Salary by level
How data scientist compensation scales from entry to principal across the standard L3–L7 individual-contributor ladder and the parallel engineering-management track. Bands are anchored to San Francisco and shown in USD by default; use the currency switcher to change the display.
Entry (L3)
$104,000
median, base-heavy
Senior (L5)
$287,000
median total comp
Principal (L7)
$589,000
median total comp
The ladder
Data science levels are defined by the autonomy of the questions you answer. An entry data scientist executes analyses someone else scoped; a senior frames the business question, chooses the method, and owns the inference end to end; a principal sets the measurement and experimentation standards a whole org relies on. Pay scales with that decision-making scope.
Data scientist compensation sits above the national average for the occupation because tech employers pay a substantial premium over the generalist analyst market. The bands below reflect that tech premium. Within each level, scientists who can ship production models or own causal-inference frameworks sit at the top of the range; pure reporting and dashboard work clusters lower.
The senior band is the widest because it absorbs two distinct archetypes: the deep statistical specialist and the broad product data scientist. Both can be senior, but their total-compensation outcomes depend heavily on company tier and how directly their work ties to revenue.
IC track
Total-compensation bands for the individual-contributor ladder in San Francisco. The midpoint is the typical offer for a calibrated candidate; the range spans company tier and negotiation outcomes. Senior and above fold in bonus and equity.
| Level | IC title | Experience | Total comp range | Midpoint | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L3 | Entry / New grad | 0-2 yrs | $85,000$130,000 | $104,000 | Base |
| L4 | Mid-level | 2-5 yrs | $131,000$199,000 | $160,000 | Base |
| L5 | Senior | 5-8 yrs | $236,000$359,000 | $287,000 | Total comp |
| L6 | Staff | 8-12 yrs | $309,000$471,000 | $376,000 | Total comp |
| L7 | Principal | 12+ yrs | $506,000$795,000 | $589,000 | Total comp |
Bands derived from US BLS OES May 2024 (SOC 15-2051) + Levels.fyi 2025 (2025) percentile data for San Francisco, mapped onto the standard ladder using documented seniority multipliers.
A number only means something once you know the level it should map to. Compare a data scientist offer against these bands and the wider market with the free tools below.
Management track
Data science management and IC tracks pay similarly at the branch point, but the manager track in data science often carries more cross-functional scope earlier, so the bonus component grows faster on the management side at the senior-manager and director levels.
| Level | Title | IC equivalent | Total comp range | Midpoint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| M1 | Engineering Manager | L5/L6 | $301,000$459,000 | $367,000 |
| M2 | Senior Manager | L6/L7 | $506,000$795,000 | $589,000 |
| M3 | Director | L7+ | $617,000$970,000 | $719,000 |
Translations
Every employer numbers its ladder differently, but the rungs line up. Here is how the standard L3–L7 ladder translates to the schemes you are most likely to meet when interviewing for data scientist roles.
| Company | Entry → Principal |
|---|---|
| L3 / L4 / L5 / L6 / L7 | |
| Meta | IC3 / IC4 / IC5 / IC6 / IC7 |
| Amazon | Data Scientist I / II / III / Principal |
| Netflix | Data Scientist / Senior / Staff |
Level translations are approximate. Companies calibrate scope differently, so the same code can mean slightly different things across employers.
Each level band starts from the published percentile data for data scientist roles in San Francisco. The four documented seniority tiers (junior, mid, senior, staff) are mapped onto the standard L3–L7 ladder: junior anchors L3, mid anchors L4, the senior tier spans L5 and L6 because in real ladders it is the widest band and covers two promotion steps, and the staff tier anchors L7. The low and high ends of each band come from the tier's 25th and 75th percentiles; the midpoint is the tier median.
Senior, staff, and principal bands are reported as total compensation, folding in bonus and equity, because that is how those levels are paid in practice. Entry and mid bands are base-heavy. The management track is anchored to the same tiers with the documented manager premium applied at the senior-manager and director levels.
Reference data only. Real offers vary by employer, level calibration, team, and negotiation, and frontier-lab pay can sit well above these bands. Nothing here is financial advice. Primary sources: US BLS OES May 2024 (SOC 15-2051) + Levels.fyi 2025 (2025).
The same L3–L7 breakdown for adjacent roles, so you can compare how pay ladders differ across the field.
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