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What a data analyst really does

You turn messy business data into reports people trust, and explain the numbers when they do not add up.

There's no official occupation called data analyst. These figures are for data scientists, the closest match. The job details on this page describe data scientists.

Try it free, about 105 minutesSee the real tasks
Median pay, May 2025$120,230
Job growth, 2025-35+35%
Typical entry educationBachelor's degree
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Considerable Preparation Needed

What the work involves

8 of the 17 tasks O*NET lists for data scientists, most important first.

  • Analyze, manipulate, or process large sets of data using statistical software.
  • Create graphs, charts, or other visualizations to convey the results of data analysis using specialized software.
  • Test, validate, and reformulate models to ensure accurate prediction of outcomes of interest.
  • Deliver oral or written presentations of the results of mathematical modeling and data analysis to management or other end users.
  • Recommend data-driven solutions to key stakeholders.
  • Identify business problems or management objectives that can be addressed through data analysis.
  • Compare models using statistical performance metrics, such as loss functions or proportion of explained variance.
  • Clean and manipulate raw data using statistical software.

What the days are like

Most of the time goes to
  • Analyzing Data or Information. Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
  • Working with Computers. Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Processing Information. Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or verifying information or data.
  • Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others. Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
  • Getting Information. Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
What workers report
  • E-Mail: 96% responded “Every day.”
  • Spend Time Sitting: 76% responded “Continually or almost continually.”
  • Indoors, Environmentally Controlled: 91% responded “Every day.”
  • Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams: 48% responded “Once a week or more but not every day.”
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate: 40% responded “Extremely important.”

Work styles that matter most

InnovationA tendency to be inventive, to be imaginative, and to adopt new perspectives on ways to accomplish work.
Achievement OrientationA tendency to establish and maintain personally challenging work-related goals, set high work-related standards, and exert high effort toward meeting those goals and standards.
Intellectual CuriosityA tendency to seek out and acquire new work-related knowledge and obtain a deep understanding of work-related subjects.
IntegrityA tendency to be honest and ethical at work.
Attention to DetailA tendency to be detail-oriented, organized, and thorough in completing work.

How people get into it

Business Intelligence Analysts sit in O*NET Job Zone 4. Among surveyed workers, 68% say a bachelor's degree is required, 23% a master's degree and 5% an associate's degree. People often come from business, economics, statistics, math or computer science, and many build SQL and spreadsheet skills through certificates and portfolio projects.

The Firstday trial, easy to hard

Three simulated tasks at Bramble Home, a fictional company, with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.

EasyBuild the weekly sales reportAbout 20 minutes.
MiddleBuild the promo performance dashboardAbout 35 minutes.
HardReconcile the numbers before the board meetingAbout 50 minutes.

What the trial can't show: The trial uses a browser spreadsheet with small prepared data sets and one short SQL query, not a real data warehouse or BI software like Power BI or Looker. It cannot show learning a company's messy data over months, writing larger SQL against many tables, maintaining dozens of reports, or the market and competitor research parts of the O*NET Business Intelligence Analyst role.

Reading about it is one thing.

Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.

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Tasks, work activities, work context, work styles, reported titles and Job Zone: O*NET OnLine, 15-2051.00 Data Scientists. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Pay, growth and entry education: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook, data scientists, May 2025 wages and 2025-35 projections.