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The differences between analysts and data analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an analyst and a data analyst. Additionally, a data analyst has an average salary of $74,342, which is higher than the $73,007 average annual salary of an analyst.
The top three skills for an analyst include customer service, troubleshoot and data analysis. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.
| Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $73,007 | $74,342 |
| Hourly rate | $35.10 | $35.74 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 253,138 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
Analysts are employees or individual contributors with a vast experience in a particular field that help the organization address challenges. They help the organization improve processes, policies, and other operations protocol by studying the current processes in place and determining the effectiveness of those processes. They also research industry trends and data to make sound inferences and recommendations on what the company should do to improve their numbers. Analysts recommend business solutions and often help the organization roll out these solutions. They ensure that the proposed action plans are effective and produce the desired results.
Data analysts are responsible for interpreting the company's statistics and providing sound recommendations to the organization. They manage the organization's data sets, usually related to market performance, finance, or human resources. They are in charge of studying the available data, spotting trends, interpreting what the data and the trends mean, and recommending suggestions that will help the organization perform better. Their recommendations should also be relevant and backed up with strong analyses. Data analysts are expected to have a good grasp of the current market trends in the industry.
Analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average salary | $73,007 | $74,342 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $99,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Finance |
There are a few differences between an analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:
| Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between analysts' and data analysts' demographics:
| Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |