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 | $48k |
| Information security analyst | 2.9 | $77k |
| Fraud analyst | 2.9 | $54k |
| Customer success manager | 2.9 | $70k |
| Command and control center specialist | 2.9 | $37k |
| Data analyst | 2.9 | $70k |
| Operations research analyst | 2.9 | $65k |
| Controller | 2.9 | $71k |
| Purchasing manager | 2.9 | $70k |
| Quality assurance analyst | 2.8 | $58k |
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
3496 data analysts
14% of data analysts rated their compensation 5 stars
31% of data analysts rated their compensation 4 stars
28% of data analysts rated their compensation 3 stars
17% of data analysts rated their compensation 2 stars
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:
2.5 out of 5 stars
3504 data analysts
8% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
14% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
24% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of data analysts rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
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
3522 data analysts
22% of data analysts rated their career fit 5 stars
37% of data analysts rated their career fit 4 stars
24% of data analysts rated their career fit 3 stars
11% of data analysts rated their career fit 2 stars
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
3501 data analysts
18% of data analysts rated their work environment 5 stars
34% of data analysts rated their work environment 4 stars
25% of data analysts rated their work environment 3 stars
15% of data analysts rated their work environment 2 stars
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
3516 data analysts
12% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
21% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
27% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
25% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
15% of data analysts rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars