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The differences between analysts and information analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become an analyst, becoming an information analyst takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an information analyst has an average salary of $75,933, 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 an information analyst are patients, data entry, and data analysis.
| Analyst | Information Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $73,007 | $75,933 |
| Hourly rate | $35.10 | $36.51 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 253,138 | 141,418 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
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.
Information Analysts are employees who collect data and analyze the information from the data they collected. They are usually found in companies with information technology departments. They collect network, software, or hardware performance data and analyze these data. The data that Information Analysts collect would help in identifying and anticipating problems in the system. As such, they will be able to troubleshoot and provide a sound analysis of the systems and networks. They would then be able to give recommendations to address problems, based on what they analyzed.
Analysts and information analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Analyst | Information Analyst | |
| Average salary | $73,007 | $75,933 |
| Salary range | Between $53,000 And $99,000 | Between $55,000 And $104,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Oregon |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | Putnam Investments |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between an analyst and an information analyst in terms of educational background:
| Analyst | Information Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 67% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between analysts' and information analysts' demographics:
| Analyst | Information Analyst | |
| Average age | 44 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% | Male, 51.7% Female, 48.3% |
| 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, 10.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.0% Asian, 14.6% White, 59.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 8% |