Data Analyst Salary UK 2026/27
ONS codes data analysts to SOC 2020 unit group 3544. Their full-time median was £38,572 in ASHE 2025, with a lower quartile of £30,835 and an upper quartile of £47,045; the 10th percentile was £27,338, and ONS did not publish a 90th percentile for the group.
Typical pay & take-home
- Median gross
- £38,572
- ASHE 2025, 25th to 75th percentile
- £30,835–£47,045
- Take-home at median
- £31,291 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn 1% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you between the 25th percentile (£29,262) and the 50th percentile (£39,039) of UK full-time earnings.
What influences data analyst pay
Data analyst titles span reporting and BI work through product analytics. ONS publishes one set of figures for the occupation, so the quartiles describe the spread of the whole group rather than any one title or level of seniority.
The whole interquartile range, £30,835 to £47,045, sits inside the 20% basic-rate band. At the £38,572 median, take-home before any pension is about £31,291 a year, after £5,200 Income Tax and £2,080 National Insurance.
Contracting through a limited company is an alternative route, and IR35 decides whether an engagement is taxed much like employment.
Career progression
- Bottom decile of the group: £27,338.
- Lower quartile: £30,835.
- Median: £38,572.
- Upper quartile: £47,045.
- ONS did not publish a 90th percentile for data analysts in ASHE 2025.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a data analyst a higher-rate taxpayer?
- Not at the ONS figures. The upper quartile, £47,045, is below the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, so at least three quarters of full-time data analysts pay no 40% Income Tax on salary alone. Above £50,270 each extra pound of salary is taxed at 40% plus 2% National Insurance.
- Should I consider contracting as a data analyst?
- Contracting through your own limited company changes how the income is taxed, not just how much it is. Outside IR35 the company pays Corporation Tax on its profits and you draw salary and dividends; inside IR35 the fee is taxed through PAYE much like a salary.