Data analysts are below average when it comes to happiness.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, data analysts rate their career happiness 2.9 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 22% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy data analysts are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
Career
Satisfaction
Avg Salary
Market research analyst
2.9
$64k
Information security analyst
2.9
$98k
Fraud analyst
2.9
$73k
Customer success manager
2.9
$46k
Command and control center specialist
2.9
$37k
Data analyst
2.9
$44k
Operations research analyst
2.9
$82k
Controller
2.9
$71k
Purchasing manager
2.9
$127k
Quality assurance analyst
2.8
$41k
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
Salary: Are data analysts happy with their salary?
Meaning: Do data analysts find their jobs meaningful?
Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as data analysts?
Work environment: How enjoyable are data analyst’s work environments?
Skills utilization: Are data analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Are data analysts happy with their salary?
Data analysts rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.2/5. Few are explicitly unhappy with their salaries, with most data analysts having generally positive views of their salary.
We asked data analysts how fairly compensated they are for their work. Their response was:
3.2 out of 5 stars
3498 data analysts
5 Star
14%
14% of data analysts rated their compensation 5 stars
4 Star
31%
31% of data analysts rated their compensation 4 stars
3 Star
28%
28% of data analysts rated their compensation 3 stars
2 Star
17%
17% of data analysts rated their compensation 2 stars
1 Star
10%
10% of data analysts rated their compensation 1 stars
Do data analysts find their jobs meaningful?
On average, data analysts rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.5/5. The majority of data analysts struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked data analysts how meaningful they found their work. Their response was:
8% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
4 Star
14%
14% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
3 Star
24%
24% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
2 Star
26%
26% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
1 Star
28%
28% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as data analysts?
Data analysts rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.6/5. The majority of data analysts find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.
We asked data analysts how well their personalities fit into their careers. Their response was:
3.6 out of 5 stars
3524 data analysts
5 Star
22%
22% of data analysts rated their career fit 5 stars
4 Star
37%
37% of data analysts rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of data analysts rated their career fit 3 stars
2 Star
11%
11% of data analysts rated their career fit 2 stars
1 Star
6%
6% of data analysts rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is a data analyst’s work environment?
As a whole, data analysts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of data analysts enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a data analyst.
We asked data analysts how much they enjoyed their work environment. Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
3503 data analysts
5 Star
18%
18% of data analysts rated their work environment 5 stars
4 Star
34%
34% of data analysts rated their work environment 4 stars
3 Star
25%
25% of data analysts rated their work environment 3 stars
2 Star
15%
15% of data analysts rated their work environment 2 stars
1 Star
8%
8% of data analysts rated their work environment 1 stars
Are data analysts making the best use of their abilities?
Former data analysts on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Data analysts tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked data analysts how well their abilities were used in their careers. Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
3518 data analysts
5 Star
12%
12% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
4 Star
21%
21% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
3 Star
27%
27% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
2 Star
25%
25% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
1 Star
15%
15% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars
How enjoyable is a data analyst's work environment? As a whole, data analysts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of data analysts enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a data analyst.
By and large, data analysts seem pretty happy with their choice of career. They dig the variety, the problem-solving, and the feeling that they're learning something new all the time. But, when it comes to paychecks, not everyone's smiling.
This means interesting work day-to-day. And the story doesn't end there! Being a data analyst is rewarding because we generally see our work through from the conception (how we decide to answer a question) through to the very end (presenting our results and following up with stakeholders).
Data analysts are in great demand across all industries and there is a good career path for those who want to move up the professional ladder. Many top organisations require data analysts to help them to make better use of their data or provide the right insights that will help them in their business activities.
One of the key stress factors for data analysts is the constant pressure to deliver accurate and actionable insights within tight deadlines. The sheer volume of data that needs to be analyzed can also be overwhelming, leading to high levels of stress.
In other cases, the employer will mislabel a role in the job description. For instance, a data scientist might be hired for a machine learning role, only to end up handling low-level analytics tasks.
The top personality traits of data analysts are social responsibility and openness. Data analysts score highly on social responsibility, indicating that they desire fair outcomes and have a general concern for others.
Many data scientists are over the age of 40 and typically have earned a bachelor's degree, and there is always time to explore the idea. There are no age limitations for obtaining a college education, and getting a degree in data science when you are older opens the door to many job prospects.
If you're looking to minimize your screen time- don't become a Data Analyst. You're going to be on a computer all day, every day. If you work as an employee, that will be 8-9 hours on a computer all day. You're gonna have to know how to use all kinds of software applications.
The demands of their role can be relentless, as they are expected to clean, process, and interpret data, often under tight deadlines. This can lead to extended hours of focused analysis and, at times, encroachment into personal time, making the concept of work-life balance a critical yet elusive ideal to uphold.
Q1: Can AI fully replace Data Analysts? Answer: While AI can automate certain tasks traditionally performed by Data Analysts, such as data cleaning and preliminary analysis, it is unlikely to fully replace the need for human analysts.
Generally speaking, Data Analysts can expect to work between 40 and 60 hours a week, typically on a Monday through Friday schedule, which would correspond with the hours the business or company is open. This often means a 9-5 or 8-6 day.
So, you're either a data analyst or considering becoming one, and you'd like to pursue a remote profession. But you must be wondering whether it is possible to work from home in the field of data analytics. A short answer is yes.
But sophisticated analytics is often rather lonely. As a result, deserted Data Scientists do not experience team spirit, they have nobody to consult with their assumptions of uncertainty.
While data analysts must be adept with numbers and can benefit from having a basic understanding of math and statistics, much of data analysis simply involves following a series of logical procedures. People don't need to have a lot of mathematical expertise to excel in this field.
Thanks for the A2A. The most difficult part of a data analyst's job is using data to persuade someone whose mind is already made up. Contrary to popular imagination, while the market for analytics is booming, I suspect the actual value created is lower than expected.
How enjoyable is a data analyst's work environment? As a whole, data analysts rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.4/5. A solid majority of data analysts enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a data analyst.
Is It Hard To Become a Data Analyst? Becoming a data analyst isn't hard per se, though it does require specific technical skills that might be more challenging for some than others. Additionally, because of continuing advancements in the field, data analysis is a career path that requires ongoing education.
Technical skills requirement: Data analysis requires a strong foundation in statistics, programming, and data manipulation. If you don't have a background in these areas, you may need to invest time and effort in acquiring the necessary skills.
Introduction: My name is Allyn Kozey, I am a outstanding, colorful, adventurous, encouraging, zealous, tender, helpful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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