Data scientist certifications: what 8,250 US job ads name

Which certification is best for a data scientist?

The best certification for a data scientist, of the credentials we checked, is the one that matches your stage: a course certificate while you learn, and a cloud or platform exam once you build machine learning models at work. In our working definition, a data scientist uses statistics and code to answer questions with data and to build models that make predictions. A machine learning engineer, as AWS and Google Cloud describe the role on their exam pages, puts models into production and keeps them running. AWS lists data scientist among the roles its exam suits, so these engineer exams fit a data scientist who also puts models into use.

Terms in the table: a vendor is the company that sells an exam or course. A course certificate shows that you finished a set of online lessons and includes no supervised exam. Coursera is the online course site that hosts the three course certificates listed; Specialization and Professional Certificate are its names for a series of courses that ends in a certificate. Associate is the level name AWS and Databricks use for these two exams, and each page states the experience it recommends. Professional is the level Google aims at people with years of experience. Databricks sells a cloud platform for processing large data sets. Stanford Online is Stanford University's online learning unit, and DeepLearning.AI is a company that makes AI (artificial intelligence) courses.

Best certification for data science, by situation. Source: Coursera pages read October 3, 2026; Databricks pages read October 4, 2026; AWS and Google Cloud pages read October 11, 2026 (links under Sources).

For a complete beginner, the two course certificates in the top two rows ask for nothing beforehand. The exams in the lower rows are for people who already train models: AWS recommends at least one year with its machine learning services, Databricks six months of hands-on machine learning work, and Google three years in industry.

Which data scientist certifications do job ads name?

Job ads name certifications by phrase, and we track six phrases for this job, from AWS, IBM, Stanford Online, Databricks, Google and DeepLearning.AI. We asked Adzuna for the job ads with the words data scientist in the job title in the US, the UK and India. Then we counted the ads containing each of six certification phrases anywhere in the text.

Source: Adzuna job-ad data, 8,250 US, 762 UK and 1,739 Indian ads with data scientist in the job title, collected in October 2026. Phrase matches; databricks certified is an approximate match (the ad wording can differ slightly). Analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.

Read every row as a minimum. An ad can name the same credential in other words, such as "AWS ML certification" (ML is short for machine learning), and an exact phrase misses it. The AWS phrase matches both the current Associate exam and the retired Specialty, so a count is no evidence for either exam alone. The words machine learning specialization can also describe a degree focus rather than the Coursera course. A count cannot tell a required credential from a nice-to-have one, and the same job may be posted more than once.

At the UK and Indian sample sizes, a single ad changes a count, so read those columns with care.

What do data-scientist ads ask for instead?

Data-scientist ads name skills. In October 2026, python appeared in 72% of the ads for US data scientists on Adzuna, and the phrase machine learning in 61%.

Share of data-scientist ads naming each skill. Source: Adzuna job-ad data, ads with data scientist in the job title, collected in October 2026. Analysis: CertWorthIt.

Our reading: learn the two skills we counted first, and check your ten listings for others, such as SQL and statistics, which we did not count. A certificate is one way to show that you learned them, and a finished project you can walk an interviewer through is another.

What are the best certifications for data science beginners?

The best certifications for data science beginners are course certificates, because the three machine learning exams we checked recommend months or years of hands-on work first. All three course certificates below run on Coursera and are paid through a Coursera subscription, a monthly fee that gives access to the courses.

Data scientist certification for beginners: three Coursera options

The IBM Data Science Professional Certificate is listed as beginner level with no prior experience required. It has 12 courses and takes about four months at 10 hours a week, and it ends without a proctored exam (one watched by a supervisor, in person or by webcam). Coursera's IBM page showed no price when we read it; check it when you enroll.

The Machine Learning Specialization, from Stanford Online and DeepLearning.AI, is also beginner level: 3 courses, about two months at 10 hours a week. At the $49 a month shown on Coursera's page, two months come to $98, if you finish in the listed time.

The Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate has 7 courses and takes about six months at 10 hours a week; at $49 a month in the US and Canada, six months come to $294. Google recommends prior data analytics experience or its Google Data Analytics Certificate first, so it suits people who already work with spreadsheets and charts.

Is there an entry-level data scientist certification exam?

All three machine learning exams we checked recommend experience first. AWS recommends at least one year using its machine learning services. Databricks recommends six months of hands-on machine learning work, and Google three or more years in industry. Microsoft's data scientist exam, DP-100, is retired (see the DP-100 section).

What happened to Microsoft's DP-100 data scientist exam?

Microsoft retired the Azure Data Scientist Associate certification, which exam DP-100 led to, on June 1, 2026. Microsoft Learn, Microsoft's training site, says the renewal assessment (the free online test that kept the certification valid) is retired too. Azure is Microsoft's cloud. Older lists of data scientist certifications still name DP-100; skip those entries.

Show the numbers

AWS Machine Learning exam format at a glance. Source: aws.amazon.com, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	AWS Machine Learning
Questions	65 questions
Exam time	130 minutes (2 h 10 min)
Format	Multiple choice
Languages	4 languages
Where you take it	test center · online, proctored

Which machine learning exam fits a data scientist?

The exam that fits is the one for the cloud or platform your target employers run. Each of the three tests one vendor's tools.

Machine learning exams compared. Source: Databricks pages read October 4, 2026; AWS and Google Cloud pages read October 11, 2026.

