There are tens of thousands of open jobs worldwide that are seeking data analytics skills, caused by a shortage of talent so acute it’s got its own name—the data skills gap. In many cases, these positions are no longer simply titled “data analyst.” That’s because nearly every industry benefits from data analysis, and data jobs are branching off into a variety of different niches.
There are now data analysts who specialize in finance, business, healthcare, e-commerce, and marketing. Data analytics is driving our digital economy, which is booming in a new way—due, in part, to big data. Nowadays, data is a force in nearly every industry.
So what are the top industries hiring data analysts right now? Where are you most likely to find work?
In this post, we’ll take a look at which industries are hiring the most data analysts right now. To compile this list, we analyzed current job openings across a range of job boards to see which industries are posting the most data-related positions.
According to our research, the top industries hiring data analysts right now are:
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1. Business Intelligence
Business Intelligence is one of the top three industries hiring data analysts right now. A quick sweep of Indeed revealed that almost 20% of data analytics jobs currently open globally are in the business intelligence sector.
Business Intelligence (BI) was first brought to life in the 1990s. BI combines data gathering, data storage, knowledge management, and data analysis to evaluate and transform big data into actionable insights that can be used to inform business strategies, operational optimizations, and other important decision-making.
Business Intelligence companies currently have the most-posted job openings for data analysts in the U.S. and Europe. Large global companies like Amazon and Netflix are using data analytics and machine learning to create accurate predictive algorithms that drive their sales.
Data analyst roles at a BI firm often vary in title. Some are plain old data analyst roles, while other firms specialize in marketing, optimization, or customer data analysis. These other jobs can sometimes fall under the title of marketing analyst, business analyst, consumer data engineer, or something similar.
How much does a business analyst make?
Business intelligence analysts earn around $65,000 per year in the U.S. Business intelligence is becoming increasingly important, and it’s likely that this salary will change significantly over the next five years as demand for skilled analysts grows.
These positions are often eligible for cash bonuses and stock options from their employers. There is room for upward mobility or a simple pivot to an adjacent industry to gain a raise as well.
Here’s who’s hiring right now:
- Amazon is hiring data analysts in countries around the world including the U.S., Bangladesh, the U.K., Australia, Egypt, and Japan.
- Small companies like Focus KPI and Affinity Solutions in the U.S. are also seeking data talent.
Curious about how a business analyst differs from a data analyst? We explain here.
2. Finance
Finance was truly the first industry to take full advantage of big data to advance their business ventures. Finance positions, especially fintech positions, are rather lucrative for data professionals. Plus, finance is responsible for a large chunk of jobs in the northern hemisphere. Finance companies like investment banks, venture capital firms, and consumer banks use data analytics to conduct risk assessments, inform investment decisions, spot trends, and make predictions.
Other data science professionals, like machine learning engineers, work in the finance industry creating algorithm-based fraud protection systems or customer databases. Data analyst roles in finance are typically titled financial analyst, risk management analyst, or incident response analyst. Most of these companies also hire for data scientist roles. You can learn about how to make the transition from data analyst to data scientist in this guide.
How much do financial analysts make?
Entry-level financial analysts earn about $64,000 per year on average. In many cases, financial analysts have a plethora of opportunities for salary growth. This often comes in the form of a bonus.
Raises in salary can also come from pivoting into a different niche—from investment banking to venture capital, for example. Another opportunity for financial analysts to get a raise is through climbing the proverbial ladder. A higher position almost always results in a raise for data talent in the finance sector.
Here’s who’s hiring right now:
- PayPal is hiring data analysts in multiple departments in many cities across the U.S.
- Barclays is hiring data analysts in various departments across the globe including the U.K., India, the U.S., Germany, Japan, Czechia, and Luxembourg.
3. Sharing economy services
Sharing economy services are hot right now! They’re hiring data talent in nearly every urban area. What is a sharing economy service? Think Uber, Lyft, GrubHub, Postmates, or Rover.
The first online sharing economy launched in 1995. eBay is largely considered to be the first successful enabler of the sharing economy because it was one of the first global online marketplaces that actually took off.
Since then, the sharing economy has blossomed. You’ll find apps and web platforms for almost everything, from ride sharing to grocery delivery, a room to rent for the night to pet care. Data is used in sharing economy services to sort tasks for workers, set prices, grow their user base, drive advertising, catalog data, and recommend services.
