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Data Analyst salary: pay and its limits
A familiar job title does not always have its own wage series. Here is how to compare pay without borrowing the wrong number.
BLS Data Scientists is a broader occupation that includes modeling; O*NET Business Intelligence Analysts covers reporting and decision-support tasks. Neither is an exact salary for every data analyst title.
Read the figure carefully
What is—and is not—being measured.
O*NET’s business intelligence tasks describe one slice of analysis, while the displayed labor-market figures belong to Data Scientists. BLS measures that broader occupation, including model development. This guide therefore makes no pay or growth claim for the title “data analyst.”
Because this title has no comparable wage series here, do not convert a related occupation’s median into a claimed salary for this role. Compare current local posts with similar duties and distinguish employee pay from contract revenue.
Before you compare offers
Three questions worth asking.
- 01
Filter vacancies into dashboard/reporting, product analytics and research or modeling before comparing wages.
- 02
Ask what data access, stakeholder contact and responsibility for definitions the role includes.
- 03
Check whether advertised compensation is for an employee, a contract or a more senior analytics specialty.
Make it local
Use real postings as a second source.
Locally, distinguish dashboard reporting from research or model development. Check the decisions the work supports, available data access, and whether the analyst owns definitions or produces reports. Compare listed pay and credentials among vacancies with similar duties.
Save two or three listings with similar duties and location. Write down the advertised range, required experience, contract type and what is not stated. This comparison is more useful than converting a U.S. national median into another country’s currency.
Evidence and limits
Sources and scope
No single U.S. “data analyst” wage series
- O*NET OnLine: Business Intelligence Analysts (15-2051.01) ↗Reporting, dashboards, data interpretation, work context, and preparation; task proxy for one data-analyst branch.
- BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook: Data Scientists ↗Shows the broader occupation behind the O*NET wage and employment data and its additional modeling duties; not used for a data-analyst pay claim.
There is no single BLS OOH “data analyst” profile. O*NET Business Intelligence Analysts is a deliberate proxy for business reporting tasks; other data-analyst jobs may map elsewhere. O*NET shows Data Scientists wage and employment data on that page, so this guide omits a generic data-analyst wage and growth figure. The day and experiment are illustrative editorial scenarios, not practitioner testimony.
O*NET® occupation information is adapted under CC BY 4.0. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested Ikigain’s editorial interpretation. Sources checked 29 September 2026. This is U.S. occupational context, not a personal career assessment or local employment advice.
Keep the whole picture in view.
Pay, demand, preparation, the daily work and AI affect a decision differently. Compare them before making a commitment.
Saved paths and work-sample notes stay in this browser. Fictional exercises are for exploration, not professional assessment.