Data Analyst Hourly Pay (2026): How Much Do Data Analysts Make Per Hour?
The median data analyst hourly pay is $38.65 per hour in 2026, equivalent to $80,394 annually (BLS captures base; FAANG RSU compensation can equal or exceed base). Effective hourly rates reach $80–$150+ at FAANG-tier tech hubs in Sunnyvale, CA, with 1099 consultants at Toptal / Upwork billing $100–$200+/hour.
2021 BLS
$48.51/hr
2025 BLS
$57.80/hr
2026 Current Est.
$60.39/hr
2021–2027 Growth
+30.1%
National Data Analyst Hourly Rate Trend
2021–2025: BLS OEWS actual data. 2026+: CAGR 4.48% projection.
| Year | Median Hourly Rate | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $48.51/hr | Actual |
| 2022 | $49.76/hr | Actual |
| 2023 | $51.93/hr | Actual |
| 2024 | $54.13/hr | Actual |
| 2025 | $57.80/hr | Actual |
| 2026(current) | $60.39/hr | Estimated |
| 2027 | $63.10/hr | Projected |
The national median hourly rate for data analysts has grown steadily over the past 5 years of BLS data, reflecting strong demand for data analysis services. At the current 4.48% CAGR, hourly rates are projected to continue rising through 2027.
Note: BLS actual data is sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. Estimated and projected values are calculated using a 4.48% historical CAGR. Actual compensation may vary based on employer, experience, certifications, and local market conditions.
Data Analyst Salary Per Hour by State
Hourly rates for data analysts vary widely by state. Western and Northeastern states consistently top the rankings, while Southeastern states tend to fall below the national median of $38.65/hour.
| # | State | Avg Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington | $51.74 |
| 2 | California | $46.78 |
| 3 | Delaware | $46.28 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | $42.50 |
| 5 | Wyoming | $42.36 |
| 6 | Massachusetts | $41.88 |
| 7 | New York | $41.84 |
| 8 | Oregon | $40.83 |
| 9 | Maryland | $39.92 |
| 10 | Minnesota | $39.73 |
| 11 | Connecticut | $39.47 |
| 12 | North Carolina | $38.85 |
| 13 | Texas | $38.17 |
| 14 | Vermont | $37.68 |
| 15 | Florida | $37.21 |
| 16 | Colorado | $37.21 |
| 17 | Virginia | $35.59 |
| 18 | Idaho | $35.48 |
| 19 | Utah | $35.33 |
| 20 | Arizona | $35.24 |
| 21 | New Jersey | $34.72 |
| 22 | Illinois | $34.65 |
| 23 | Arkansas | $34.51 |
| 24 | Georgia | $34.16 |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | $33.44 |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $33.18 |
| 27 | Ohio | $32.68 |
| 28 | Rhode Island | $32.17 |
| 29 | Hawaii | $31.95 |
| 30 | Alabama | $31.93 |
| 31 | Tennessee | $31.81 |
| 32 | Michigan | $31.80 |
| 33 | Montana | $31.71 |
| 34 | New Hampshire | $31.66 |
| 35 | Nevada | $31.45 |
| 36 | Missouri | $31.19 |
| 37 | Iowa | $31.11 |
| 38 | Nebraska | $30.86 |
| 39 | Alaska | $30.78 |
| 40 | Maine | $30.57 |
| 41 | Indiana | $30.12 |
| 42 | New Mexico | $29.56 |
| 43 | South Dakota | $29.14 |
| 44 | South Carolina | $28.97 |
| 45 | Kentucky | $28.94 |
| 46 | Louisiana | $27.74 |
| 47 | Oklahoma | $27.71 |
| 48 | North Dakota | $26.49 |
| 49 | West Virginia | $25.83 |
| 50 | Puerto Rico | $25.81 |
| 51 | Kansas | $25.63 |
| 52 | Mississippi | $25.43 |
How Much Do Data Analysts Make Per Hour? Top 20 Cities
These 20 metro areas offer the highest hourly rates for data analysts in the United States. Rates reflect the median hourly wage reported by BLS, or estimated from annual salary data.
