For many years, data science has been one of the hottest -- and highest-paying -- fields in IT, and that trend continues in 2022. At the time of writing, job board Indeed.com had 44,871 jobs listed that included the phrase “data science,” and a similar LinkedIn search matched 321,416 postings in the US.

It’s worth noting, however, that not all these postings are for jobs where the specific title is “data scientist.” Today, a growing number of highly varied positions require some data science skills. Companies are looking for developers, product managers, IT managers, business analysts, writers, consultants, interns, and even marketing professionals with some data science capabilities.

In addition, many companies now have entire data science departments with defined career ladders. Some firms have directors and vice presidents of data science, and there is even a very, very small group of C-level executives with “chief data scientist” title.

Much of the reason for this increase in demand is the number of companies that are investing heavily in analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning (ML). According to IDC, the market for big data and analytics tools topped $215 billion in 2021 and will grow at 12.8% per year through 2025. And Gartner forecasts that 2022 revenues from AI software will total $62.5 billion this year.

These sorts of investments are driving up demand on two different fronts: technology companies need workers with data science skills to help them create these products; and the enterprises buying the software need workers with data science skills to help them use it.

This increase in demand is coming at a time when IT managers were already having a hard time filling available positions. A survey conducted by Robert Half Technology found that “94% of technology team leaders said it’s difficult to find skilled technology professionals, with the most challenging areas being data science and database administration; business intelligence, analysis and reporting; and cloud architecture and operations.”

In order to attract talent, companies have been raising salaries, and the increases for data science jobs are among the most significant. The following slides highlight the 10 best-paying data science roles for 2022, based on averaged numbers from Robert Half Technology, Indeed, Glassdoor, and Payscale.