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The differences between senior compensation analysts and analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a senior compensation analyst, becoming an analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a senior compensation analyst has an average salary of $85,796, which is higher than the $73,007 average annual salary of an analyst.
The top three skills for a senior compensation analyst include compensation programs, human resources and HRIS. The most important skills for an analyst are customer service, troubleshoot, and data analysis.
| Senior Compensation Analyst | Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $85,796 | $73,007 |
| Hourly rate | $41.25 | $35.10 |
| Growth rate | 7% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 17,361 | 253,138 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 4 |
A senior compensation analyst is primarily in charge of developing and maintaining compensation programs for a company's employees. Their responsibilities revolve around performing extensive research and analysis to identify employee needs, understanding the extent of every workforce position, conducting surveys, improving existing programs, and learning the compensation programs of competitors. Furthermore, as a senior compensation analyst, it is essential to lead and encourage teams to reach goals and serve as a mentor to junior analysts, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
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.
Senior compensation analysts and analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Compensation Analyst | Analyst | |
| Average salary | $85,796 | $73,007 |
| Salary range | Between $63,000 And $116,000 | Between $53,000 And $99,000 |
| Highest paying City | Sacramento, CA | Jersey City, NJ |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Wedbush Securities | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Real Estate | Technology |
There are a few differences between a senior compensation analyst and an analyst in terms of educational background:
| Senior Compensation Analyst | Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 71% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between senior compensation analysts' and analysts' demographics:
| Senior Compensation Analyst | Analyst | |
| Average age | 45 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 34.8% Female, 65.2% | Male, 52.4% Female, 47.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.6% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 7.7% White, 62.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | 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 | 9% | 12% |