How much does a Data Scientist make in North Carolina?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $115,380 for Data Scientists in North Carolina as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $80,240 and the 75th-percentile is $146,850.

How are North Carolina Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in North Carolina?

The 90th percentile lands at $173,170. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $146,850.

Why is the BEA RPP for North Carolina different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. North Carolina's overall index of 94.4 reflects rents 80.8, services 83.6, and goods 96.8.

Where does North Carolina rank for Data Scientist pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, North Carolina ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does a PhD increase data scientist salary in North Carolina?

BLS does not segment by degree. Industry surveys (Burtch Works, Glassdoor) show a PhD premium of roughly 10-25% versus a master's-only data scientist in North Carolina, concentrated in research-heavy industries (pharma, quant finance, AI labs) and largely absent in product analytics roles.

North Carolina Data Scientist Salary: BLS $115K Median, Real $122K (2026)

TL;DR

Data Scientists in North Carolina earn a BLS median of $115,380, with real take-home of $122,226 after BEA RPP adjustment.
After the cost-of-living adjustment, take-home rises by $6,846 versus the BLS median — purchasing-power arbitrage.
Quartile range $80,240 (bottom 25%) to $146,850 (top 25%); the P10-P90 envelope is $58,240 to $173,170.
Data Scientist ranking: #13 on the BLS table, #7 once cost of living is in.

Wage breakdown — North Carolina

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$58,240	$61,696
P25 (lower quartile)	$80,240	$85,001
P50 (median)	$115,380	$122,226
P75 (upper quartile)	$146,850	$155,563
P90 (top tier)	$173,170	$183,445
Mean	$118,020	$125,023
Employment	10,140 Data Scientists in North Carolina

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	North Carolina index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	94.4
Goods	96.8
Services	83.6
Rents	80.8

North Carolina sits below the national baseline (RPP 94.4), so nominal pay translates to a higher real wage than the BLS median suggests — particularly visible in rents at 80.8.

After-tax take-home — North Carolina (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Data Scientist)	$115,380	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$16,631	14.4% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$4,362	4.25% flat (2026)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$8,827	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$85,561	74.2% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$90,638	÷ (94.4 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the North Carolina state-tax burden means for Data Scientist take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.8% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $85,561 (74.2% of gross). After the 94.4 RPP, real take-home is $90,638.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $112,590 for Data Scientists with mean pay of $124,590 and total employment of 233,440. North Carolina sits at #13 on nominal pay and #7 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, North Carolina climbs 6 positions — the cost of living is favorable relative to the wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Data Scientist make in North Carolina?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $115,380 for Data Scientists in North Carolina as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $80,240 and the 75th-percentile is $146,850.
How are North Carolina Data Scientist salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
What does the top of the Data Scientist pay scale look like in North Carolina?: The 90th percentile lands at $173,170. That tier typically reflects senior roles, specialty certifications, high-cost-of-living metros within the state, or union-negotiated rate cards. Below that, the P75 quartile is $146,850.
Why is the BEA RPP for North Carolina different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. North Carolina's overall index of 94.4 reflects rents 80.8, services 83.6, and goods 96.8.
Where does North Carolina rank for Data Scientist pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, North Carolina ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does a PhD increase data scientist salary in North Carolina?: BLS does not segment by degree. Industry surveys (Burtch Works, Glassdoor) show a PhD premium of roughly 10-25% versus a master's-only data scientist in North Carolina, concentrated in research-heavy industries (pharma, quant finance, AI labs) and largely absent in product analytics roles.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 15-2051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how North Carolina Data Scientist pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.