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The differences between decision analysts and data analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a decision analyst has an average salary of $79,900, which is higher than the $74,342 average annual salary of a data analyst.
The top three skills for a decision analyst include data analysis, SQL and SAS. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.
| Decision Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $79,900 | $74,342 |
| Hourly rate | $38.41 | $35.74 |
| Growth rate | 23% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 62,744 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | 4 |
A decision analyst helps companies make decisions using different research strategies and mathematical equations based on relevant data. Although their duties vary upon their industry or company of employment, it usually includes understanding the company's vision and mission, conducting market research and analyses, gathering and interpreting data, analyzing consumer feedback, developing sales forecasts, performing risk assessments, and studying the competition. Through their research findings, a decision analyst comes to a conclusion and develops recommendations that will not just help make decisions but also be vital in optimizing procedures and solving existing issues.
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.
Decision analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Decision Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average salary | $79,900 | $74,342 |
| Salary range | Between $57,000 And $110,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a decision analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:
| Decision Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Columbia University in the City of New York | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between decision analysts' and data analysts' demographics:
| Decision Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 53.3% Female, 46.7% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 13.7% White, 55.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | 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 | 9% | 12% |