Salary benchmark
Is $132,040 good for Data Analyst in Boston, MA?
For a mapped Data Scientists role in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area, a base salary near $132,040 sits around the official BLS OEWS median wage estimate. A stronger offer usually includes clear bonus terms, benefits, review timing, and limited restrictive language.
Role mapping note: Analyze data, build models, and turn findings into business decisions.
| Percentile | Annual base benchmark |
|---|---|
| 10th | $82,030 |
| 25th | $102,720 |
| 50th | $132,040 |
| 75th | $166,120 |
| 90th | $206,220 |
How to use this benchmark
- Below $102,720
- Below the local 25th percentile for this mapped occupation. Confirm level, scope, and whether the employer can move base salary or add guaranteed sign-on.
- $102,720 to $132,040
- Between the 25th percentile and median. Check whether the role is entry, mid-level, or scoped below the public occupation mapping before deciding how hard to push.
- $132,040 to $166,120
- Between median and the 75th percentile. Base pay is more competitive, so negotiation may shift toward bonus clarity, equity terms, review timing, schedule, and benefits.
- Above $166,120
- Above the 75th percentile. Pressure-test total compensation quality and restrictive clauses instead of assuming the headline base salary tells the whole story.
Negotiation signals for this role
- The role owns metrics definitions, stakeholder strategy, experimentation, or data modeling instead of only dashboards.
- The job expects SQL, Python, warehouse modeling, forecasting, causal analysis, or data science-adjacent work.
- The analyst will be the primary decision-support partner for a product, finance, growth, or operations team.
Offer risks to check
- A take-home project or ramp plan reveals analytics engineering or data science duties that the title does not reflect.
- Reporting cycles, month-end work, or executive deliverables imply recurring overtime without clear boundaries.
- Tooling ownership, data quality cleanup, or stakeholder training is expected but absent from the compensation discussion.
What this public benchmark misses
- This page maps Data Analyst to SOC 15-2051, Data Scientists; the actual offer may be narrower, broader, or leveled differently than that public occupation group.
- Public wage data cannot distinguish BI analyst, analytics engineer, product analyst, and data scientist ladders.
- The benchmark does not value internal data access, model ownership, decision rights, or the cost of maintaining reporting infrastructure.
- BLS OEWS wages are straight-time wage estimates and do not add private salary submissions or employer-specific compensation data.
Questions to ask the recruiter
- Is this role leveled as analyst, senior analyst, analytics engineer, or data scientist?
- What tools, data warehouse ownership, and stakeholder groups are in scope?
- How often do reporting deadlines require work outside normal hours?
- What promotion or review path exists if the work expands into modeling or engineering?
Boston, MA and remote context
- Confirm whether the band is tied to Boston-Cambridge-Newton, a suburban office, or a specialized employer cluster.
- Ask how hybrid days, parking or transit support, and relocation timing are handled before accepting.
- If the role is remote or hybrid, ask whether pay is anchored to Boston, MA, a headquarters band, or your home market.
Source note: BLS OEWS May 2025, mapped to SOC 15-2051 and BLS area code 0014460. OEWS wages are straight-time wage estimates and do not fully capture equity, signing bonus, severance, or every total-compensation detail.
FAQ
Is $132,040 a good salary for a Data Analyst in Boston, MA?
$132,040 is near the BLS OEWS median base-wage estimate for the mapped Data Scientists occupation in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH area. Treat it as a base salary anchor, then evaluate bonus, equity, benefits, schedule, review timing, and restrictive terms before deciding whether the full offer is strong.
What should a Data Analyst negotiate beyond base salary?
Start with level and scope. For this role, one useful signal is whether the role owns metrics definitions, stakeholder strategy, experimentation, or data modeling instead of only dashboards. Also ask for written details on any variable pay, equity, review timing, and offer terms that could affect future mobility.
What does this benchmark miss for Data Analyst offers?
This page maps Data Analyst to SOC 15-2051, Data Scientists; the actual offer may be narrower, broader, or leveled differently than that public occupation group. Public wage data cannot distinguish BI analyst, analytics engineer, product analyst, and data scientist ladders. The benchmark does not value internal data access, model ownership, decision rights, or the cost of maintaining reporting infrastructure. BLS OEWS wages are straight-time wage estimates and do not add private salary submissions or employer-specific compensation data.
How should remote or hybrid offers tied to Boston, MA be checked?
Confirm whether the band is tied to Boston-Cambridge-Newton, a suburban office, or a specialized employer cluster. Ask how hybrid days, parking or transit support, and relocation timing are handled before accepting. If the role is remote or hybrid, ask whether pay is anchored to Boston, MA, a headquarters band, or your home market.
Which public data source is used on this page?
This page uses BLS OEWS May 2025, mapped to SOC 15-2051 (Data Scientists) and BLS area code 0014460. It uses public OEWS wage estimates, not private salary submissions or employer-specific compensation data.
On an H-1B (or hoping for one)?
Since March 2026 the H-1B lottery weighs entries by OFLC wage level, so where this salary lands changes your selection odds. Request a free H-1B Offer Brief — estimated wage level, lottery entries, and a prevailing-wage sanity check for your offer.