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The differences between buying analysts and data analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a buying analyst, becoming a data analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a buying analyst has an average salary of $77,425, which is higher than the $74,342 average annual salary of a data analyst.
The top three skills for a buying analyst include purchase orders, delivery schedules and MRP. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.
| Buying Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $77,425 | $74,342 |
| Hourly rate | $37.22 | $35.74 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 22,966 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A buying analyst specializes in conducting extensive market research and analysis to develop conclusions and recommendations that will help companies in making purchase decisions. They focus on studying the suppliers and competing companies, gathering and analyzing consumer feedback, performing audits and risk assessments, and making forecast models. They may also assess and evaluate external parties, such as vendors and distributors. Through the findings of their research, a buying analyst may also help in establishing guidelines, protocols, and methods to optimize business operations and develop solutions against problem areas.
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.
Buying analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Buying Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average salary | $77,425 | $74,342 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $113,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Palo Alto, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | YellowHammer | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a buying analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:
| Buying Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between buying analysts' and data analysts' demographics:
| Buying Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.2% Female, 47.8% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.1% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 7.4% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | 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 | 7% | 12% |