Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between lead business analysts and analyst leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a lead business analyst, becoming an analyst lead takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a lead business analyst has an average salary of $107,171, which is higher than the $95,264 average annual salary of an analyst lead.
The top three skills for a lead business analyst include project management, scrum and business analysis. The most important skills for an analyst lead are analytics, data analysis, and project management.
| Lead Business Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $107,171 | $95,264 |
| Hourly rate | $51.52 | $45.80 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 126,509 | 122,353 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 43 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 6 |
A lead business analyst utilizes data and analytical skills to plan, develop, and implement business systems and operations to help a company attain its short and long-term goals. Their duties focus on conducting market research and assessments, gathering and analyzing data, studying consumers and competitors in the industry, and identifying the strengths and weaknesses in existing systems. They also conduct risk assessments, create business models and forecasts, and identify solutions against potential or existing issues. Additionally, through their research findings, they develop recommendations in adherence to company standards and regulations.
The duties of an analyst lead depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis, coordinating with different departments to gather leads and data, reviewing findings, and producing reports and presentations for the stakeholders and other higher-ranking officials. Through the results, an analyst lead can provide advice, devise strategies for business optimization, spearhead the development of processes, identify strengths and weaknesses, and offer recommendations on areas in need of improvement. All of this is done while in adherence to the company's vision and mission.
Lead business analysts and analyst leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Business Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Average salary | $107,171 | $95,264 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $139,000 | Between $74,000 And $122,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | California |
| Best paying company | Citi | |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead business analyst and an analyst lead in terms of educational background:
| Lead Business Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between lead business analysts' and analyst leads' demographics:
| Lead Business Analyst | Analyst Lead | |
| Average age | 44 | 43 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7% | Male, 62.4% Female, 37.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 14.2% White, 65.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.3% Asian, 14.4% White, 58.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 8% |