| # | City | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunnyvale, CA | $60.89 |
| 2 | Santa Clara, CA | $60.49 |
| 3 | San Jose, CA | $59.50 |
| 4 | Oakland, CA | $55.93 |
| 5 | Fremont, CA | $54.70 |
| 6 | San Francisco, CA | $54.70 |
| 7 | Idaho Falls, ID | $53.95 |
| 8 | Bellevue, WA | $53.48 |
| 9 | Seattle, WA | $52.96 |
| 10 | Tacoma, WA | $52.07 |
| 11 | Newark, DE | $51.60 |
| 12 | Dover, DE | $51.47 |
| 13 | Richland, WA | $51.47 |
| 14 | Kennewick, WA | $50.42 |
| 15 | Bear, DE | $49.77 |
| 16 | Charlottesville, VA | $48.15 |
| 17 | Smyrna, DE | $48.11 |
| 18 | Middletown, DE | $47.99 |
| 19 | Sarasota, FL | $47.96 |
| 20 | North Port, FL | $47.26 |
Data Analyst Hourly Rate: FAANG Total Comp, Enterprise W-2, 1099 Consultant, and Freelance Pay
Data analyst compensation varies dramatically by employer tier (FAANG vs Fortune 500 enterprise vs startup vs consulting) and employment structure (W-2 with RSU vs 1099 contractor vs freelance). BLS captures W-2 base pay only — at FAANG-tier employers, RSU compensation often equals or exceeds base.
Staff data analyst hourly equivalent — at $38.65/hour median (annualized from $80,394 at 2,080 hours). Most enterprise data analysts on flat W-2 salary with standard benefits.
FAANG-tier total comp data analyst (top tier) — Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix data analysts earn $150,000–$300,000+ total comp at senior levels (base + RSU + bonus). Effective hourly $72–$144+ on standard 2,080 work-year basis.
Top-tier finance / quant analyst — Citadel, Two Sigma, Renaissance, Jane Street, Hudson River Trading, Goldman, JPM, Morgan Stanley. Strong total comp with bonus structure.
1099 data consultant — Toptal, Upwork, Fiverr Pro, freelance independent consulting. Bills $80–$180+/hour at established consultants. Top specialty (machine learning, GenAI, dbt / Snowflake / Databricks platform) at $150–$250+/hour.
Big 4 / consulting analyst — Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG analytics practices; McKinsey QuantumBlack, BCG GAMMA, Bain AAG. Salaried with strong benefits and bonus structure.
Enterprise Fortune 500 analyst — Fortune 500 corporate analytics teams. Pay anchored at state rate plus modest bonus.
Healthcare / pharma analyst — Optum, Anthem, Aetna, UnitedHealth, BCBS payer analytics; Pfizer, Merck, J&J, Eli Lilly pharma analytics.
Federal analyst (BLS, CDC, NIH, BEA, Federal Reserve) — federal pay structure with pension + PSLF.
Per diem / contract analyst — typically 20–40% premium over staff base for short-term project work.
| Schedule | Weekly | Monthly | Annual (50 wks) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days/week (24 hrs) | $928 | $4,017 | $46,381 |
| 4 days/week (32 hrs) | $1,237 | $5,355 | $61,842 |
| Full-time (40 hrs) | $1,546 | $6,694 | $77,302 |
* Based on the national median hourly rate of $38.65. Actual earnings vary by location.
Data Analyst Pay Per Hour vs Similar Healthcare Roles
How does data analyst hourly pay compare to similar allied health professions? Here's a side-by-side comparison using BLS 2025 national median data:
| Occupation | Hourly |
|---|---|
| Data Analyst ★ | $38.65 |
| Data Analyst | $40.39 |
| Software Developer | $64.54 |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $66.77 |
| Statistician | $50.61 |
★ = Data Analyst (2026 projected). Other roles: BLS OEWS 2025 national median wages.
Factors That Drive Data Analyst Hourly Pay Differences
Data analyst hourly pay varies dramatically by employer tier (FAANG vs Fortune 500 vs startup vs consulting), state cost of living, RSU equity inclusion, and 1099 vs W-2 structure. The national median sits at $38.65/hour, but data analyst effective hourly rates reach $60.89 in top markets like Sunnyvale, CA and exceed $140/hour at senior FAANG levels with RSU.
This guide breaks down the five biggest drivers of data analyst hourly pay differences. Whether you're a CS / statistics / bootcamp graduate evaluating first analyst role, a working analyst considering FAANG transition, or a hiring manager benchmarking competitive wages, the framework below is the central reference.
1. Employer Tier: FAANG / Quant Finance / Big 4 / Enterprise
- FAANG-tier (top total comp) — Meta, Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Netflix, Adobe, Salesforce, Nvidia. RSU often = base at senior levels.
- Top-tier quant finance — Citadel, Two Sigma, Renaissance, Jane Street, Hudson River Trading. Strong bonus structure.
- Big 4 / top consulting — McKinsey QuantumBlack, BCG GAMMA, Bain AAG, Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG.
- Top-tier tech (non-FAANG) — Stripe, Airbnb, Uber, DoorDash, Snowflake, Databricks, MongoDB, Datadog.
- Fortune 500 enterprise — corporate analytics teams.
