Salary survey of predictive analytics professionals

According to a recently released salary survey of predictive analytics professionals (PAPs) conducted by Burtch Works, PAPs earn median annual salaries between $76,000 and $235,000, depending on, not surprisingly, their experience, industry, job responsibilities and location. Those numbers do not include bonuses, which the vast majority of PAPs receive and that can add significantly more income.

The survey, conducted over 12 months ending in April 2015, is based on responses from 1,757 PAPs who work for more than 800 different companies located across the United States.

Burtch Works, an executive recruiting firm focused on market research and analytics professionals, defines PAPs as those who can “apply sophisticated quantitative skills to data describing transactions, interactions or other behaviors of people to derive insights and prescribe actions.” Burtch Works distinguishes PAPs from business intelligence professionals and financial analysts by the enormous quantity of data with which they work, well beyond what can be managed in Excel. It should be noted that data scientists were excluded from the study because of their distinguishing ability to work with unstructured data, resulting in different compensation.

Among the findings:

• The median base salary of individual contributors varies from $76,000 for those at Level 1 to $125,000 for those at Level 3. The median base salary of managers varies from $125,500 for those at Level 1 to $235,000 for those at Level 3.
• The proportion of individual contributors eligible for a bonus varies from 69 percent for those at Level 1 to 87 percent for those at Level 3. More than 92 percent of managers at all levels are eligible for bonuses. Regardless of job level, the median bonus paid to managers is significantly greater than the median bonus paid to individual contributors.
• Compensation of PAPs also varies based on characteristics including education level, location and industry of employment. Historically, PAPs working in the Northeast and on the West Coast have been paid more than other PAPs, and PAPs working for consulting firms were paid more than those working in other industries.
• A significant proportion of all PAPs are non-U.S. citizens. Among individual contributors at Levels 1 and 2, non-U.S. citizens are the majority.
• Entry-level individual contributors who hold a green card or are on an H-1B visa earn more than U.S. citizens. However, among Level 3 individual contributors, this trend reverses: The median base salary for those who hold an H-1B visa is 21.5 percent lower than for those who are U.S. citizens, and green card holders earn 7.7 percent less than U.S. citizens.
• Variation in PAPs’ compensation correlates most strongly with job category and with scope of responsibility (job level).

To download the complete report, click here.