Community Sentiment
Do you agree?
Do you agree with the AI automation risk score calculated for this occupation?
AI Automation Index
Will AI Replace Data Scientists?
Task-level automation exposure for Data Scientists: 16 O*NET tasks scored against their work activities, plus the simulator.
E-E-A-T Verified
Developed & audited by Gini Loh Automation Exposure
72%
weighted task index
16 of 16 tasks scored
Median Salary
$120,230 / year
BLS OEWS, May 2025 — this exact occupation
Employment Level
High
262,440 people hold this job — size, not growth
Projected 2025–35
+34.6%
employment change
24,800 openings a year · BLS line item
Pay by state
BLS OEWS publishes 50 state estimates for this occupation. Each is its own survey estimate, not the national median adjusted for local prices.
$69,490 – $163,350
Highest medians
Washington $163,350
California $141,590
Maryland $136,370
New Jersey $135,280
Massachusetts $131,750
Lowest medians
Mississippi $69,490
Louisiana $78,760
Puerto Rico $80,350
North Dakota $81,900
Alaska $84,110
State figures come from the 15-2051 row in the May 2025 state panel. States where the estimate was suppressed or too small to publish are absent.
What the score is made of
Each task is mapped to its work activities, scored for AI automation potential, and weighted by how important those activities are to the job. These are the components.
Automation potential 72%
Importance-weighted mean of the scored tasks. This is the headline index.
Physical work 0%
Share of weighted tasks in hands-on or machine-operating work activities.
Judgment & influence 77%
Share in analysis, decisions, teaching, directing, advising, or caring for others.
Routine administration 14%
Share in documenting, recording, and administrative activities.
Rewritten by O*NET 0%
Share of weighted tasks O*NET rewrote in a recent update. Reported, not folded into the score.
Consequence of error 4/100
Low
O*NET's own rating of how serious an uncorrectable mistake would be here — respondents, not us. Deliberately not in the index: the score measures what AI can do with the task content, and multiplying it by stakes would be our judgment dressed as data.
Constituent Task Mix
16 tasks for this occupation, weighted by work-activity importance. Shares below are of total task weight, not task count.
High exposure (≥ 60% of the task is automatable) 80%
13 tasks
Medium exposure (≥ 35%) 20%
3 tasks
Low exposure (below 35%) 0%
0 tasks
How would you survive?
Move your week away from the high-exposure tasks and toward the ones that need judgment. The simulator recalculates the index as you shift the mix.
Simulate Upskilling →Emerging & rewritten tasks
Tasks O*NET added or rewrote for this occupation in its recent updates (05/2025 – 08/2026), with who proposed them. Additions are not in the scored task inventory — they are new work O*NET is still measuring, so they appear here and nowhere in the index. A Revision replaces a task that is scored, which is why only those move the "Rewritten by O*NET" share.
- New 08/2026 · Occupational Expert
Interview stakeholders to identify questions or problems to address through data analysis.
Constituent Tasks
#21823 · Core · 72% automatable
Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
data analysis — Operational data analysis; manager owns decisions
Analyze data to inform operational decisions or activities.
#21828 · Core · 74% automatable
Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
data analysis — Analytical reports drafted; human validates analysis
Prepare graphics or other visual representations of information. Prepare analytical reports.
#21837 · Core · 50% automatable
Test, validate, and reformulate models to ensure accurate prediction of outcomes of interest.
data analysis — Model formulation aided; validation human-owned
Develop scientific or mathematical models.
#21829 · Core · 55% automatable
Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
interpersonal — Presentation delivery and Q&A are human; AI drafts slides
Present research results to others.
#21836 · Core · 70% automatable
Recommend data-driven solutions to key stakeholders.
data analysis — Explains techniques well; application needs human
Advise others on analytical techniques.
#21831 · Core · 55% automatable
Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
decision support — Resource selection needs situational judgment
Select resources needed to accomplish tasks.
#21827 · Core · 80% automatable
Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
data analysis — Applies math/statistics to problems; human validates
Apply mathematical principles or statistical approaches to solve problems in scientific or applied fields.
