As a data analyst student, aspirant, or professional, it’s only natural for you to be curious about the job opportunities that await you in this industry. Data analysts are in high demand, with the world relying more on technology every year. These professionals can work in various industries, giving them immense career opportunities to explore.
This article will explore which industries hire the most data analysts. You’ll also find out which industries use data analytics the most and the top companies with job openings for data analysts. If you want to become a data analyst, read more below. All you need is analytical skills and a good level of education to start your analytics career.
What Does a Data Analyst Do?
A data analyst collects, cleans, analyzes, and interprets data to gain actionable insights and make meaningful decisions. Data analysts work specifically to help people, organizations, and the government to make well-informed decisions for improved performance, profit-making, and business growth.
Responsibilities of a Data Analyst
- Collect data from primary and secondary sources
- Design, implement, and maintain databases and data systems
- Analyze data using statistical methods
- Mine data collected from sources
- Present the collected data and communicate with other departments
How Much Can You Earn as a Data Analyst?
According to PayScale, data analysts earn an average salary of $62,541. This amount varies based on your skill level, experience level, industry, and the hiring company. PayScale reports that an entry-level data analyst may earn an annual average salary of $57,229, while a professional with many years of experience may earn an annual average of $74,441.
Demand for Data Analysts in 2022
Data analysts are listed under the umbrella of operations research analysts at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). With this in mind, the BLS reports that data analysts have a job outlook of 25 percent between 2020 and 2030. Future employers will be flooding the job market with data analytics roles in this time.
This demand is expected to continue as long as technology continues to advance. This is due to the high importance of data analysts in managing big data gathered from technologies to help businesses grow and improve operations. Critical thinking skills, machine learning skills, and data science skills are all vital in this field.
Which Industries Use Data Analytics the Most?
The industries that use data analytics the most include finance, telecommunications, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and transportation. Data analytics is mostly needed in industries that need to calculate risks, predict market activity, and detect and prevent fraud.
Top Industries with Data Analytics Jobs
Finance
- In-demand jobs: Data Analyst, Financial Data Analyst, Customer Experience Analyst
The financial industry consists of businesses that manage money, such as financial banks, insurance companies, and investment banks. These organizations deal with highly sensitive transactions and vast amounts of data, making it paramount to use the expertise of data analysts in their business.
Data analysts help finance companies in carrying out efficient financial planning to make sound business decisions. They need data analysts to enhance their customer satisfaction experience, improve their business operations, make a profit, and predict future outcomes of events to prevent error.
They also require data analytics for fraud detection, loan management, policymaking, credit scoring, securing customer data, and risk modeling. This makes the financial industry the highest employers of data analysts and one of the best fields for data analysts to start out a successful career.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Finance
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| Bank of America | 173,766 | North Carolina, Rhode Island | Senior Data Analyst |
| Goldman Sachs | 40,500 | Texas | Associate Financial Data Analyst |
| M1 Finance | 300 | San Francisco | Financial Data Analyst |
| Moody’s Analytics | 11,000 | New York, Omaha, San Francisco | Financial Data Analyst |
| PWC | 295,000 | Boston, New York, Remote | Financial Market Info & Data Analytics Associate |
Telecommunications
- In-demand jobs: Telecommunications Analyst, Data Analyst, Network Operations Data Analyst, Sales Analyst, Business Intelligence (BI) Analyst, Website And Digital Analyst
Telecommunications companies have access to a lot of data due to the massive amounts of calls, text messages, video calls, and social media that subscribers connect to through their networks. They also get data through other sources, for which they need data analytics to sort through and analyze.
The telecommunications industry also hires data analysts to ensure that they provide quality services to their customers. Data analytics helps these companies to make personalized offers to customers, execute targeted campaigns, optimize pricing, innovate products, allocate network resources, order predictive maintenance, and detect fraudulent activities.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Telecommunications
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| Cox Communications | 18,000 | Omaha | Data Analyst |
| Nextiva | 1,000 | Remote | Website and Digital Analyst |
| Spectrum | 96,100 | Fenton | Network Operations Data Analytics Intern |
| Telephone and Data Systems | 9,400 | Chicago | Senior BI Data Analyst |
| US Cellular | 5,300 | Chicago | Sales Data Analyst |
Healthcare
- In-demand jobs: Healthcare Data Analyst, Data Analyst, Healthcare Analyst
The healthcare sector comprises organizations with trained professionals who offer healthcare services. Due to the high number of people they deal with daily, healthcare companies are only able to record and store fragmented data and information, which can be difficult to analyze.
