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The differences between economic analysts and data analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an economic analyst and a data analyst. Additionally, a data analyst has an average salary of $74,342, which is higher than the $72,501 average annual salary of an economic analyst.
The top three skills for an economic analyst include SQL, SAS and data analysis. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.
| Economic Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $72,501 | $74,342 |
| Hourly rate | $34.86 | $35.74 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 81,768 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
An economic analyst is in charge of observing and analyzing the economy's state to assist a company in its decision-making endeavors. Their responsibilities revolve around keeping track of different markets, learning the impact of politics and important events to the economy, gathering data from various departments, and creating business plans and forecasts based on the findings. Moreover, in a company setting, an economic analyst may produce progress reports and presentations, mentor younger analysts, and implement the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Economic analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Economic Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average salary | $72,501 | $74,342 |
| Salary range | Between $49,000 And $107,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Finance |
There are a few differences between an economic analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:
| Economic Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Economics | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between economic analysts' and data analysts' demographics:
| Economic Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average age | 40 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 65.9% Female, 34.1% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.6% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.7% Asian, 14.1% White, 68.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | 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% |