Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between support analysts and business analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a support analyst, becoming a business analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a support analyst has an average salary of $75,989, which is higher than the $74,431 average annual salary of a business analyst.
The top three skills for a support analyst include customer service, troubleshoot and technical support. The most important skills for a business analyst are project management, data analysis, and business analysis.
| Support Analyst | Business Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $75,989 | $74,431 |
| Hourly rate | $36.53 | $35.78 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 9% |
| Number of jobs | 107,039 | 170,514 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 4 |
The role of support analysts is to resolve problems with hardware, computer programs, and peripherals. They may focus on a particular aspect of the information technology (IT) department or give technical support to end-users. They mainly detect issues with IT equipment and software and devise solutions to resolve these issues. Also, they are responsible for answering queries from users, preparing service records, and handling escalations. Support analysts also support the company's IT operations and best practices by creating and distributing relevant IT documents.
Business analysts are employees who are responsible for interpreting business data and coming up with business solutions. They are well-versed in whatever business the company is in, and they have strong business acumen. They collect data related to the business and then interpret and analyze the data. Business analysts should be able to conduct different levels of analyses and must also be able to create a sound study. Once the analysis is done, they provide recommendations or strategic direction to decision-makers that will help the business become sustainable and grow.
Support analysts and business analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Analyst | Business Analyst | |
| Average salary | $75,989 | $74,431 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $114,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Mountain View, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Washington |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a support analyst and a business analyst in terms of educational background:
| Support Analyst | Business Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between support analysts' and business analysts' demographics:
| Support Analyst | Business Analyst | |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% | Male, 53.9% Female, 46.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 12.9% White, 54.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |