Software Developer vs Data Scientist: Which Field Is Better?

Dimension	Software Developer	Data Scientist
Median pay	$133,080	$112,590
Projected growth (2024–34)	15.8%	33.5%
Annual openings	115,200	23,400
2024 employment	1,693,800	245,900
2034 projected employment	1,961,400	328,300
Self-employed share	1.6%	1.8%
Typical entry education	Bachelor's degree	Bachelor's degree
Related work experience	None	None
On-the-job training	None	None

Dimension

Software Developer

Data Scientist

Median pay

$133,080

$112,590

Projected growth (2024–34)

15.8%

33.5%

Annual openings

115,200

23,400

2024 employment

1,693,800

245,900

2034 projected employment

1,961,400

328,300

Self-employed share

1.6%

1.8%

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

None

Software Developer: main tradeoff

Strong long-term economics, but entry-level work is being reshaped faster than the occupation overall.

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?

Software Developer 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 Software Developer or Data Scientist.