SQL Job Market Analysis

Focusing on "entry-level" data and business analyst roles, this project explores the industries hiring most actively, the top skills employers want, and the best places to live for a data career.

This is my second full-length SQL project — the first being a Covid-19 SQL exploration published on Tableau Public. The dataset hails from Luke Barousse's Data Analyst Job Postings Kaggle dataset, compiled daily from Google search results.

This was my first time using PostgreSQL and Visual Studio Code together, which sharpened my database management and SQL workflow. Excel, Tableau, and ChatGPT rounded out the tech stack for visualization and ad-hoc research.

1. What industries hire the most entry-level data analysts, and what's the average salary?
2. Which industries hire the highest-paid data analysts overall?
3. What are the top skills desired for entry-level data analysts?
4. What are the top skills for any data professional, from analysts to engineers?
5. What states and cities have the most data analyst job postings?

I filtered job postings for "entry-level" or "junior" data/business analyst roles in the U.S., full-time only, with a non-null average yearly salary.

SELECT
  job_title,
  job_title_short,
  job_location,
  job_schedule_type,
  job_country,
  salary_year_avg,
  name AS company_name
FROM job_postings_fact
LEFT JOIN company_dim
  ON job_postings_fact.company_id = company_dim.company_id
WHERE (job_title_short = 'Data Analyst'
   OR job_title_short = 'Business Analyst')
  AND (job_title LIKE '%Entry_Level%'
       OR job_title LIKE '%junior%')
  AND salary_year_avg IS NOT NULL
  AND job_schedule_type = 'Full-time'
  AND job_country = 'United States'
ORDER BY salary_year_avg DESC;

Diverse industries: Top hiring sectors include transportation/logistics, real-estate tech, software, AI education, IT services, fintech, insurance, and non-profits.

IT Services lead with 26 entry-level postings: Often the easiest door-opener for aspiring analysts.

Salary range $45k–$81k: Average entry-level analyst role pays about $64,000.

Transportation/Logistics pays the most: ~$81,000 average — the best industry for maximizing early-career salary.

I pulled the top 50 highest-paying analyst postings, exported to Excel, then used ChatGPT to assign each company an industry. Tableau handled the visualization, focused on industries with more than one posting.

SELECT
  job_title,
  job_title_short,
  job_location,
  job_schedule_type,
  job_country,
  salary_year_avg,
  name AS company_name
FROM job_postings_fact
LEFT JOIN company_dim
  ON job_postings_fact.company_id = company_dim.company_id
WHERE (job_title_short = 'Data Analyst'
   OR job_title_short = 'Business Analyst')
  AND salary_year_avg IS NOT NULL
  AND job_schedule_type = 'Full-time'
  AND job_country = 'United States'
ORDER BY salary_year_avg DESC
LIMIT 50;

Industries are diverse: Fintech, AI, social media, entertainment, healthcare — data analytics is needed almost everywhere.

Social media & entertainment lead with 9 postings: Meta, Netflix, Instagram — marketing analytics is a strong specialization.

Financial services close behind with 7 postings. Fintech remains a great target for analysts.

Salary range $200k–$300k: Average top-paying analyst role sits around $241,000.

Using a CTE built on the entry-level query, I joined the skills tables to count how often each skill appears across postings, then visualized the top 20 in Tableau.

WITH entry_us_jobs AS (
  SELECT
    job_id,
    job_title,
    job_title_short,
    job_location,
    job_schedule_type,
    job_country,
    salary_year_avg,
    name AS company_name
  FROM job_postings_fact
  LEFT JOIN company_dim
    ON job_postings_fact.company_id = company_dim.company_id
  WHERE job_country = 'United States'
    AND job_title LIKE '%Analyst%'
    AND (job_title LIKE '%Entry_Level%'
         OR job_title LIKE '%Junior%')
  ORDER BY salary_year_avg DESC
)
SELECT entry_us_jobs.*, skills
FROM entry_us_jobs
INNER JOIN skills_job_dim
  ON entry_us_jobs.job_id = skills_job_dim.job_id
INNER JOIN skills_dim
  ON skills_job_dim.skill_id = skills_dim.skill_id
ORDER BY salary_year_avg DESC;

Excel is #1: The most sought-after skill for entry-level analysts.

Tableau and SQL tie for #2: Both appear in 650+ entry-level postings.

Best entry-level skill stack: Excel, Tableau, SQL, Python, SAS — in that order.

For contrast, I looked at the most in-demand skills across every data role, from analyst to engineer.

SELECT
  skills,
  COUNT(skills_job_dim.job_id) AS demand_count
FROM job_postings_fact
INNER JOIN skills_job_dim
  ON job_postings_fact.job_id = skills_job_dim.job_id
INNER JOIN skills_dim
  ON skills_job_dim.skill_id = skills_dim.skill_id
GROUP BY skills
ORDER BY demand_count DESC
LIMIT 5;

SQL and Python dominate: Highly sought after for entry-level and senior data professionals alike.

Cloud (AWS / Azure) matters: Cloud experience is a real differentiator.

R remains valuable: Especially for more experienced data professionals.

Even with remote work dominating, in-person networking still matters early in your career. I counted postings per location, separated city and state in Excel, and mapped the result in Tableau.

SELECT
  job_location,
  COUNT(*) AS jobs_per_place
FROM job_postings_fact
WHERE job_country = 'United States'
  AND job_location <> 'United States'
  AND job_location <> 'Anywhere'
GROUP BY job_location
ORDER BY jobs_per_place DESC;

Top 3 states: California, Texas, and Florida lead in data analyst postings.

Southeast is solid: Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and Florida all have substantial volume.

Top 3 cities: New York, Atlanta, and Chicago — with most other major U.S. cities close behind.

Don't sleep on mid-size cities: Alpharetta GA, Bentonville AR, Charleston SC, and Colorado Springs CO all show strong concentrations of data jobs.

🧩 Modern data tech stack: Working across PostgreSQL, an IDE, Excel, Tableau, and ChatGPT showed me how a real analytics workflow comes together end-to-end.

📊 Complex SQL analysis: Practicing JOINs, CTEs, and temp tables — filtering and aggregating thoughtfully to surface real insights.

Diverse industries: From healthcare to social media to fintech, data analytics is needed almost everywhere.

In-demand skills: The classic Excel + SQL + Tableau stack still wins. Python, SAS, R, and cloud (AWS / Azure) are strong follow-ups.

Location still matters: Being near a major metro — especially in CA, TX, or FL — gives entry-level analysts the best shot.

This project sharpened my SQL skills and clarified where to focus my own data job search. Real analysis is mostly about getting things done — using whatever tools are available to clean data, find insights, and communicate them clearly.