6 Careers a Master's in Data Analytics Opens, and What Each One Pays

There is no official U.S. government statistic called "master's in data analytics salary." What is verifiable is the 2025 median annual wage of the occupations the degree actually leads to, and those medians range from $78,760 to $175,140 depending on the role, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data accessed through O*NET OnLine. This article covers six roles most directly tied to a data analytics master's degree: computer and information systems manager, data scientist, financial and investment analyst, management analyst, operations research analyst, and market research analyst. Each figure below is a 2025 median, sourced and dated, along with the occupational code a reader or a fact-checker can use to verify it independently.

What Can You Do With a Master's in Data Analytics?

A master's in data analytics prepares graduates for roles across three broad areas: technical analysis, business decision support, and, with experience, technology management. On the technical side, data scientist and operations research analyst roles apply statistical modeling and advanced analytical methods directly to data, the closest match to a typical data analytics career path from the coursework itself. On the business side, financial and investment analyst and market research analyst roles apply the same data-driven decision making to a specific function, finance or marketing, rather than to data as a general discipline. Management analyst is a broader consulting-style role that uses data to improve how an organization runs. With experience, some graduates move into computer and information systems manager positions, overseeing an organization's technology and data infrastructure. Graduates sometimes also carry titles such as business intelligence analyst or entry-level data analyst before reaching one of these six roles.

What Does a Master's in Data Analytics Actually Pay, Role by Role?

The six occupations most directly connected to a data analytics master's degree have 2025 median annual wages ranging from $78,760 to $175,140, according to O*NET OnLine's occupational wage data drawn from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, verified August 11, 2026. The table below lists all six with the occupational code needed to verify each figure independently.

Source: O*NET OnLine, Bureau of Labor Statistics 2025 wage data, verified 2026-08-11.

Computer and Information Systems Manager

Computer and information systems managers have the highest median pay on this list, $175,140 in 2025 (O*NET-SOC 11-3021.00), overseeing an organization's data and technology infrastructure and the teams that run it. It is also the role furthest from an entry-level position: reaching it typically requires several years of experience beyond the degree, not a first job out of a master's program.

Data Scientist

Data scientists have a 2025 median annual wage of $120,230 (O*NET-SOC 15-2051.00), the occupation most directly built around the skills taught in a data analytics master's program: statistical modeling, machine learning, and large-scale data analysis. Several published pages on this topic still cite $112,590 as the data scientist salary figure, a number that reflects Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data from May 2024. The current, verified 2025 median is $120,230, a gap worth noting for anyone comparing figures across different sources.

Financial and Investment Analyst

Financial and investment analysts have a 2025 median annual wage of $102,740 (O*NET-SOC 13-2051.00), applying data analysis skills to evaluate securities, financial statements, and investment opportunities rather than to data as a general discipline. It is one of two roles on this list, alongside market research analyst, where a data analytics master's degree is applied to a specific business function.

Management Analyst

Management analysts, sometimes called management consultants, have a 2025 median annual wage of $101,860 (O*NET-SOC 13-1111.00). The role uses data to identify inefficiencies and recommend changes to how an organization is run, a broader mandate than the technical roles on this list, and one that draws as much on communication and business judgment as on analysis itself. Management analysts also appear in what a master's in project management pays.

Operations Research Analyst

Operations research analysts have a 2025 median annual wage of $88,940 (O*NET-SOC 15-2031.00), applying advanced mathematical and statistical methods, closely related to what a data analytics degree teaches, to help organizations solve logistics, scheduling, and resource-allocation problems. The role sits closer to the technical core of the degree than the business-facing roles on this list, often serving as a stepping stone toward a data scientist title.

Market Research Analyst

Market research analysts and marketing specialists have a 2025 median annual wage of $78,760 (O*NET-SOC 13-1161.00), the lowest median among the six roles in this article, though still a role that applies the degree's core data-driven decision making skills to studying consumer behavior and market conditions rather than to internal operations or finance. The marketing roles this occupation leads into are priced in what a master's in marketing pays.

Why Do Data Analytics Salary Figures Vary by a Factor of Three on the Same Search Results Page?

Search results for a data analytics master's salary do not disagree because one figure is right and the rest are wrong; they disagree because they are measuring three different things. A career-wide median, the kind published in government wage surveys and used throughout this article, blends every worker currently in a role, from someone a year into the job to someone with two decades of experience. It answers what an occupation pays across a full career, not what a new graduate starts at.