AWS's exam is changing versions. Its page, read October 11, 2026, gives September 28, 2026 as the last day to take MLA-C01 in English. In English, you can now register for the updated version, MLA-C02, in beta (a trial run of a new exam): $75, 85 questions, 170 minutes. MLA-C01 stays open in Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese until MLA-C02 is fully released, and the page gave no date for that. An AWS pass stays valid three years and a Databricks pass two years. If you pass the Databricks exam and renew it once by exam two years later, the fees come to $400 ($200 for the first pass plus $200 to renew). Our Databricks certification page covers that company's exams in detail.

Do data scientists need certifications?

Data scientists do not need certifications by any vendor's rules we read: none of the exam or course pages presents its credential as a condition for the job. Employers decide what their ads ask for, and the job-ad section shows how often six certification phrases appeared in US, UK and Indian data-scientist ads. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the government's labor-data agency, gives a bachelor's degree in math, statistics, computer science or a related field as the entry-level education for data scientists.

Is a data science certificate worth it?

A data science certificate is worth it when it fills a gap you can name: you need a structured course to learn Python and machine learning, or you build models but have not used the cloud your target employers run. Keep the two kinds apart. A course certificate from Coursera records lessons you finished; a certification such as the AWS or Databricks exam means you passed a supervised test. For someone who cannot code yet, a two-month course at $49 a month costs $98 in total, and one AWS exam attempt costs $150 for MLA-C01 or $75 for the MLA-C02 beta.

Data science certificate salary: what do data scientists earn?

We cannot say what a certificate adds to pay: we count job ads, not salaries, and no source we read measures pay for certificate holders. The BLS puts the median annual wage for US data scientists at $120,230 in May 2025. The median is the middle value, so half earned more and half earned less. BLS projects employment of data scientists to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, which it calls much faster than the average for all occupations. We have no official pay figures for the UK or India.

What do Reddit posters ask about the best certifications for data scientists?

Posters ask whether a course or exam is worth the money and which one to take first. We grouped the questions in the Reddit posts we collected on r/coursera, r/AWSCertifications and r/learnmachinelearning (Reddit is a discussion site, and each "r/" name is one of its forums). People who post are a self-selected group, so the list shows what people ask, not how many share a view.

• Whether a Coursera professional certificate is worth it for people looking for AI or data jobs (r/coursera). Our answer: in October 2026, ibm data science professional certificate appeared in one of the 8,250 US data-scientist ads on Adzuna; Python and machine learning skills are what those ads name.
• Whether an AWS certification is worth doing for a math and physics undergraduate (r/AWSCertifications). Our answer: start with the ten ads from your first step; the AWS machine learning exam fits once you build models on AWS.
• Whether hiring managers care about the AWS AI Practitioner (AWS's entry-level AI exam) or whether to aim for the Machine Learning Engineer Associate instead (r/AWSCertifications, July 2026). Our answer: our AI engineer page counts the AI Practitioner phrase; for data scientists we count the machine learning phrase.
• Whether to take the Machine Learning Engineer – Associate first or prepare directly for a Professional-level AWS exam (r/AWSCertifications). AWS's Professional-level exams were outside our check, so we cannot compare them; the Associate page recommends at least one year using AWS machine learning services.
• Which practice tests cover the new MLA-C02 version (r/AWSCertifications, September 2026). We did not review practice tests; AWS lists MLA-C02 as a beta in English only.
• Whether the Machine Learning Specialization is worth it (r/learnmachinelearning, September 2026) and where to take it (r/coursera, January 2026). Coursera hosts it, from Stanford Online and DeepLearning.AI: 3 beginner courses, about two months. Our reading: it is worth it if you cannot yet explain what a machine learning model is.
• Whether Andrew Ng's lectures on YouTube match the Coursera courses (r/learnmachinelearning, September 2026). Our check did not cover the YouTube versions, so compare the Coursera syllabus with the video list yourself.
• Whether to choose the IBM Data Science or the IBM Data Analyst certificate with a business analytics degree (r/coursera, March 2026). Our data analyst page covers the analyst route.
• Whether you must pay for every IBM course to receive the final certificate (r/coursera, January 2026). Coursera's IBM page showed no price when we read it, so check the payment terms there before you enroll. The same poster asked what Coursera's financial aid (a fee reduction you apply for) adds when the total price is small. Financial aid was outside our check, so ask Coursera.

What we did not check

• Google Cloud's machine learning exam and Microsoft's DP-100 in job ads: we have no phrase count for either.
• The price of the IBM Data Science Professional Certificate.
• How long Google's machine learning certification stays valid: the Google page text we read did not state a period.
• Microsoft's current machine learning credentials, and any vendor-neutral data scientist exam.
• Pay for holders of any certificate on this page.

Related roles and where to go next

A data analyst reports on data that already exists, and that page shows which tools data-analyst ads name. A data engineer builds the pipelines (automated steps that move and clean data) that data scientists draw on. An AI engineer builds software around trained AI models (AI engineer without a degree). Our methodology page explains how we count.

Sources

• Adzuna job-ad counts, ads with data scientist in the job title in the US, the UK and India, October 2026; analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.
• AWS, Machine Learning Engineer Associate and Machine Learning Specialty, read October 11, 2026.
• Coursera, IBM Data Science Professional Certificate, Machine Learning Specialization and Google Advanced Data Analytics Professional Certificate, read October 3, 2026.
• Databricks, certification FAQ and Machine Learning Associate, read October 4, 2026.
• Google Cloud, Professional Machine Learning Engineer, read October 11, 2026.
• Microsoft Learn, Azure Data Scientist Associate and credential retirement, read October 11, 2026.
• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, Data Scientists, May 2025 wage and 2025–2035 projection, read October 11, 2026.
• Reddit threads linked in the text, from the posts we collected.

Edited by Jere Salmisto · Pages read October 3 to 11, 2026