How Much Can a Data Analyst Earn?

The amount of data we generate every day is growing incessantly. Worldwide, we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day. This amount is increasing every passing day as the internet and mobile penetration is increasing across the world.

This burgeoning amount of data referred to as ‘Big Data’, is a trove of valuable insights for companies and enterprises. Data analysts and other roles are critical for companies to leverage this data. Thus, companies are looking for talented Big Data analysts to help them gather insights from this data. This year, data science and analytics job openings are expected to grow to 2.7 million, according to IBM.

This is an opportunity for fresh graduates and all those who are seeking a promising big data career. While data analytics is an attractive career for those with a background in mathematics, statistics, economics, or computer science, people with a strong inclination towards analysis can make a career in data analytics. A data analyst position involves data mining using SQL, R, and Python to extract insights from large data sets, and communicating their findings through graphs and other reports.

This leads us to a pertinent question, how much do data analysts earn?

Data Analyst Salary 

All data analytics jobs pay above the average salary of a full-time worker in the U.S. This salary changes significantly with experience.

The average salary of a data analyst with up to two years of experience is $54,000 per annum, according to Zippia. 2- 4 years of experience will allow a data analyst to command $70,000 per annum. Senior data analysts with six or more years of experience earn as much as $88,000. Specialist data analysts can make $100,000 per annum or more.

The salary of data analysts increases over the first 5 to 10 years. Afterward, it’s difficult to increase salary without broadening the skillset. To further grow salary, many data analysts move into specialist data –related roles like data scientists or data engineer. These roles require specialization and a more advanced skillset. Data scientists have skills in advanced programming, data modeling, and machine learning.

The median salary of a data scientist is $110,000 according to Glassdoor. The starting salary of a data scientist ranges between $50,000 and $95,000.

Data-related roles overlap that further creates a difference in salaries. For instance, big data analysts can apply for data scientists’ roles based on the skill requirements for the position. So your designation might be analyst, but you would be doing much more than the title says. Therefore, it’s more important to pay attention to the job description than the title. This is one way a big data career would throw more opportunities than you might expect to come your way.

Salary variance across data science 

Data science requires an extensive skill set. Prominent skills include Java, Python, R, predictive modeling, Hadoop, Couch, Mongo DB, Neo4j, ggplot, D3, etc. The salary differs skill-wise as well. Knowledge of Spark and Scala can increase the salary of data scientists by as much as $15,000. Similarly, knowledge of D3 can boost salary by $15,000, according to the O’Reilly Data Science report.

Further, 5- 10 years of experience in data science translates to $20,000 more in annual salary, 10-20 years of experience means $30,000, and more than 20 years of experience results in a $55,000 increase in pay, according to PayScale estimates.

Data analyst salary across cities 

Another way for big data analysts to increase their salary is to find a job in a location that pays more. The salary of data analysts, scientists, and engineers varies across cities in the U. S. New York, London, Chicago, and San Francisco pay the most salary. However, don’t just go by salary. When you’re considering relocating, state taxes, and the cost of living in the city. Remote positions may pay less, but the flexibility of working from home would make a better offer.

Source: Hired.com