A single school's self-reported starting salary describes one program's recent graduating class, sometimes only a few dozen people, and answers a narrower question again: what that specific cohort reported, not what the labor market pays across an entire occupation. Neither figure is wrong on its own terms, but neither answers the same question as the other.

The third and often largest source of distortion is a job-title artifact: an automated salary aggregator can match a search phrase to an unrelated job title, one built around records or reference-data management rather than the analytics field this degree leads to, producing a figure that has nothing to do with the occupations in the table above. A single results page can show all three kinds of number side by side with no label distinguishing them, which is exactly why the same search term can appear to return figures that differ by a factor of three or more.

Is a Master's in Data Analytics Worth It?

For most of the six roles in this article, yes: every one of them has a 2025 median annual wage above the median wage for the U.S. workforce as a whole, and four of the six clear six-figure salary territory. The strongest return comes from reaching data scientist, management analyst, financial and investment analyst, or computer and information systems manager, where medians run from $101,860 to $175,140. The weaker but still positive case applies to operations research analyst and market research analyst, at $88,940 and $78,760.

The real driver of return is not the diploma itself but the occupation a graduate reaches with it. A degree leading to a six-figure computer and information systems manager role delivers a very different graduate degree ROI than one leading to an entry-level market research analyst position, even though both draw on the same coursework. For students comparing specific programs rather than occupation-wide medians, reviewing outcomes across internationally ranked data analytics master's programs gives a clearer picture of what a given program leads to than any single wage figure in this article can. Choosing between programs is covered more broadly in how to choose a master's program.

Master's in Data Analytics vs. Master's in Data Science: Does the Degree Title Change What You Earn?

This is the data analytics vs data science question most searchers actually want answered: no, neither the Bureau of Labor Statistics nor O*NET tracks these two degree titles as separate salary categories. Both lead into the same pool of occupations covered in this article, from data scientist to management analyst, and the wage data behind every figure here is organized by occupation, not by degree title.

In practice, the decision between the two titles comes down to program content and target role, not a documented pay difference. A program emphasizing statistical theory and modeling may be labeled data science, while one built around applied tools and business use cases may be labeled data analytics, but neither label changes which occupational wage data applies once a graduate reaches a specific job title.

Frequently Asked Questions About Data Analytics Master's Salaries

Is a master's in data analytics worth it?

A master's in data analytics is generally worth it: the six occupations most directly connected to the degree have 2025 median annual wages of $78,760 to $175,140, according to O*NET OnLine's Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, and all six pay above the median wage for the U.S. workforce as a whole. The actual return depends on which occupation a graduate reaches, not on the degree title alone.

What is the average salary for someone with a master's in data analytics?

There is no official U.S. statistic titled "master's in data analytics salary." The closest verifiable reference is the 2025 median annual wage of the occupation a graduate actually works in, for example $120,230 for data scientist or $101,860 for management analyst, according to O*NET OnLine's Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. These figures cover all experience levels in the occupation, not a starting salary for a new graduate.

Can I make $200,000 as a data analyst?

Not at the median of an entry-level position. The highest 2025 median among the six occupations in this article is $175,140, for computer and information systems manager, a role typically reached after several years of experience beyond the degree, according to O*NET OnLine's Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. A $200,000 salary is realistic for senior leadership positions or high-paying industries and locations, not for a starting role.

Is data analytics a well-paid field after 5 years of experience?

Generally yes: professionals in this field typically move from analyst-level roles, with 2025 medians of $78,760 to $88,940, toward data scientist, management analyst, financial and investment analyst, or computer and information systems manager positions at $101,860 to $175,140 as part of a typical analytics career progression, according to O*NET OnLine's Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data. No official database tracks a salary figure by exact years of experience for a single job title, but the occupational medians show a clear upward pattern with seniority.

What can I do with a master's in data analytics?

A master's in data analytics leads to at least six distinct occupations verified in this article: market research analyst, operations research analyst, management analyst, financial and investment analyst, data scientist, and computer and information systems manager, each with its own 2025 median salary and skill profile, according to O*NET OnLine's Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data.

Master's in data analytics or master's in data science: does the degree title change what you earn?

No official wage source tracks these two degree titles as separate salary categories. Both the Bureau of Labor Statistics and O*NET organize wage data by occupation, not by degree title, so a graduate of either program who reaches the same job, such as data scientist, is covered by the same 2025 median wage. The occupation and industry a graduate reaches determines pay, not the exact name of the degree.