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As a data analyst, you are the driving force behind data-driven companies: Even with a Bachelor's degree, you can start your career working with data. Further training can make it easier to start your career. In our article, we show your salary prospects from career entry to management responsibility and the salary differences you can expect depending on the region and country.
What is the salary of a Data Analyst at the start of their career?
In contrast to the Data Scientist the salary of a data analyst at the start of their career is somewhat lower and often between 40,000 and 46,000 euros gross per year. The reason for the difference in salary between the two related professions is essentially the perspective: while a data analyst retrieves, processes and interprets data virtually on demand, a data scientist is also expected to make forecasts and strategic deductions. In addition, complex algorithms such as machine learning play a greater role for data scientists.
However, this is by no means to say that the job of a data analyst is more boring or less valuable! There is great potential for varied fields of work, particularly in the content specializations. We explain which personal factors and which company-related factors influence your salary.
How much does a Data Analyst earn?
In Germany, the salary range of a data analyst is broad: While a career starter can thoroughly enjoy an annual salary of 40,000 euros, data analysts with 10 years of professional experience and more can expect double the gross salary. In the USA, the differences are even greater - more on this in a later section.
Your degree also influences your salary: while you will earn around 40,000 euros gross per year when you start your career with a Bachelor's degree, you will earn around 46,000 euros with a Master's degree. This overview shows you exactly which factors influence your salary:
In the following paragraphs, we will explain in detail how the personal and
Company factors can influence your salary.
Personal factors that influence your salary as a data analyst
These personal factors influence your salary as a Data Analyst:
- Graduation & further training
- Deepening
- Professional experience
- Management responsibility
In the following paragraphs, we will explain to you specifically which factor has which influence - and how you can effectively influence your salary yourself.
Graduation & further training
As already mentioned, the academic degree has a certain influence on your starting salary: while a Bachelor's degree can expect around 40,000 euros gross per year, this figure is already around 46,000 euros for a Master's degree. But further training such as the Qualification as a Data Analyst from Stackfuel create a solid basis for higher salary demands. Our strong practical focus makes you particularly valuable to companies, as you can immediately contribute to your future employer's projects with relevant Python skills.
Specialization: From financial analyst to big data analyst
Data analysts can be all-rounders, but it is becoming increasingly common for them to specialize in specific industries and their particular characteristics. The reason for this is that the interpretation of data becomes easier and more reliable with increasing experience. We explain this using a few examples.
This overview of specializations alone makes it clear how many interfaces data analysts work on: While a financial analyst analyzes data on companies, shares and markets - and should be familiar with them accordingly - a weather analyst works with weather data and should therefore be familiar with geographical and meteorological data. Even if the craft and the tools are sometimes the same or at least similar, the thematic focus makes the relevant difference.
And this can also be reflected in salary: Big data analysts are the best-paid specialists who can earn 120,000 dollars or more a year in the US. They have an understanding of large amounts of data, can analyze it meaningfully and process it using algorithms and machine learning. But the range is also wide for other specializations: a financial analyst earns up to 66,000 dollars - but a clinical data analyst can expect up to 80,000 dollars.
Professional experience & management responsibility: How does the salary as a Data Analyst develop?
Professional experience has a huge impact on your salary. Your salary can easily double over the course of your career, depending on your years in the job and the management responsibility you take on.
| Professional experience | Average gross salary per month |
| Less than 3 years | 4,210 Euro |
| 3 to 6 years | 5,161 Euro |
| 7 to 10 years | 6,238 Euro |
| More than 10 years | 6,755 Euro |
Furthermore, certain skills influence your gross salary. For example, according to a survey by O'Reilly, mastering software such as Spark and Scala leads to a salary increase of 15,000 dollars in the US market.
As you can see, you can influence many factors of your salary yourself through further training, professional experience and tool knowledge. But what about the salary factors that depend on the employer?
Company-related factors that influence your salary as a Data Analyst
Different companies pay different salaries - this is a truism at first, but it makes one thing clear: the choice of your future employer has an immense influence on your starting salary. We would therefore like to highlight the following factors and explain them to you:
- Location (country, state, city)
- Industry
- Company size
Data Analyst salary in Germany and other countries
Depending on the job, the salary differences in international comparison can be small or large. Data analyst is an example of a major difference: While data analysts in the USA receive around USD 41,000 at the start of their career, a similar sum to that in Germany, the salary expectation changes immensely over the years and depending on specialization: data analysts in the USA can earn well over USD 120,000. In Germany, such sums are extremely unusual.
