The work of a Data Analyst is key for a business or organization to determine viable operational strategies and potential risks. The main responsibility of a data analyst is gathering and interpreting data with advanced computer technologies, analyzing the quality and meaning of the data results in information that highlights important patterns and trends in the activities of the organization.
Data analysts present these reports to management and, without these results, stakeholders are unable to make informed decisions. Data analysts are employed by a number of different institutions such as banks, universities, factories, software development companies, and many more.
You need to have excellent problem-solving skills and a keen mathematical mind to be a successful data analyst. You need to know various programming languages, and you must display a logical approach. You will work under pressure for tight deadlines with a team of like-minded individuals, so an ability to prioritize tasks and a willingness to work with a team is also crucial.
Data Analyst Overview
Working as a Data Analyst
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a data analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.13 an hour? That's $73,065 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 14% and produce 118,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Data Analyst Do
There are certain skills that many data analysts have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, time-management skills and problem-solving skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a data analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.9% of data analysts included data analysis, while 7.7% of resumes included procedures, and 6.9% of resumes included python. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the data analyst job title. But what industry to start with? Most data analysts actually find jobs in the technology and finance industries.
How To Become a Data Analyst
If you're interested in becoming a data analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 46.3% of data analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 29.3% of data analysts have master's degrees. Even though most data analysts have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a data analyst. When we researched the most common majors for a data analyst, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on data analyst resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a data analyst. In fact, many data analyst jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many data analysts also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or customer service representative.
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Data Analyst Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of business analyst you might progress to a role such as project manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title contract project manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Data Analyst
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
System One Services Data Analyst Data Analyst | System One Services System One Services | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $94,85401/30/2021 $94,854 |
Moo. Property Management Data Analyst/Data Entry Analyst. Data Analyst/Data Entry Analyst. | Moo. Property Management Moo. Property Management | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $38,00001/30/2021 $38,000 |
Randstad Data Management Analyst Data Management Analyst | Randstad Randstad | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $104,35001/30/2021 $104,350 |
Unitedhealth Group Inc. Data Analyst 2-US Telecommute Data Analyst 2-US Telecommute | Unitedhealth Group Inc. Unitedhealth Group Inc. | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $64,80001/29/2021 $64,800 |
Health Advocates Network, Inc. Healthcare Data Analyst III Healthcare Data Analyst III | Health Advocates Network, Inc. Health Advocates Network, Inc. | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $91,82801/29/2021 $91,828 |
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Data Analyst Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Data Analyst. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Data Analyst Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Data Analyst resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Data Analysts
1. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. New York University
New York, NY • Private
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. George Washington University, The
Washington, DC • Private
6. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
7. Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA • Private
8. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
9. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Public
10. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Public
Top Skills For a Data Analyst
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 14.9% of data analysts listed data analysis on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and time-management skills are important as well.
- Data Analysis, 14.9%
- Procedures, 7.7%
- Python, 6.9%
- Data Management, 5.4%
- R, 4.1%
- Other Skills, 61.0% See All Data Analyst Skills
Best States For a Data Analyst
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a data analyst. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, and Maryland. Data analysts make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $79,900. Whereas in New Jersey and Washington, they would average $77,173 and $75,473, respectively. While data analysts would only make an average of $74,892 in Maryland, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
$79,900
Avg. Salary
2. New Jersey
$77,173
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$74,562
Avg. Salary
How Do Data Analyst Rate Their Jobs?
Top Data Analyst Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ data analysts and discovered their number of data analyst opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Capgemini was the best, especially with an average salary of $81,448. Capital One follows up with an average salary of $80,312, and then comes Bloomberg with an average of $68,146. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a data analyst. The employers include CBRE Group, Becton Dickinson, and USAA