This is where data analysts come in. These professionals help the healthcare industry organize, clean, analyze, and interpret the collected data to get meaningful information and make informed decisions. This makes the healthcare sector one of the highest employers of data analysts today.
To start a career in healthcare as a data analyst, you may want to apply for data analyst internships and progress from there. An internship will help you get the real-life experience you need to apply for jobs in the field.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Healthcare
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| Ballad Health | 15,000 | Johnson City | Data Analyst Virtual Health |
| Kaiser Permanente | 216,801 | Rockville | Data Analyst |
| Molina Healthcare | 10,500 | Long Beach, Remote | Data Analyst |
| Sentara Healthcare | 30,000 | Virginia Beach | Healthcare Data Analyst |
| University of Connecticut Health | 5,000 | Farmington | Healthcare Data Analyst |
Entertainment
- In-demand jobs: Data Analyst, Production Analyst, Customer Experience Analyst, Forecasting Analyst
The entertainment industry is made up of companies specializing in movie streaming applications, video applications, music apps, and entertainment channels. These companies need to gather large amounts of data to provide good services to their customers.
For example, a company with millions of users like Netflix needs to offer personalized movie suggestions to its viewers. This makes it important to employ data analysts to gather, analyze, and interpret the large chunk of data needed to offer the service. The data gathered can be used to make crucial decisions to increase the company’s quality of service and profit.
Some other uses of data analytics in the entertainment industry include personalized content, customer sentiment analysis, hyper-targeted advertising, programmatic ad buying, and optimized media scheduling.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Entertainment
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| 20th Television | 3,145 | Los Angeles | Production Analyst |
| Live Nation | 8,200 | Remote | Director Of Operations, Data Services |
| Sony Pictures | 109,700 | Culver | Manager Data Analytics, Customer Experience |
| Walt Disney | 190,000 | Seattle | Forecasting Analyst |
| WarnerMedia | 25,600 | Burbank | Data Analyst Wizarding World Digital |
Transportation
- In-demand jobs: Transportation Data Analyst, Customer Experience Analyst, Financial Analyst, Market Research Analyst, Business Analyst
Transportation companies need to know roadwork, predict traffic, and prevent accidents. This is to ensure that they maintain their delivery speed, save money and fuel, and maintain vehicle quality. Their operations depend highly on these factors, and slacking on them can cost them their customers and business.
This is why they need data analysts to collect and interpret road data to make accurate predictions and enhance their business performance. They would need predictive analytics to determine the impact of unplanned events while maintaining operational and production efficiency without obstructing other projects.
The industry is one of the highest employers of data analysts, with many logistics companies needing their expertise. With the logistics industry’s growth, it’s only natural for demand in data analysts in the field to also increase.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Transportation
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| Blue Line Distribution | 600 | Detroit | Transportation Analyst |
| Hirschbach Motor Lines | 1,020 | Dubuque | Transportation Data Analyst |
| NFI Industries | 14,500 | Camden | Transportation Data Analyst |
| Washington State Department of Transportation | 6,800 | Olympia | Data Analyst, Transportation Planning Specialist |
| State of Wisconsin | 285,300 | Madison | Transportation Data Analyst |
Retail
- In-demand jobs: Data Analyst, Business Analyst, Financial Analyst, Customer Experience Analyst, Retail IT Analyst, Market Research Analyst, Sales Analyst
The retail industry consists of businesses that provide direct sales of goods to customers, from groceries, coffee, and appliances to pharmaceutical products, electronics, and jewelry. This industry has a high need for these professionals with adequate data analyst skills.
This industry needs data analytics to improve product personalization and their businesses relevance by understanding the consumers’ shopping behavior, trends, and patterns.
