SaaS Salary Benchmarks

Senior Data Scientist Salary Benchmarks

Compensation data for the Senior Data Scientist role at US SaaS companies, based on 78 verified salaries.

Quartile breakdown All SaaS roles

Base salary · US SaaS78 salaries

$114,999

Median base salary

Bottom 25% avg$54,504Top 25% avg$460,283

Average base salary: $190,985
Typical range (P25–P75): $78,588–$164,454
Salaries analyzed: 78

Hiring for this role? At the median, one Senior Data Scientist costs $114,999 a year in base salary.

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Overview

78 salaries

Senior Data Scientist Salary Overview

Bottom 25% AverageAverage of the lowest-paid quarter · 17 salaries: $54,504
Middle 50% AverageAverage of the middle half · 41 salaries: $116,209
Top 25% AverageAverage of the highest-paid quarter · 20 salaries: $460,283

Median Senior Data Scientist base pay by pay period

Per year: $114,999
Per month: $9,583
Every two weeks: $4,423
Per hour: $55.29

Base-pay equivalents before tax; hourly assumes 2,080 working hours a year.

Senior Data Scientist salaries at SaaS companies average $190,985, with typical salaries ranging from $78,588 to $164,454. Based on 78 real salary data points from SaaS companies.

Quartile bands

Employees · annualized base

Detailed Senior Data Scientist Compensation Breakdown

Senior Data Scientist base salary by percentile band
Percentile Band	Salary range	Average Base Salary	# of salaries
Top 25%	$164,454 and up	$460,283	20 salaries
Middle 50%	$78,588–$164,454	$116,209	41 salaries
Bottom 25%	Under $78,588	$54,504	17 salaries

By seniority

Employees · median base

Data Scientist Salary by Seniority Level

Median base salary for each Data Scientist level with its own benchmark, from Junior Data Scientist to Senior Data Scientist. Step-up compares each median with the level below.

Data Scientist base salary by seniority level
Level	Median base	P25–P75	Salaries	Step-up
Junior Data Scientist (entry level)	$26,718*	$21,090–$62,400	29	—
Data Scientist	$97,500	$58,949–$127,794	122	+265%
Senior Data ScientistThis page	$114,999	$78,588–$164,454	78	+18%

* Fewer than 50 salaries: a small sample, so expect this level's figures to move more between data refreshes.

Hiring budget

Base salary · fully loaded

What Does a Senior Data Scientist Cost to Hire?

Budget for Senior Data Scientist hires at the 25th percentile, median and 75th percentile of this benchmark, as base salary and as fully loaded cost.

Pay level

Hires

One Senior Data Scientist hire at the median: $114,999 a year in base salary, $143,748–$160,998 fully loaded.

Cost of one hire by pay level
Per hire	P2525th percentile	MedianMedian	P7575th percentile
Base salary / year	$78,588	$114,999	$164,454
Base salary / month	$6,549	$9,583	$13,704
Fully loaded / year1.25–1.4× base	$98,235–$110,023	$143,748–$160,998	$205,567–$230,235
Fully loaded / month1.25–1.4× base	$8,186–$9,169	$11,979–$13,417	$17,131–$19,186

Fully loaded adds employer payroll taxes, health and retirement benefits, software seats, and equipment at 1.25–1.4× base salary. That multiplier is a planning rule of thumb applied to this benchmark, not a surveyed cost figure. Commission, bonus, equity, and recruiting fees are not included.

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Key insights

Senior Data Scientist Pay by the Numbers

The middle half of Senior Data Scientist salaries spans $78,588–$164,454: a $85,866 spread, 75% of the $114,999 median.
A 75th-percentile Senior Data Scientist earns 2.1× the 25th-percentile salary.
The Senior Data Scientist median is 70% above the median Operations, Finance & People role ($67,760 across 114 roles).

What Drives Higher Senior Data Scientist Pay?

Years of experience and proven track record
Company stage and funding (later stage typically pays more)
Technical expertise and specialization
Location and remote work policies

FAQ

Senior Data Scientist salary

On a median base salary of $114,999, a Senior Data Scientist at a US SaaS company makes about $9,583 a month, $4,423 every two weeks, or $55.29 an hour over 2,080 working hours a year. The middle half of salaries (25th–75th percentile) works out to $6,549–$13,704 a month. These are base-pay equivalents before tax, and they leave out bonus, commission, and equity.

Expect the lower half of this benchmark. Across 78 verified SaaS Senior Data Scientist salaries, the 25th percentile is $78,588 and the median is $114,999. A Senior Data Scientist at a seed or Series A startup, or at a bootstrapped company under roughly $10M ARR, will often land between those two figures. Base pay typically moves toward and past the $164,454 75th percentile as the company adds headcount and ARR. Those stage bands are a rule of thumb applied to this benchmark, not a breakdown by company size, which the dataset does not report.

Budget for more than base salary. On a median base of $114,999, the fully loaded cost of a US Senior Data Scientist is roughly $143,748–$160,998 per year once employer payroll taxes (~7.65% FICA plus federal and state unemployment), health and retirement benefits, software seats, and equipment are added. That 1.25–1.4x multiplier is a planning rule of thumb applied to the benchmark on this page, not a surveyed cost figure. Commission, bonuses, and equity sit on top where the role carries them. Also budget one-off hiring costs: agency recruiting fees commonly run 15–25% of first-year base, and a new hire takes weeks to months to reach full productivity.

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