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The Data Analyst Salary: What to Expect in 2021

Big data is big business. Global revenue from big data and business analytics is expected to reach nearly $275 billion by 2022. With big data growing exponentially, companies are looking to fill roles that are focused on leveraging that data.

As a data analyst, you’ll combine skills in programming and statistical analysis to uncover insights, communicate critical findings and create data-driven solutions.

There are numerous factors at play when determining salary including the industry, physical location, years of experience, programming languages known and more. 

Here’s our 2021 guide to your data analyst salary. 

Intel to Set Your Salary Expectations

Your data analyst salary will be dictated by a combination of your skills and experience. Many employers are putting more weight on skills over degrees, so practical experience can make a big difference when interviewing for data analyst positions.

Those who are newer to the field may want to consider an internship or look for an entry-level data analyst role to put their new skills into practice. This will help you  command a larger data analyst salary once they’re more experienced.  

According to Glassdoor, the average data analyst salary in San Francisco is approximately $90,000 a year. Comparatively, the average data analyst salary in Boston is just under $68,000 a year.

Indeed lists the average data analyst salary in San Francisco at roughly $106,000 and Boston averages just over $76,000. Meanwhile, LinkedIn lists the San Francisco base data analyst salary at $87,000.

The salary range for data analysts varies, but the above data provides a solid baseline to set your expectations appropriately based on your location. 

The Role of the Data Analyst

When considering potential candidates to fill data analyst roles, employers will look for a combination of primary and transferable skills.

Primary skills for data analysis include programming, query language, data wrangling, data visualization, and math and data analysis techniques.

Transferable skills include strong written and verbal communication, attention problem-solving solving, time-management and organizational skills. 

As a data analyst, your day-to-day role will vary depending on your employer’s specific needs. However, you can expect that a key part of any data analyst role will be to help create better understanding of customer demographics.

By making data easier to interpret and digest, you’ll provide a more accurate measurement of business initiatives. You’ll also be responsible for proactively identifying possible trouble areas or opportunities.

Uplevel Skills for a Higher Data Analyst Salary

To secure a competitive data analyst salary, your skills and experience needs to keep pace with the latest and greatest in the data science field. To ensure you have a complete suite of skills to land the role you want, taking a course or a program can help you quickly uplevel.

Looking to increase your skills and hands-one experience so you can command a strong data analyst salary?

Udacity’s
Data Analyst Nanodegree allows you the opportunity to advance your programming skills and refine your ability to work with messy, complex datasets. You’ll learn to manipulate and prepare data for analysis, and create visualizations for data exploration.

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