In a European comparison, Germany is again in a good position: In Spain, data analysts receive an average of 34,000 euros, and in France, similar to Germany, 46,309 euros.
But the differences within Germany are also huge: while data analysts in Saxony-Anhalt should only expect a gross salary of around 3,700 euros per month, in Bremen it is up to 7,000 euros - almost double that. In addition to the different costs of living, the local labor market also plays a major role: where the demand for specialists is high, the salary is also higher.
There are also differences between the major German cities, although here too
cost of living and the respective local labor market play the most important roles.
| City | Average gross annual salary |
| Munich | 63,900 euros |
| Stuttgart | 61,300 Euro |
| Berlin | 57,600 Euro |
| Hamburg | 59,600 euros |
| Cologne | 59,400 euros |
Business sector
As already outlined above in the article on the specializations of the Data Analyst, the salary differences depending on the industry and thus the field of knowledge are considerable.
For example, the portal Kununu has compiled a current top 5 list of which sectors pay the most - however, these values do not apply to career starters, but are average values across all job offers:
| Industry | Average gross annual salary |
| Automobile | 63,400 Euro |
| IT | 56,000 euros |
| Internet | 54,000 euros |
| Trade | 53,500 euros |
| Advice/Consulting | 52,900 Euro |
However, career starters can also assume that the starting salary can vary greatly depending on the industry. So if you have an open mind, you can achieve the best gross salary for your work if you focus on the automotive industry.
Company size
The size of a company also has a noticeable influence on your salary. Little
Surprisingly, companies with fewer than 100 employees pay less than
Large companies and groups with over 1,000 colleagues.
| Company size | Average gross salary per month |
| < 100 employees | 4,500 Euro |
| 100 - 1,000 employees | 4,800 Euro |
| 1,000 employees | 5,700 Euro |
In large companies, it is also easier to become a big data analyst or financial analyst.
specialize, which will also have an impact on your salary. People who like to be flexible
and want to make a difference, but in smaller companies they are often more likely to have the
Possibility to do so.
Lateral entry data analyst: Is the salary right?
The job market demands data specialists: depending on the portal, there are currently between 1,500 and 5,200 job advertisements for data analysts online in Germany: So there are plenty of job offers.
More and more people are therefore also thinking about a lateral entry as a data analyst, which is of course absolutely possible. In addition to further training such as here at StackFuel, various previous experiences also help: Your studies, your previous professional career and your general passion for math, statistics and data, self-taught data analysts were common and welcome for a long time - but of course, appropriate proof makes it easier to get a job.
In this respect, it is difficult to say whether a career changer earns less than a "trained" data analyst. If you are interested in data, have already worked with IT or statistics in your job and could imagine working with a Further training as a data analyst to qualify, nothing should stand in the way of your career as a data analyst.
How your Data Analyst salary is structured
- The salary range for a Data Analyst is between 40,000 euros and 85,000 euros
- Degrees and specializations have a major influence on personal factors
- Your salary can double over the course of your career as a data analyst
- Location, sector and company size play a significant role in the company factors
Data analyst is a great profession to start working with data. In Germany, gross annual salaries start at around 40,000 euros, with the average being around 56,000 euros according to Kununu.com.
In the USA, data analysts can earn considerably more, although the cost of living can also be much higher here. Within Germany, the top places with the highest earning potential are Munich and Stuttgart. The best-paying industry is the automotive sector. A special feature of the data analyst compared to the related profession of data scientist is above all the specialization, from financial analyst to clinical data analyst to weather analyst.
So if you're curious now and want to get started in the job, take a look at our certified Further training as a data analyst on. Here you will learn all the essential skills in a practical way with a special focus on the job-relevant use of Python. And the best thing is: with an education voucher, the training is free of charge for you.
Sources
Kununu (2024): "Salary for Data Analyst“ [19.04.2024]
GetinIT (2024): "IT professions“ [19.04.2024]
Transparency note: We used various articles as data sources, including get-in-it.de, kununu.com, datascientest.com, stepstone.de and jobteaser.com. The figures are generally rounded meridian values and are paid by around 50 percent of employers. Lower and higher salaries can always be paid in reality. We always recommend that you have a specific salary discussion with your future employer.
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