If you want to earn six figures while working from home, you might want to consider a career in data analytics. Data analysts collect, organize, and interpret raw data to better understand how a business is performing. They use tools like Excel, SQL, and Tableau to identify trends and create visualizations, examining metrics like sales, website traffic, and regulatory risks to help organizations work smarter.
According to Vicki Salemi, a career expert at Monster, the job “drives so much” in terms of business operations. Data analytics is a rapidly growing field that offers competitive salaries, strong job security, and flexibility. Lisa Gevelber, a vice president at Google and the founder of the company’s online training program, Grow with Google, explains that as businesses increasingly rely on data to drive decisions, the demand for skilled data analysts has surged. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the number of data analytics and science jobs will grow at least 30% in the next decade, which is more than three times faster than the average for all other occupations.
This year, data analytics was one of the most sought-after skills, and according to Google, searches for “data analytics skills” and “data analytics jobs” have hit a five-year high in 2024. Currently, there are nearly 300,000 unfilled data analytics jobs in the U.S. This presents a unique opportunity for those looking to enter the field without a degree.
Getting into data analytics without a degree
Many companies are now hiring data analysts without bachelor’s degrees due to a labor shortage in the field. Typically, most data analytics jobs require at least a high school diploma or GED, along with the completion of an online certification or training. For example, Google offers a $49/month data analytics certificate through Grow with Google, while organizations like IBM and CompTIA provide comparable courses.
To succeed as a data analyst, individuals should be proficient in working with spreadsheets and coding languages, visualizing, and presenting data findings, and most importantly, problem-solving. Gevelber also recommends learning how to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to clean and structure data, write code, and brainstorm ideas for data visualizations. Candidates skilled in these areas will have a significant advantage in the job market.
Six-figure salaries and remote opportunities
Data analysts are in high demand across various industries, particularly in manufacturing, health care, tech, and finance, according to recent research. Popular roles in the field include business systems analyst, data architect, and database administrator. The median pay for entry-level data analytics jobs is around $93,000, while experienced data analysts earn a median salary of $110,000.
Recent job postings on platforms like Indeed and ZipRecruiter indicate that many remote data analyst positions are available, some offering salaries upwards of $150,000 per year. As Gevelber states, “It doesn’t matter what part of the world you live in or what industry you’d like to work in. The demand for people who understand data and can use it to guide business decisions is huge. Everybody needs data analysts.”
Source: CNBC
