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The differences between lead business analysts and junior business analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a lead business analyst and a junior business analyst. Additionally, a lead business analyst has an average salary of $107,171, which is higher than the $69,642 average annual salary of a junior business analyst.
The top three skills for a lead business analyst include project management, scrum and business analysis. The most important skills for a junior business analyst are user stories, test cases, and strong analytical.
| Lead Business Analyst | Junior Business Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $107,171 | $69,642 |
| Hourly rate | $51.52 | $33.48 |
| Growth rate | 11% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 126,509 | 136,424 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
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.
Junior business analysts work with senior business analysts and project teams to ensure the applications or products in development comply with end-user needs. Their primary responsibility is data analysis, in which they report the findings to the senior business analysts as well as the developers. Other duties and responsibilities include analyzing the impact of projects on business outcomes, collecting systems information, and giving feedback to developers who work on the deliverables. Junior business analysts are also expected to contribute to the development of test scripts and test plans.
Lead business analysts and junior business analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Lead Business Analyst | Junior Business Analyst | |
| Average salary | $107,171 | $69,642 |
| Salary range | Between $82,000 And $139,000 | Between $54,000 And $88,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Bellevue, WA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | Citi | AIG |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a lead business analyst and a junior business analyst in terms of educational background:
| Lead Business Analyst | Junior Business Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between lead business analysts' and junior business analysts' demographics:
| Lead Business Analyst | Junior Business Analyst | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.3% Female, 44.7% | Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1% |
| 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, 7.5% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.6% White, 64.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |