Accountant vs Data Analyst Salary
Data Analysts earn approximately 6.3% more than Accountants nationally — $84,000 vs $79,000.
These two pay almost the same nationally — within 6% of each other — so the choice comes down to working conditions rather than money.
Pay range, not just the median
The medians hide most of what matters. Accountant pay runs from roughly $52,780 at the low end to $141,420 at the high end; Data Analyst runs $50,000 to $155,000. Position within the range is driven by what you specialize in and who you work for, not by the title on the offer.
Where each field is heading
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects Accountant employment to grow 5% over the decade to 2034 — growing about as fast as average — against growth of 23% for Data Analyst.
Growth rate is not the same thing as opportunity. Accountant roles see roughly 124,200 openings a year and Data Analyst roles about 19,800, counting replacements for people who retire or leave. Accountant has the larger raw number, which is usually what you feel when actually job hunting — a small field growing fast can still be harder to break into than a large flat one.
Moving between the two
There is little skill overlap here — Finance and Tech train differently and recruit through different channels — so a move between them is closer to starting over than pivoting. Bookkeepers and finance grads move in easily; CPA license is required to move up to partner-track public accounting or sign audit opinions. Common entry point for career-switchers from finance, operations, or marketing because SQL and Excel are learnable in a few months and many roles don't require a CS background.
If you are entering rather than switching: Accountant — Bachelor's in accounting, then entry-level staff accountant or audit associate role at a firm; CPA exam (150 credit hours) needed for public accounting advancement. Data Analyst — Bachelor's in any quantitative-adjacent field (business, econ, stats) plus a portfolio of dashboards/SQL projects; the 2021 SOC revision folds data analysts into the same Data Scientists code as more advanced ML roles, so BLS wage/openings figures here are shared with data scientists and likely overstate the analyst-only entry pay.
Pay ranges, education requirements, and employment projections come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. See our methodology for how these are compiled and updated.
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