The Salary Index
Salary data is based on the Chattanooga, TN-GA metropolitan area and applied to Franklin using local cost-of-living adjustments.

Data Scientists Salaries in Franklin, TN

Average Base Pay

$106,884/yr

3% below national average

Monthly

$8,907

Hourly

$51

Cost Index

101

Data Scientists in Franklin, TN earn an average of $106,884 per year, with most salaries falling between $85,507 and $128,261 depending on experience, employer, and specialization. At 3% below the national average, Franklin offers a more modest rate for this role, in part reflecting a local cost of living index of 101. For professionals evaluating a move or negotiating an offer, the headline salary is only part of the picture—what matters most is how far that income actually goes once taxes, rent, and daily expenses are factored in. The sections below break that down in full for Franklin.

Salary Range

The chart below shows the full compensation spectrum for this role, from entry-level to senior positions. The highlighted center bars represent the 25th–75th percentile band where most professionals are paid.

$80K
Low
$107K
Median
$134K
High
25th percentile: $91K75th percentile: $123K

About Data Scientists

Data Scientists extract actionable insights from large, complex datasets by applying statistical analysis, machine learning, and domain expertise. They work at the intersection of mathematics, programming, and business strategy, helping organizations make evidence-based decisions. The role begins with data acquisition and cleaning—often the most time-consuming phase—followed by exploratory analysis to identify patterns and anomalies. Data Scientists then formulate hypotheses, select appropriate modeling techniques, and build predictive or descriptive models. These models must be validated rigorously against holdout data and evaluated using relevant metrics before being communicated to stakeholders or deployed into production systems. Effective data scientists are strong communicators who can translate complex findings into clear narratives for non-technical audiences. They use visualization tools to make data compelling and accessible. In applied roles, they deploy models into production, monitor model drift, and retrain as data distributions change. Research-oriented data scientists may publish findings or experiment with cutting-edge techniques from academia. The field requires deep statistical knowledge—probability theory, regression, classification, clustering, time series analysis—alongside engineering skills to handle data pipelines and compute infrastructure. Data Scientists work closely with data engineers, product managers, and business stakeholders, and must balance scientific rigor with practical delivery timelines.

What Data Scientists Do

  • Collect, clean, and preprocess structured and unstructured datasets
  • Perform exploratory data analysis to uncover trends and relationships
  • Build, tune, and validate machine learning and statistical models
  • Communicate findings through reports, dashboards, and presentations
  • Collaborate with engineering teams to deploy models into production
  • Monitor model performance and retrain on updated data as needed
  • Define metrics and KPIs in collaboration with business stakeholders
  • Design and analyze A/B experiments to evaluate product changes

Key Skills & Qualifications

  • Python or R for data analysis and modeling
  • Machine learning frameworks such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow, or PyTorch
  • SQL and experience with large-scale data warehouses
  • Statistical knowledge including regression, classification, and hypothesis testing
  • Data visualization with tools like Tableau, Matplotlib, or Seaborn
  • Experience with cloud platforms and distributed computing (Spark, BigQuery)
  • Strong written and verbal communication for presenting to stakeholders
  • Familiarity with experiment design and causal inference

Career Path

  1. Data Analyst
  2. Data Scientist
  3. Senior Data Scientist
  4. Principal Data Scientist / ML Research Scientist
  5. Director of Data Science

Data Scientists Market in Franklin, TN

Salary Competitiveness

Franklin salaries for Data Scientists track closely with the national median, diverging by less than 4%. This alignment suggests a competitive but balanced local market—employers are broadly in step with national pay scales, which can make benchmark comparisons more reliable when negotiating.

Cost of Living Impact

Franklin sits close to the national cost average. Monthly essential expenses represent about 40% of take-home pay for this role—a midrange ratio that allows for modest savings and discretionary spending, provided housing costs remain stable.

Effective Purchasing Power

After adjusting for local taxes and cost of living, a Data Scientists earning $106,884 in Franklin reaches a strong purchasing-power position. The effective standard of living this income supports is materially higher than the gross number alone implies—a useful data point for professionals comparing offers across metro areas.

vs. National Avg

-3%

Cost Pressure

40%

Purchasing Power

Strong

Take-Home Pay Calculator

Enter any gross salary to see how federal and state taxes affect your actual take-home pay, broken down by year, month, and week. Results use an estimated effective tax rate of 27% based on this location and income level.

$
Take-home (73%)Taxes (27%)

Annual Net

$78,025

Monthly

$6,502

Weekly

$1,500

Eff. Tax Rate

27%

A gross salary of $106,884 for a Data Scientists in Franklin translates to roughly $6,502 in monthly take-home pay after estimated federal and state taxes. Set against monthly living costs of $2,617—covering housing, food, transportation, utilities, and healthcare—that leaves approximately $3,885 per month in disposable income. That margin, not the gross number, is what determines whether you can comfortably cover rent, build savings, and afford discretionary spending in Franklin's current market.

How far does this salary go in Franklin?

Cost of Living in Franklin

Estimated monthly expenses for a single person in Franklin, benchmarked against US regional price indices for housing, food, transportation, utilities, and healthcare.

Cost Index

101

Above Avg — US average is 100. Based on a single person (1-bed apartment).

🏠Housing / Rent$1,505/mo
🍔Food & Groceries$502/mo
🚗Transportation$136/mo
💡Utilities$176/mo
🏥Healthcare$298/mo
Monthly$2,617
Annual$31,404
Disposable Income$3,885

Financial Reality Check

This section compares estimated monthly take-home pay against typical living costs in Franklin to show your real disposable income—the amount remaining after essential bills are paid each month.

Monthly Take-Home

$6,502

Living Costs

$2,617

Disposable

$3,885

Cost Index

101

Lifestyle

Comfortable

With a monthly take-home of $6,502, your estimated living costs in Franklin are $2,617 ($31,404/yr). This leaves $3,885 per month in disposable income, indicating a comfortable standard of living. Franklin's cost of living is 1% above the national average.

Overall, a Data Scientists earning $106,884 in Franklin falls into a comfortable lifestyle tier and has meaningful room to save, invest, and absorb unexpected expenses without financial stress. With a cost index of 101, Franklin is 1% more expensive than the national average, which compresses real purchasing power. Regardless of tier, prioritizing retirement contributions, an emergency fund of three to six months' expenses, and incremental debt reduction will yield the greatest long-term financial stability—especially as living costs in Franklin continue to evolve.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Data Scientists · Franklin, TN3% below avg

Gross Salary

$106,884/yr

Take-home

$6,502/mo

Disposable

$3,885/mo

Lifestyle

Comfortable

Source: thesalaryindex.com · BLS data

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Salary estimates are based on BLS metro data and adjusted using cost-of-living indices.