Data processing analyst vs data analyst

The differences between data processing 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 data processing analyst, becoming a data analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a data processing analyst has an average salary of $76,487, which is higher than the $74,342 average annual salary of a data analyst.

The top three skills for a data processing analyst include data analysis, process improvement and visualization. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.

Data processing analyst vs data analyst overview

	Data Processing Analyst	Data Analyst
Yearly salary	$76,487	$74,342
Hourly rate	$36.77	$35.74
Growth rate	9%	11%
Number of jobs	128,197	167,520
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age	43	44
Years of experience	6	4

What does a data processing analyst do?

Data Processing Analysts are responsible for analyzing and maintaining the data systems of an organization. Their duties include interpreting data, analyzing statistical results, creating databases, identifying patterns from data sets, and undertake data filtering. They are also involved in preparing analytics reports, developing data visualizations, and mining data sets from primary or secondary sources. Data Processing Analysts also execute process automation, data validation, and documenting client's business requirements. They continuously monitor the performance metric of a project.

What does a data analyst do?

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.

Data processing analyst vs data analyst salary

Data processing analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Processing Analyst	Data Analyst
Average salary	$76,487	$74,342
Salary range	Between $54,000 And $107,000	Between $53,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Richmond, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	New Jersey
Best paying company	PayPal	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Automotive	Finance

Differences between data processing analyst and data analyst education

There are a few differences between a data processing analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:

	Data Processing Analyst	Data Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 59%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Stanford University	Northwestern University

Data processing analyst vs data analyst demographics

Here are the differences between data processing analysts' and data analysts' demographics:

	Data Processing Analyst	Data Analyst
Average age	43	44
Gender ratio	Male, 54.4% Female, 45.6%	Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.5% White, 58.5% 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	8%	12%

Differences between data processing analyst and data analyst duties and responsibilities

Data processing analyst example responsibilities.

Manage and contribute to EDI processes ensuring HIPAA compliance and access to clearing house review on individual case status.
Develop and teach seminars on the use of statistical software including SPSS and SAS.
Implement and maintain Microsoft SharePoint.
Supervise SharePoint migration while insuring adherence to data governance, disaster recovery and backup policy compliance.
Contribute with management and business teams to develop and implement documentation and operational guidelines design to support MDM and business strategies.
Maintain and update Winshuttle transaction scripts.

Show more

Data analyst example responsibilities.

Manage patient s data in UNIX system.
Manage loan performance in Hyperion Financials using SQL and PL/SQL tools.
Manage and contribute to EDI processes ensuring HIPAA compliance and access to clearing house review on individual case status.
Develop Java application to automate reformatting of text files for an internal application.
Execute deterministic modeling and Monte Carlo simulations in MATLAB to achieve greater mathematical confidence in results obtain from analysis.
Manage weapon system project websites via SharePoint, including troubleshooting technical issues and developing guidelines for public/private information and user permissions.

Show more

Data processing analyst vs data analyst skills

Common data processing analyst skills

Data Analysis, 16%
Process Improvement, 10%
Visualization, 8%
Tableau, 8%
Analyze Data, 5%
Data Collection, 5%

Common data analyst skills

Data Analysis, 10%
Python, 7%
Power Bi, 6%
Data Management, 6%
Visualization, 5%
Data Quality, 4%

Data Processing Analyst vs. similar jobs

Data Processing Analyst related careers

Data Processing Analyst related jobs

What similar roles do

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z