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The role of data analysts in this field is to improve consumer satisfaction, predict consumer needs, and improve business performance. They can achieve this by analyzing a customers’ previous search and purchase data, developing a system that can address customer needs and improve overall customer experience satisfaction.
Top Attractive Employers for Data Analysts in Retail
| Company | Global Headcount | Hiring In | Hiring For |
| Mattress Firm | 8,500 | Remote | Retail IT Analyst |
| REI | 15,000 | Gilman Blvd, Issaquah | Retail Operations Data Analyst |
| Starbucks | 349,000 | Seattle | Data Analyst |
| Target | 350,000 | Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, Fully Remote or Hybrid | Senior Data Analyst |
| Walgreens | 315,000 | Deerfield | Senior Financial Analyst |
What Education Do You Need to Be a Data Analyst?
The typical educational requirement to become a data analyst is a college degree in relevant programs like computer science, math, finance, statistics, or information technology. However, other educational options are also acceptable in the world today, such as data analytics coding bootcamps, online training, or an associate degree.
If you choose the college route, you can secure an entry-level role with a bachelor’s degree, but you may need to earn a master’s degree along the line for career advancement. This is because most senior data analysts require a graduate degree for career progression. However, alternative methods of education are becoming more popular.
Can You Become a Data Analytics Professional with a Coding Bootcamp?
Yes, you can become a data analytics professional with a coding bootcamp. Coding bootcamps are designed to prepare you for a career in technology, including data analytics. To be a data analytics professional through this learning path, you’ll have to enroll in a bootcamp that offers data analytics or data science.
The program duration varies depending on the bootcamp and learning format. Coding bootcamps offer full-time, part-time, online, and in-person learning formats where students can learn based on their availability.
One outstanding thing about coding bootcamps is the career services that most schools offer. Students become job-ready through services like career coaching, interview preparations, resume writing, online branding, workshops, and meetings with potential employers who are typically bootcamp partners in the tech industry.
What Skills Do You Need to Be a Data Analyst?
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a software that uses spreadsheets to organize numbers and data. This makes it a valuable tool for data analysts. It helps organize gathered raw data into a more readable format to draw out meaningful information. You can also use this software to customize fields and functions of complex data to make calculations.
Programming Skills
Knowledge of coding is not mandatory for data analysts. However, this technical skill can help you become self-sufficient. It can also help you land better jobs in the industry. A data analyst without programming skills will need to outsource some data from a programming expert, costing more money and time. This puts you at a disadvantage as a professional.
Data Visualization
Data visualization can give you more in-depth and data-driven insights into your analyzed data, making it easier to make decisions. It helps spot patterns, trends, and clusters easily. It’s also useful for data cleaning and sighting errors.
SQL
SQL, which stands for Structured Query Language, is important to data analysts. It helps these professionals to access and perform tasks in databases with ease. It’s also a valuable tool for data wrangling and managing unstructured data.
Presentation and Communication Skills
The final role of a data analyst in every process is to present the result or outcome of the data to key stakeholders of an organization. This requires strong presentation and communication skills. They have to be able to present the information in a way that the technicality of the data is easily understandable and can lead to sound decision-making.
What’s the Best Industry for Me as a Data Analyst?
As a data analyst, the best industry for you is what you’re most interested in pursuing. However, you should try to find a data analyst role in the transportation, retail, telecommunication, healthcare, or entertainment industry. Try working at Deloitte, Apple, or Facebook to start. These industries are the highest employers of data analysts in the world today.
What Industries Hire the Most Data Analysts FAQ
The industry that uses data analytics the most is the finance industry. However, other industries also need the skills of a data analyst, including business intelligence, transportation, entertainment, healthcare, retail, and telecommunications.
Companies hire data analysts to help them collect, analyze, and interpret data to make well-informed business decisions and improve business performance. They can also use the information gained to make accurate predictions that will help prevent errors and set the business on the right path.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the states with the most data analyst jobs are Virginia, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, and Utah.
Data analysts are one of the highest-paid occupations in the world today with an average annual salary of $86,200, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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