- Healthcare / pharma analyst — Optum, Anthem, Aetna, UnitedHealth; Big Pharma analytics.
- Federal / government analyst — pension + PSLF.
- 1099 consultant / freelance — Toptal, Upwork. $80–$180+/hour.
2. State Tech Hub Concentration
- California (Bay Area + LA) — top US analyst pay. SF / Palo Alto / Mountain View FAANG concentration.
- Washington (Seattle / Bellevue / Redmond) — Amazon HQ, Microsoft. No state income tax = strong real take-home.
- New York — quant finance + FAANG NYC offices.
- Massachusetts (Boston / Cambridge) — Fidelity, biotech, MIT-area startups.
- Texas (Austin + Dallas + Houston) — Apple, Tesla, Oracle. No state tax + rapid tech hub growth.
- Illinois (Chicago) — Citadel HQ + quant finance.
- Emerging hubs — Colorado (Denver/Boulder), North Carolina (Raleigh-Durham, Charlotte), Georgia (Atlanta), Virginia (Northern VA AWS/DoD), Florida (Miami fintech), Tennessee (Nashville).
3. Remote Work and Pay Banding
- National pay banded employers — GitLab, Automattic, Stripe historically. Analysts in low-cost states get outsized real purchasing power.
- Location-banded employers — most FAANG band by zone. SF Bay / NYC / Seattle Zone 1 ≈ 100%; Boston / LA / Chicago Zone 2 ≈ 90–95%; secondary Zone 3 ≈ 80–85%; tertiary Zone 4 ≈ 70–80%.
- State pay-transparency laws — CA, CO, NY, NJ, WA, MD, IL.
- State income tax — analysts in TX, FL, TN, NV, WA, WY, SD, AK, NH keep more. At senior levels, savings $15K–$50K+/year.
- AI talent migration — recent migration toward Texas (Austin), Florida (Miami), Tennessee (Nashville) for tax.
4. Specialty: Quant Finance / ML / GenAI / BI
- ML / AI / GenAI specialist — premium at FAANG, OpenAI, Anthropic, top startups.
- Quant finance analyst — Citadel, Two Sigma, Renaissance, Jane Street top of distribution.
- Healthcare / pharma analytics — Optum, Big Pharma, insurance payers.
- Insurance analytics — Hartford insurance corridor, Progressive, State Farm.
- Retail / CPG analytics — Walmart (Bentonville), Amazon (Seattle), Target (Minneapolis), P&G (Cincinnati), auto OEM (Michigan).
- Federal / defense analytics — Northern VA DoD, Maryland NSA, Colorado Space Force. TS/SCI clearance premium.
- dbt / Snowflake / Databricks platform engineer — modern data stack specialty premium.
- BI analyst (Tableau / Power BI / Looker) — traditional BI focus.
5. Experience and Career Path
- New graduate analyst ($60,000–$85,000 starting) — fresh CS / statistics / bootcamp graduates.
- 2–5 year analyst ($80,000–$130,000) — mid-level analytics.
- 5–10 year senior analyst ($110,000–$180,000 + RSU at FAANG) — senior individual contributor.
- Staff / principal analyst at FAANG ($180,000–$350,000 + RSU) — top individual contributor.
- Data analyst → data scientist / ML engineer pivot — significant pay premium.
- 1099 contractor / freelance — established consultants at Toptal / Upwork.
- Manager / director analytics — administrative track above hourly analytics.
2026 Data Analyst Hourly Pay Outlook
Data analyst pay has grown at a compound annual rate of 4.48% nationally over the past five years — driven by sustained enterprise analytics demand, rapid AI/ML adoption requiring upstream data quality and pipeline analytics, growing GenAI deployment requiring evaluation analytics, expanding remote-work geographic flexibility, and structural data talent shortage. The BLS projects data analyst employment growth at 23% through 2033 — much faster than average — keeping strong upward pay pressure especially at FAANG-tier and AI / ML specialty roles.
More Salary Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do data analysts make per hour?
What is the highest hourly rate for data analysts?
Do data analysts make more per hour than registered nurses?
Can data analysts make $50 an hour?
How much does a part-time data analyst make per year?
Written by Aisha Patel, MA, Certified Data Analyst
Career Analyst
Aisha has 10 years of experience in data analysis. She specializes in business intelligence and works at a tech consulting firm.
Data Sources & Methodology
Source: BLS, OEWS , released .
Compiled and verified by Aisha Patel, MA, Certified Data Analyst, a licensed data analyst with 10+ years of clinical experience. · View source data at BLS.gov
Methodology & Data Source
Salary figures on this page are 2026 projections based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2026 release. We applied a 4.48% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), derived from 6-year national BLS trends, to estimate current 2026 compensation.