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:

2.5 out of 5 stars

3506 data analysts

5 Star
8%

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

3 Star
24%

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