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The differences between support analysts and data 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 data analyst takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a support analyst has an average salary of $75,989, which is higher than the $74,342 average annual salary of a data analyst.
The top three skills for a support analyst include customer service, troubleshoot and technical support. The most important skills for a data analyst are data analysis, python, and power bi.
| Support Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $75,989 | $74,342 |
| Hourly rate | $36.53 | $35.74 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 107,039 | 167,520 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| 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.
Data analysts are responsible for interpreting the company's statistics and providing sound recommendations to the organization. They manage the organization's data sets, usually related to market performance, finance, or human resources. They are in charge of studying the available data, spotting trends, interpreting what the data and the trends mean, and recommending suggestions that will help the organization perform better. Their recommendations should also be relevant and backed up with strong analyses. Data analysts are expected to have a good grasp of the current market trends in the industry.
Support analysts and data analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Support Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average salary | $75,989 | $74,342 |
| Salary range | Between $50,000 And $114,000 | Between $53,000 And $103,000 |
| Highest paying City | Jersey City, NJ | Richmond, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | The Citadel | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Finance |
There are a few differences between a support analyst and a data analyst in terms of educational background:
| Support Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 65% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between support analysts' and data analysts' demographics:
| Support Analyst | Data Analyst | |
| Average age | 42 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 63.1% Female, 36.9% | Male, 50.2% Female, 49.8% |
| 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, 7.5% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 8.5% Asian, 14.5% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 12% |