{"id":14656,"date":"2020-07-08T19:31:31","date_gmt":"2020-07-09T02:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/?p=14656"},"modified":"2023-12-28T03:16:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-28T11:16:29","slug":"data-scientist-software-engineer-salary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.springboard.com\/blog\/software-engineering\/data-scientist-software-engineer-salary\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Earns More: Software Engineers or Data Scientists?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Data scientists are the hottest new occupation in the tech industry. They command an average salary of over $115,000. But are they earning more than software engineers? Not necessarily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of this decade\u2019s leading companies\u2014Apple, Netflix, Uber, Airbnb\u2014sell digital products serving millions of customers in thousands of locations. The two pillars of companies of the 21st century are software and data. Both software engineers and data scientists are enjoying increasingly high demand in the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The software powering these products needs to be functional, intuitive, and bug-free. The data that informs the experience of these products needs to be efficiently stored, analyzed, and interpreted. In 2020 and beyond, both software engineers and data scientists will play crucial roles in shaping the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But who earns more: software engineers or data scientists? At the outset, both these careers and their related fields are lucrative, paying above-average salaries. What’s more, these career paths no longer require a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree. Software developer reigns at #1<\/a> in US News’ 100 Best Jobs list, while data science is among the top 15<\/a> fastest-growing jobs in the United States. In essence, both are excellent options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, we\u2019ll show you what role pays better\u2014and why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a Software Engineer Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Software engineering is a branch of computer science<\/a> that involves coding (or programming) to develop software to address specific problems or needs of users. Software engineers<\/a> (coders<\/a>\/programmers\/developers) build these solutions using programming languages like Java, JavaScript, C++, Scala, Swift, Kotlin, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies<\/a> show that the demand for software engineers is expected to increase in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does a Data Scientist Do?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Data science is the field of collecting, storing, organizing, analyzing, and interpreting large data sets. A data scientist is one who leverages an organization\u2019s data to help leaders make informed decisions based on data analytics and statistical analysis. Data scientists might also apply machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques, as well as data mining, to build predictive models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data scientists are in demand in virtually every industry, from financial services to food delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is Data Science Harder Than Software Engineering?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Data science and software engineering are both technology jobs, but they require mostly different skills. Each role brings with it technological complexities and real-world business problems. And each of these fields uses different tools, techniques, and processes to address them. Software engineering might be more suited for someone who works well within structures and prefers having guidelines and processes to follow. Data science might be better for someone who flourishes in chaos, finding insights in unstructured data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both software engineering and data science involve programming to a certain extent. The primary difference between the two is the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n