Start with the answer
Data Scientists pay in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA and San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
The May 2025 BLS OEWS median for Data Scientists is $126,360 per year in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA. It is $185,080 per year in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA is 31.7% below San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA on the published median.
Both rows use SOC 15-2051 and the same annual wage metric. Median means the middle of each area's published wage spread. It is not one worker's pay. The larger median is not proof that one place gives a better job or a better result. It is one wage fact from one source period.
BLS lists 460 wage and salary jobs in Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA and 6,060 in San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA. Those are survey job counts, not open posts. Read pay, job scale, local share, and price level as separate facts before you make a choice.
Evidence: bls-oews-may-2025 · Rule: same-soc-same-metric-pair · nominal-median-gap · employment-not-openings