#21826 · Core · 85% automatable
Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.
data analysis — Data preparation for analysis automatable
Prepare data for analysis.
#21833 · Core · 70% automatable
Identify solutions to business problems, such as budgeting, staffing, and marketing decisions, using the results of data analysis.
data analysis — Diagnoses operational problems from data; human acts
Analyze data to identify or resolve operational problems.
#21824 · Core · 80% automatable
Apply feature selection algorithms to models predicting outcomes of interest, such as sales, attrition, and healthcare use.
data analysis — Analyzes structured financial data with tools
Analyze business or financial data.
#21832 · Core · 82% automatable
Identify relationships and trends or any factors that could affect the results of research.
data analysis — Trend and relationship detection in data
Analyze data to identify trends or relationships among variables.
#21838 · Core · 82% automatable
Write new functions or applications in programming languages to conduct analyses.
text generation — Code generation strong; human reviews and integrates
Write computer programming code.
#21835 · Core · 80% automatable
Read scientific articles, conference papers, or other sources of research to identify emerging analytic trends and technologies.
information retrieval — AI tracks technical updates; human validates depth
Update technical knowledge.
#21834 · Core · 80% automatable
Propose solutions in engineering, the sciences, and other fields using mathematical theories and techniques.
data analysis — Applies math/statistics to problems; human validates
Apply mathematical principles or statistical approaches to solve problems in scientific or applied fields.
#21825 · Core · 72% automatable
Apply sampling techniques to determine groups to be surveyed or use complete enumeration methods.
data analysis — Recommends analysis methods; human selects
Determine appropriate methods for data analysis.
#21830 · Supplemental · 65% automatable
Design surveys, opinion polls, or other instruments to collect data.
text generation — AI drafts evaluation procedures; human adapts to org
Develop procedures to evaluate organizational activities.
Embed this calculator on your site ↓
Bloggers & authors: Embed this interactive calculator directly in your articles or comparison guides. It loads dynamically via a responsive iframe (auto-resizing to prevent double scrollbars) and provides a direct, high-value tool for your audience.
<div class="giniloh-calculator-embed" data-calculator="data-scientists"></div>
<script src="https://giniloh.com/embed.js" async></script> Method
How this was scored
- 1. Tasks. O*NET task statements for this occupation, from a release whose newest record is dated 08/2026.
- 2. Work activities. Each task maps to 1–5 Detailed Work Activities; each activity belongs to one of 41 Generalized Work Activities that O*NET rates for importance (1–5) in this occupation.
- 3. Automation potential. Every work activity carries one score for how far current AI can perform it end-to-end. Tasks inherit the mean of their activities.
- 4. Weighting. Task weight = 0.35 + 0.65 × (importance − 1)/4, scaled by how often the task is performed and by 0.7 for Supplemental tasks. Importance is the task's own O*NET rating where it exists (18,369 of 18,838 tasks); the rest inherit their work activities' importance. The index is the weighted mean.
Check: across the 910 occupations where O*NET also rates how far machine speed sets the pace, this index moves opposite to it (Spearman ρ = -0.49). The more a job is paced by equipment, the less of its task content AI can address — the relationship you would expect if the scoring is working.
Sources · O*NET 31.0 (task records to 08/2026) · BLS OEWS May 2025 · BLS projections 2025-2035 · rubric v2.1 · tasks for O*NET, not a forecast
See the full method →Related Article
Best AI Proof Jobs in a Changing Market
Worried robots are coming for your paycheck? You’re not alone—but the real story is far more hopeful. This guide cuts through the scare headlines to reveal exactly where smart, sustainable career opportunities exist right now. We’ve curated a list of true ai proof jobs—roles in healthcare, skilled trades, and cybersecurity that not only survive automation but thrive because of human judgment and empathy. You’ll get specific, money-making data on projected growth (the BLS says wind turbine technicians, for instance, will grow 44% by 2032), real salary ranges from active job listings, and a simple self-assessment quiz to identify your own most resilient path. Plus, we name companies hiring today and the niche job boards they use. Stop worrying and start planning—your secure career is closer than you think.
Read Article ->