Data Scientist vs Cybersecurity Analyst: Which Field Is Better?

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

Dimension

Data Scientist

Cybersecurity Analyst

Median pay

$112,590

$124,910

Projected growth (2024–34)

33.5%

28.5%

Annual openings

23,400

16,000

2024 employment

245,900

182,800

2034 projected employment

328,300

234,900

Self-employed share

1.8%

0.6%

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

Related work experience

None

Less than 5 years

On-the-job training

None

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.

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.

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 Data Scientist or Cybersecurity Analyst.