Roles in this industry are usually simply titled data analyst, data scientist, or data engineer. These jobs are essentially tech adjacent because the service that most of these firms are delivering is actually an application and web platform.
How much does a data analyst make at a sharing economy company?
The average salary for someone who works in the sharing economy application sector is about $91,000. This surprisingly high salary does have room to grow with time and experience. Even entry-level data analysts usually make about $70,000 or more per year in this industry.
Many sharing economy services are based on mobile applications that receive funding from venture capital firms or private investors which fuel their success. Their most valuable assets are their data and software talent, and this is reflected in the high salaries. It’s likely that you’ll get some great benefits from these companies as well.
Here’s who’s hiring right now:
- Instacart is looking for data analysts in the U.S.
- Lyft is hiring in Belarus.
- Just Eat is looking for data talent in multiple departments in the U.K.
4. Healthcare
Data analytics is increasingly being used in healthcare, an industry that relied solely on paper data systems for centuries. Data in this context can drive insights on systemic wastes of resources, track practitioner performance, determine drug makeups, sort clinical data, identify diseases present in images, analyze patient behavior, and much more.
Healthcare is one of the slowest to turn to big data but, most certainly, the industry that could benefit most from data analysts’ insights. With the rising stars like the ever-improving electronic health record systems, healthcare and pharmaceutical apps, online patient portals, telemedicine, and teletherapy, healthcare is blossoming into a data-heavy field with an abundance of career options.
Most data analyst positions within this sector are simply titled data analyst in healthcare, or healthcare data analyst.
How much does a healthcare analyst make?
Healthcare analysts can look forward to an average salary of $70,000 in the U.S. which has the potential to increase throughout their career. Healthcare in the U.S. can be one of the most intense but lucrative industries to enter.
Here’s who’s hiring right now:
- CVS is hiring data talent across the U.S. and remotely.
- Healthcare.com is looking for data and business analysts in Guatemala.
- CarePartners is seeking a health data analyst in Canada.
- Humana is hiring data specialists remotely and in nearly every state in the U.S.
5. Entertainment
The entertainment industry is evolving faster than ever. Streaming services are taking over this market and they’re using big data to drive that growth. Netflix is using data so well that they’re able to recommend movies to their users with an 80% success rate and save over a billion dollars annually.
Each user of a digital streaming service is churning out tons of data while they consume the content that subscription services offer. Everything from when a user paused, scrolled, clicked, what time they used the app, what the weather is like where they are, their demographic information, which advertisements they click on, and more is being collected continuously.
This data is used to drive revenue, tailor recommendations, and improve the offerings of streaming companies. Some services use data analytics to decide which productions to greenlight, create digital radio stations for their listeners, test advertising, determine prices, forecast trends, analyze customer sentiment, and improve user experience.
Data analytics positions in this industry are usually titled data analyst, as this is also a tech adjacent field. They can occasionally be labeled something more niche like growth marketing and messaging analytics engineer, or marketing intelligence analyst.
How much do analysts in the entertainment industry make?
On average, data analysts in the entertainment industry can make about $101,000 per year, at entry-level. Data, aside from the streamed content itself, is the driver of 80% of the revenue of a streaming company.
A strong data team is important to these companies, and with a shortage of good talent in data, salaries and benefits are quite competitive in this field. Data analysts can also look forward to upward mobility, mentorship, and training from most media streaming platform organizations.
What you can do to land a job in the top industries hiring data analysts right now
The majority of data analyst jobs are actually being posted by tech recruiting companies. Research recruiters and make sure you find one that seems like the right fit for you if you’d like to venture down this route.
The easiest way to find relevant jobs is to regularly scour job boards. It’s a good idea to focus on both generic job boards (like Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn) and on industry, tech, and data-specific portals. You can even find job boards dedicated to certain types of companies, like startups and banks. Better yet, use your data skills to automate your job search!
Here are a few niche job boards to get you started on your search:
Key takeaways
A data analyst career is a lucrative path to start on, regardless of the industry you choose to work in. These are the top industries hiring for a reason: they have the need for more data analysts because they’re leveraging data to increase their revenue.
Each of these industries works with data in a unique way, so it’s important to get to know the industry you choose to enter; each requires its own special skills. And, ultimately, finding an industry that aligns with your interests is key to finding long-term job satisfaction.
Want to learn more about a career in data analytics? Why not try a free, five-day introductory short course, and check out the following: