Cybersecurity Analyst vs Data Scientist: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Cybersecurity Analyst	Data Scientist
Median pay	$124,910	$112,590
Projected growth (2024–34)	28.5%	33.5%
Annual openings	16,000	23,400
2024 employment	182,800	245,900
2034 projected employment	234,900	328,300
Self-employed share	0.6%	1.8%
Typical entry education	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree
Related work experience	Less than 5 years	None
On-the-job training	None	None

Dimension

Cybersecurity Analyst

Data Scientist

Median pay

$124,910

$112,590

Projected growth (2024–34)

28.5%

33.5%

Annual openings

16,000

23,400

2024 employment

182,800

245,900

2034 projected employment

234,900

328,300

Self-employed share

0.6%

1.8%

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

Related work experience

Less than 5 years

None

On-the-job training

None

Cybersecurity Analyst: main tradeoff

Very strong long-term demand coexists with hiring freezes and budget pressure; AI appears to increase specialized skill needs rather than simply remove cyber roles.

Data Scientist: main tradeoff

One of the fastest-growing occupations, but the work is converging with AI tooling and advanced analytics, making skill depth more important than the title alone.

Which should you choose?

Cybersecurity Analyst has the higher national median pay in the BLS data. Data Scientist has the higher projected 2024–2034 growth rate. The larger decision is whether you prefer the training path, work style, and occupation-specific tradeoffs of Cybersecurity Analyst or Data Scientist.