"It isn't a big surprise," Dr. Andrew Chamberlain, Glassdoor's chief economist, told Business Insider. "It's one of the hottest and fastest growing jobs we're seeing right now."
According to Glassdoor, data scientists earn a base pay of $116,840 a year, on average.
Here's how much they rake in, on average, at some of the hottest tech companies, according to Glassdoor employee salary reviews:
Facebook: $133,841
Apple: $149,963
Airbnb: $117,229
Twitter: $134,861
Microsoft: $119,129
LinkedIn: $138,798
IBM: $110,823
A data scientist represents an evolution from the business or data analyst role. The formal training is similar, with a solid foundation typically in computer science and applications, modeling, statistics, analytics and math. What sets the data scientist apart is strong business acumen, coupled with the ability to communicate findings to both business and IT leaders in a way that can influence how an organization approaches a business challenge. Good data scientists will not just address business problems, they will pick the right problems that have the most value to the organization.
The data scientist role has been described as 'part analyst, part artist.' Anjul Bhambhri, vice president of big data products at IBM, says, 'A data scientist is somebody who is inquisitive, who can stare at data and spot trends. It's almost like a Renaissance individual who really wants to learn and bring change to an organization.'
Glassdoor economist Chamberlain says: "Since all companies have an online presence these days, they all need people who know how to manage and store data that helps them make better business decisions, compared to years ago when businesses didn't have data management at their fingertips to review and analyze to help them drive business forward. That's why I expect this to continue to be a hot job for several years to come."
Read what it's like to have the "sexiest job" of the century in Business Insider's interview with Daniel Enson, a 38-year-old data scientist.