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The differences between payroll analysts and 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 payroll analyst and an analyst. Additionally, an analyst has an average salary of $73,007, which is higher than the $54,217 average annual salary of a payroll analyst.
The top three skills for a payroll analyst include customer service, payroll system and payroll data. The most important skills for an analyst are customer service, troubleshoot, and data analysis.
| Payroll Analyst | Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $54,217 | $73,007 |
| Hourly rate | $26.07 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | -3% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 15,555 | 253,138 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A payroll analyst is primarily in charge of overseeing a company's payroll processes and transactions, ensuring efficiency and timeliness. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating with human resources for accurate and complete timesheets and employee data, managing calendars and schedules, calculating wages and deductions, and performing consistent audits. There are also instances when a payroll analyst must perform clerical tasks such as processing documents, prepare progress reports, and respond to employee inquiries. Furthermore, it is essential to report to managers should there be any issues and concerns.
Analysts are employees or individual contributors with a vast experience in a particular field that help the organization address challenges. They help the organization improve processes, policies, and other operations protocol by studying the current processes in place and determining the effectiveness of those processes. They also research industry trends and data to make sound inferences and recommendations on what the company should do to improve their numbers. Analysts recommend business solutions and often help the organization roll out these solutions. They ensure that the proposed action plans are effective and produce the desired results.
Payroll analysts and analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Payroll Analyst | Analyst | |
| Average salary | $54,217 | $73,007 |
| Salary range | Between $39,000 And $74,000 | Between $53,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Olympia, WA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Varian Medical Systems | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a payroll analyst and an analyst in terms of educational background:
| Payroll Analyst | Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 60% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between payroll analysts' and analysts' demographics:
| Payroll Analyst | Analyst | |
| Average age | 48 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.2% Female, 75.8% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 18.6% Asian, 6.1% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% | Black or African American, 7.4% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 12% |