasing power goes to Tennessee \u2014 where a $104K salary, after taxes and cost adjustment, buys what $91,043 would buy nationally.
Regional averages show where data scientists earn the most and where their money goes furthest:
| # | State | Est. Salary | Tax Rate | Take-Home | Monthly | Eff. Rate | Cost-Adj. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | $104K | 0% | $81,939 | $6,828 | 21.2% | $91,043 |
| 2 | South Dakota | $106K | 0% | $83,346 | $6,946 | 21.4% | $90,593 |
| 3 | Texas | $107K | 0% | $84,050 | $7,004 | 21.4% | $90,376 |
| 4 | Wyoming | $108K | 0% | $84,753 | $7,063 | 21.5% | $90,163 |
| 5 | Florida | $115K | 0% | $89,678 | $7,473 | 22.0% | $89,678 |
| 6 | Nevada | $116K | 0% | $90,381 | $7,532 | 22.1% | $89,486 |
| 7 | Washington | $127K | 0% | $98,031 | $8,169 | 22.8% | $89,119 |
| 8 | New Hampshire | $124K | 0% | $95,980 | $7,998 | 22.6% | $88,870 |
| 9 | North Dakota | $106K | 2.5% | $81,624 | $6,802 | 23.0% | $88,721 |
| 10 | Arkansas | $99K | 3.9% | $75,912 | $6,326 | 23.3% | $88,270 |
| 11 | Ohio | $104K | 2.75% | $79,079 | $6,590 | 24.0% | $87,866 |
| 12 | Indiana | $104K | 2.95% | $78,871 | $6,573 | 24.2% | $87,634 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | $100K | 4.5% | $76,200 | $6,350 | 23.8% | $87,586 |
| 14 | West Virginia | $95K | 4.82% | $72,631 | $6,053 | 23.5% | $87,507 |
| 15 | Alaska | $146K | 0% | $111,017 | $9,251 | 24.0% | $87,415 |
| 16 | Nebraska | $105K | 4.55% | $79,537 | $6,628 | 24.3% | $87,403 |
| 17 | Arizona | $112K | 2.5% | $84,767 | $7,064 | 24.3% | $87,389 |
| 18 | Louisiana | $105K | 3% | $79,493 | $6,624 | 24.3% | $87,354 |
| 19 | Kentucky | $104K | 3.5% | $78,299 | $6,525 | 24.7% | $86,999 |
| 20 | Alabama | $101K | 5% | $76,546 | $6,379 | 24.2% | $86,984 |
| 21 | Kansas | $104K | 5.58% | $78,167 | $6,514 | 24.8% | $86,852 |
| 22 | Pennsylvania | $113K | 3.07% | $84,801 | $7,067 | 25.0% | $86,532 |
| 23 | Mississippi | $95K | 4% | $71,808 | $5,984 | 24.4% | $86,515 |
| 24 | New Mexico | $105K | 5.9% | $78,616 | $6,551 | 25.1% | $86,391 |
| 25 | Iowa | $102K | 3.8% | $76,656 | $6,388 | 24.8% | $86,130 |
| 26 | South Carolina | $106K | 6% | $79,212 | $6,601 | 25.3% | $86,100 |
| 27 | Montana | $112K | 5.65% | $83,454 | $6,954 | 25.5% | $86,035 |
| 28 | Michigan | $105K | 4.25% | $78,180 | $6,515 | 25.5% | $85,912 |
| 29 | Missouri | $102K | 4% | $76,452 | $6,371 | 25.0% | $85,901 |
| 30 | North Carolina | $109K | 3.99% | $81,107 | $6,759 | 25.6% | $85,376 |
| 31 | Rhode Island | $121K | 5.99% | $89,187 | $7,432 | 26.3% | $84,940 |
| 32 | Virginia | $118K | 5.75% | $87,378 | $7,281 | 26.0% | $84,833 |
| 33 | Utah | $114K | 4.45% | $83,901 | $6,992 | 26.4% | $84,748 |
| 34 | Maine | $113K | 7.15% | $83,019 | $6,918 | 26.5% | $84,713 |
| 35 | Illinois | $107K | 4.95% | $78,753 | $6,563 | 26.4% | $84,681 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | $107K | 7.65% | $78,729 | $6,561 | 26.4% | $84,655 |
| 37 | Maryland | $129K | 5.75% | $94,576 | $7,881 | 26.7% | $84,443 |
| 38 | Georgia | $107K | 5.19% | $78,496 | $6,541 | 26.6% | $84,405 |
| 39 | Delaware | $117K | 6.6% | $86,065 | $7,172 | 26.4% | $84,378 |
| 40 | Colorado | $121K | 4.4% | $88,575 | $7,381 | 26.8% | $84,357 |
| 41 | Idaho | $109K | 5.3% | $79,680 | $6,640 | 26.9% | $83,873 |
| 42 | Connecticut | $128K | 6.99% | $92,898 | $7,742 | 27.4% | $83,692 |
| 43 | Vermont | $121K | 8.75% | $87,017 | $7,251 | 28.1% | $82,873 |
| 44 | Massachusetts | $136K | 5% | $97,382 | $8,115 | 28.4% | $82,527 |
| 45 | Minnesota | $114K | 9.85% | $81,675 | $6,806 | 28.4% | $82,500 |
| 46 | Oregon | $127K | 9.9% | $89,858 | $7,488 | 29.2% | $81,689 |
| 47 | New Jersey | $132K | 10.75% | $92,225 | $7,685 | 30.1% | $80,195 |
| 48 | New York | $144K | 10.9% | $99,448 | $8,287 | 30.9% | $79,558 |
| 49 | Hawaii | $221K | 11% | $148,424 | $12,369 | 32.8% | $77,304 |
| 50 | California | $163K | 13.3% | $108,545 | $9,045 | 33.4% | $76,440 |