21 (Realistic) Data Analyst Salaries in the US

Data analyst salaries in the United States can vary widely. For example, your income as a data analyst might depend on your industry, your location and work setting, your years of experience and any active certifications you hold.

In this article, we’ll look at the three types of data analyst roles you’ll typically find, 21 data analyst salary ranges throughout the United States and other salary considerations that apply nationwide.

What is a Data Analyst?

Many technical jobs shift dramatically from company to company, a trend that’s particularly true with data analysts. In this section, we’ll look at the high-level data analyst job description and three common breeds of the data analyst.

Generally, data analysts are tasked with retrieving business data, analyzing that data and generating reports. In most cases, data analysis represents a technical position, but there are non-technical variations of data analysts. The three types of data analysts include programming-heavy analysts, reporting analysts and client-side analysts.

Programmer data analyst. Most data analysts should be proficient with at least one programming language. In most cases, that’s SQL, which is the language of choice for retrieving data from relational databases. However, programmer analysts are very similar to software engineers. This type of data analyst collects data from APIs, stores the data and develops end-to-end data pipelines. Programming data analysts may even get into light machine learning, big data analysis and other tasks more often associated with data scientists than analysts.

Reporting data analyst. These data analysts are a “reports-only” breed of analysts. Responsibilities typically revolve around generating reports, charts and other data visualizations for C-suite, managers and front-line analysts across a company. In many cases, reporting analysts work with systems like Tableau, Power BI and Excel. The reporting analyst should be proficient in at least one reporting dashboard software, as well as SQL and SQL Server.

Client-side analyst. This type of the analyst is decidedly the least technical. Client analysts are closer to business analysts than data analysts, but they’re often still bestowed with the “data analyst” title. These analysts are the consumers of reports, data visualization and the products of technical data analysts and scientists rather than their producers. A client-side analyst will likely have some SQL skills, but will more likely live in the world of PowerPoint, Excel and perhaps Tableau.

The data analyst job title is often a catch-all term that can mean a number of different things. Take this into consideration when you’re looking at the data analyst salary ranges — and job descriptions when looking for a data analyst job.

21 Data Analyst Salaries from Glassdoor

National averages include high cost-of-living areas like New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and other large metropolitan areas. However, if you’re living in Edmond, Oklahoma, you probably shouldn’t apply to jobs expecting a salary close to the national average.

To really get a sense of data analyst salaries, you have to look at job descriptions as well as localities. Here are 21 (realistic) data analyst salaries to give you a sense of what you’re probably worth.

The highest salaries are exactly where you’d expect them to be — in large metropolitan areas with high costs of living. Interestingly, though, data analyst salaries are relatively uniform across the United States.

With the exception of San Francisco, data analysts' salaries in the DC area are about 30 percent higher than Tampa, Florida — the lowest data analyst salaries we reported. Overall, that’s roughly equivalent to the 31% cost of living change between Tampa and DC as figured by the U.S Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

Salary Considerations for Data Analysts

As with all job markets, employers have considerable discretion to pay as much (or as little) as the market will allow — and there are plenty of factors that play into that calculus. That’s why it’s important to look at local rather than national averages and costs when evaluating your salary range.

For instance, let’s look at the quick and dirty analysis above between DC and Pittsburgh. A data analyst going from a large company in Pittsburgh to DC with experience working with similar software in a similar industry can likely get a pay increase out of the move, but not realize a cost of living gain in the process. Conversely, a data analysis with experience in DC may be able to negotiate the same salary in Pittsburgh and enjoy a considerable cost of living increase.

Ultimately, the salary you can land combines your experience, education, and the local market. Here’s a look at a few of those considerations.

Data Analysts: Experience vs Education

Quite simply, the highest-paid data analysts are the ones with the experience most valuable to an employer. Yes. That’s a painfully broad statement, but also reflective of the reality in such a broad career field.

However, within that broad statement is the noted absence of education. Employers are more likely to hire someone with experience with the technology, industry and datasets than someone with a degree, but no experience. Data analysis, like software engineering, is in such high demand that employers are more willing to accept new data analysts without formal education as long as they have the requisite technical skill sets. Instead, employers look for data analysts with proficiency in Python, R and SQL.

Certifications are another way to considerably boost your worth as a data analyst. Unlike degrees, certifications validate specific experience. While a degree in data analytics, computer science, or even business, may help the prospects of an aspiring data analyst, the degree isn’t as valuable as it once was. Instead, new data analysts can validate their skills with one of several Microsoft or Data Analyst certifications — all of which are under $400. 

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