What Data Scientists earn in Montgomery County, MD
The median pay for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD is $132,200 per year, which works out to $63.56 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the labor market that Montgomery County, MD belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $143,510, which is 8.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,260 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Montgomery County, MD has roughly 1,065,949 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Data Scientists in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $85,250 a year ($40.99 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $212,320 or more ($102.08 an hour). That is a gap of $127,070 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $105,700 at the 25th percentile and $172,960 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.5 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD is $63.56. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $132,200, and the same salary is $11,017 a month before taxes or about $5,085 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $45.81 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Data Scientists
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Data Scientists this way: "Develop and implement a set of techniques or analytics applications to transform raw data into meaningful information using data-oriented programming languages and visualization software. Apply data mining, data modeling, natural language processing, and machine learning to extract and analyze information from large structured and unstructured datasets. Visualize, interpret, and report data findings. May create dynamic data reports."
Job outlook for Data Scientists
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 275,600 jobs in 2025 to 371,000 in 2035, a change of +34.6%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 24,800 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 9.0% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: bachelor's degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $120,230 for this occupation; the Montgomery County, MD median of $132,200 is 10.0% above it.
How pay in Montgomery County, MD compares
Compared with the Maryland average
Montgomery County, MD pays above the state benchmark. The Maryland employment-weighted average for Data Scientists is $123,705; the local median of $132,200 beats it by $8,495, or 6.9%. Within Maryland, Montgomery County, MD already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Data Scientists is $121,644 across the contiguous United States. At $132,200, Montgomery County, MD pays $10,556 more, which is 8.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Montgomery County, MD
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Montgomery County, MD, Data Scientists ranks number 70 by median pay, ahead of about 89% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $62,990 more than the median for Data Scientists.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $132,200 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $36,924 a year, which leaves $95,276, or $7,940 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $28 goes to taxes and $72 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 27.9%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $116,450. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 24% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $20,795, an effective 15.7% of gross pay, well below the 24% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $8,196 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,917. FICA totals $10,113, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Maryland
Maryland income tax on this salary is $6,016 a year, or 4.6% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 29% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $501 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Montgomery County, MD
IRS Statistics of Income data for Montgomery County, MD show an average adjusted gross income of $141,640 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 17.9% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 12.5%, compared with the 15.7% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Montgomery County, MD
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Montgomery County, MD: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $95,276 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Montgomery County, MD is $2,204 a month, or $26,448 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,438 a month. For Data Scientists, a one-bedroom absorbs 27.8% of take-home pay and 20.0% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 2.6% of gross pay for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Maryland residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,887 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $634, for $2,521 in total. Gasoline in Maryland averages $3.33 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,539.
What is left over
Add the four basics together and living costs come to $33,944 a year, 36% of take-home pay. That leaves $61,332 a year, or $5,111 a month, for savings, transportation beyond fuel, health care, debt and everything else. That margin equals 46.4% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Montgomery County, MD
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Montgomery County, MD: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Montgomery County, MD, set beside the Maryland and national medians.
Property taxes in Montgomery County, MD
Homeowners in Montgomery County, MD pay a median of $5,539 a year in real estate taxes, 35% above the Maryland median of $4,093 and 78% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $640,300, the median tax bill is 0.87% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Data Scientists median of $132,200, a tax bill of that size would equal 4.2% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Montgomery County, MD
Renters in Montgomery County, MD pay a median gross rent of $2,068 a month in the Census survey, 21% above the Maryland median of $1,705. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $640,300, 52% above the Maryland median of $419,900. Median household income is $132,450, 28% above the Maryland median of $103,678, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 20.0% of that income.
Commuting in Montgomery County, MD
Workers in Montgomery County, MD who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.9 minutes each way, 3% above the Maryland average of 31.1. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 28.3% of workers in Montgomery County, MD work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Data Scientists afford to live in Montgomery County, MD?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $132,200 that ceiling is $3,305 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,101 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Data Scientists is $63.56, which is 50% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $45.81 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 11.1 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $73,152.
How fast you can save
At $5,111 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 2 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 4 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Data Scientists pay in Montgomery County, MD
What is the hourly wage for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD?
The median is $63.56 per hour, based on $132,200 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $40.99 at the 10th percentile to $102.08 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $132,200 becomes $95,276 a year. That is $7,940 a month, $3,664 every two weeks or $1,832 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD?
Total taxes are $36,924 a year, an effective rate of 27.9%: $20,795 federal income tax, $10,113 FICA and $6,016 Maryland income tax.
Is pay for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD above the Maryland average?
Yes. The local median of $132,200 is +6.9% versus the Maryland average of $123,705, a difference of $8,495 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Data Scientists salary in Montgomery County, MD?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $7,940, which is 27.8% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $3,305 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Data Scientists in Montgomery County, MD?
About $5,111 a month ($61,332 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $33,944 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Montgomery County, MD at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Data Scientists is $63.56.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Maryland rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.