Is data science worth it with AI?
Turning data into evidence: collecting it, modeling it and explaining what it shows.
The short answer
No single measure can answer that, so here is what the public data shows. The US government's crosswalk of college majors to jobs links data science to 11 occupations the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. Through 2035, 10 are projected to grow and 1 to shrink. 3 of them open to a new graduate with a bachelor's degree and no experience: data scientists, software developers and actuaries. AI shows up first in entry level hiring, so the degree is worth most with proof you can direct AI and check its work.
Every job, with the numbersWhat to learn firstStart free: lesson 1
The jobs data science prepares you for
Grouped by how a graduate gets in, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each job shows its projected change from 2025 to 2035, openings a year, median pay in 2025, and Microsoft Research's rating of how much of the work AI can assist (0 to 1).
Open to a new graduate
BLS: a bachelor's degree to enter, and no experience in a related job.
Data scientists
Outlook: up 34.6%Openings a year: 24,800Median pay: $120,230AI applicability: 0.36
Outlook: up 10.2%Openings a year: 95,300Median pay: $135,980AI applicability: 0.28
Actuaries
Outlook: up 9.2%Openings a year: 1,500Median pay: $130,000AI applicability: 0.16
After some experience
BLS: a bachelor's degree plus experience in a related job first.
Computer and information systems managers
Outlook: up 15.8%Openings a year: 53,500Median pay: $175,140AI applicability: 0.15
Experience first: 5 years or more in a related job.
Database architects
Outlook: up 9.4%Openings a year: 3,900Median pay: $139,500AI applicability: 0.31
Experience first: less than 5 years in a related job.
Natural sciences managers
Outlook: up 8.2%Openings a year: 9,200Median pay: $167,220AI applicability: 0.11
Experience first: 5 years or more in a related job.
Needs a graduate or professional degree
BLS: a master's, doctoral or professional degree to enter.
Computer and information research scientists
Outlook: up 21.8%Openings a year: 2,900Median pay: $140,300AI applicability: 0.17
Typical entry education: master's degree.
Statisticians
Outlook: up 11%Openings a year: 1,900Median pay: $105,650AI applicability: 0.32
Typical entry education: master's degree.
Postsecondary teachers, all other
Outlook: up 2%Openings a year: 12,500Median pay: $77,640
Typical entry education: doctoral or professional degree.
Mathematical science teachers, postsecondary
Outlook: up 1.7%Openings a year: 3,900Median pay: $79,940AI applicability: 0.30
Typical entry education: doctoral or professional degree.
Survey researchers
Outlook: down 4.8%Openings a year: 600Median pay: $69,460AI applicability: 0.13
Typical entry education: master's degree.
What these numbers do not mean: the crosswalk lists what a program typically prepares you for, and in its authors' words “It is not a record of the occupational outcomes of postsecondary instructional program completers.” The BLS outlook is a ten year projection of total jobs, revised every year. Microsoft's rating measures how much AI can assist the work; “Our metrics should not be misconstrued or misrepresented as measuring the ability of AI to replace jobs.”
Why entry level is where AI shows up first
Stanford's Digital Economy Lab found no widespread displacement, but employment for young workers in the most AI exposed jobs has fallen 19 percent behind comparable peers (August 2026). Read the study.
The share of full-time job postings on Handshake that mention AI nearly doubled in a year, to 4.2 percent, and pessimism among seniors rose from 46 to 62 percent in two years (April 2026). Read the report.
The graduate who arrives able to direct AI on real work, and to catch it when it is wrong, is doing the part of the entry level job that is still growing.
What to learn before you graduate
Three things every employer now looks for: giving AI a task clearly, checking what it hands back before anyone relies on it, and knowing when not to use it. Most students are not taught this: only 28 percent of the Class of 2026 said their program had meaningfully integrated AI (Handshake, April 2026). GAGE teaches it in plain language, and the first lesson is free.
For the order that fits a specific job, open its page:
Show an employer you can do it
A course certificate says you finished. At GAGE you explain each idea back in your own words and it is graded against the lesson, so your record shows what you understood. An employer can check it with one link.
Other majors in technology
Already working? See where your job can lead.
Questions
- Is data science worth it with AI?
- No single measure can answer that, so here is what the public data shows. The US government's crosswalk of college majors to jobs links data science to 11 occupations the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects. Through 2035, 10 are projected to grow and 1 to shrink. 3 of them open to a new graduate with a bachelor's degree and no experience: data scientists, software developers and actuaries. AI shows up first in entry level hiring, so the degree is worth most with proof you can direct AI and check its work.
- What jobs can I get with a data science degree?
- Data science typically prepares you for actuaries, computer and information research scientists, computer and information systems managers, data scientists, database architects, mathematical science teachers, postsecondary, natural sciences managers, postsecondary teachers, all other, software developers, statisticians and survey researchers. That list comes from the NCES crosswalk, which describes what a program prepares you for, not what graduates actually go on to do, and some of these jobs need experience or another degree first.
- What should data science students learn about AI before graduating?
- Three things every employer now looks for: giving AI a task clearly, checking what it hands back before anyone relies on it, and knowing when not to use it. Most students are not taught this: only 28 percent of the Class of 2026 said their program had meaningfully integrated AI (Handshake, April 2026). GAGE teaches it in plain language, and the first lesson is free.
Sources
- National Center for Education Statistics (IES, U.S. Department of Education) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 (Guidelines for Using the CIP-SOC Crosswalk, NCES and BLS, March 2020), sheet CIP-SOC, Public domain (nces.ed.gov/help/sitepolicies.asp: unless stated otherwise, all information on the IES website is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission). Read 2026-09-27.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections program, Employment Projections, Table 1.2: Occupational projections, 2025 to 35, and worker characteristics, 2025, 2025 to 2035 projections (tables page last modified August 27, 2026). The requested 2024 to 2034 set is superseded; the current table is used., Public domain (bls.gov/opub/copyright-information.htm: everything BLS publishes is in the public domain; cite BLS as the source). Read 2026-09-25.
- Microsoft Research (Tomlinson, Jaffe, Wang, Counts, Suri), Working with AI: Measuring the Applicability of Generative AI to Occupations (AI applicability scores), v1.1 (arXiv 2507.07935 revision v6), repository commit c94a07c52fb1d88ca5d221388f06d10e1bd6d2fe of 2025-12-22. Bing Copilot conversations, United States, 2024-01-01 to 2024-09-30., CC BY 4.0 (LICENSE.txt and README: This repository is licensed under CC BY 4.0). Read 2026-09-25.
- Handshake, AI and the workforce ahead: what the Class of 2026 tells us about the future of the labor market, April 2026. Read 2026-09-27.
- Stanford Digital Economy Lab, No Widespread Displacement, but the AI Employment Gap for Young Workers Has Widened to 19%, August 2026. Read 2026-09-25.
- Program codes (CIP 2020): 30.7001 Data Science, General; 27.0501 Statistics, General. The grouping and plain language on this page are GAGE's own.