2020 Progressive Data, Analytics, and Technology Salary Survey
Amit Mistry, Cristina Sinclaire, Lena Tom, Mahelet Fekade, and Olivia Robinson
5/3/2021
Executive Summary
About the Survey:
This survey was administered in January and February 2021 to progressive and Democratic data, analytics, and technology staff, largely reflecting respondents’ 2020 employment and salaries. Thanks to everyone who participated and/or shared the survey! This was the largest sample yet.
How to use the results
There were 608 respondents recruited using snowball sampling. The survey was announced on a few major progressive and Democratic political and/or data email listservs and Slack channels, and readers were encouraged to share the survey around their offices and networks. This should not be considered a representative sample of all people working in the industry. The n-size and results as compared to previous year surveys’ offer some consistency, particularly at the aggregate level, but some experiences may not be represented.
This survey may be useful in evaluating salaries and roles of individuals or workplaces, but a survey of this kind should be used with care – your experience may be different.
Early salary surveys had heavy response rates among certain demographics, while more recent years have seen some notable shifts. We should be cautious in making assumptions about these demographic shifts. The survey is anonymous, and we are not able to make assessments about non-respondents. Some data has been obscured in this report due to small n-sizes to protect anonymization (such as among certain demographic categories).
Finally, although useful to benchmark, employers should NOT determine a role’s salary based on this survey alone.
We’ve highlighted some findings of interest, but strongly encourage you to review the full analysis.
Gender: About half of respondents were cis women (49%). 43% were cis men. Seven percent were trans or non-binary.
Respondents were 64% white. This is a notable change from the last survey (2018) where 76% of respondents were white.
The median age was 30, while 36% were between ages 25 and 29.
Slightly fewer than half of respondents’ (47%) families have been in the United States for fewer than three generations.
62% of respondents identified as heterosexual/straight.
57% of respondents have a bachelor’s degree; 39% reported a degree higher than a bachelor’s.
15% report having a disability (defined as “a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity”).
35% of respondents live in the DC area, followed by New York metro area at 8% and Chicago metro area at 6%.
Nearly all respondents (96%) were fully employed during the 2020 election cycle.
Salary: The median salary was $88,000 and the average salary was $94,571.
The 2020 salary survey reflects the first notable increase in both median and average salaries since the start of this survey in 2014. The five past salary surveys have had a median salary of ~$75,000, +/- $5,000. There are likely multiple factors at play, however this survey did not aim to identify the causes.
Compared to non-managers, managers with 1-4 staffers had a median salary of ~$20K more and managers with 5+ staff had a median salary of ~$40K more.
People of color have a median salary of $85K versus white people’s median salary of $90K. This racial salary gap is notably smaller than in previous surveys.
Cis men and cis women had similar median salaries ($90K and $88K respectively). Trans and nonbinary people had a lower median salary ($72,250) than their cis colleagues, but we do not have enough disaggregated data from past surveys to make any comparisons.
Heterosexual people have a median salary of $90K and queer people have a median of $85K, however average salaries across respondents is essentially the same.
People with disabilities have median salaries of $15K less than non-disabled people, consistent with previous years.
Entry-level employees had a median salary of $68,000 (approximately $9K higher compared to 2018); mid-level employees $82,000 (~$8K higher); and senior / department-head employees $110,000 (~$10K higher).
Within the last year, a majority of respondents have either transformed data/generated reports with SQL (74%), managed and reviewed others’ analysis or work (70%), created voter contact universes (59%), or presented the results of an analysis for non-technical leadership (59%).
Almost 80% of respondents learned the skills and tools they use weekly at their current and/or previous job.
A majority of respondents consider themselves to be either “intermediate” or “advanced” with Excel/Google spreadsheets (93%), SQL (73%), and voter file management (65%).
Among respondents, 48% said the primary focus of their organization was data, analytics, or technology. This jumped to 92% for their team and 95% for their role.
Respondents work at a variety of organizations, with analytics/polling firms (18%), issue or advocacy organizations (17%), vendors (13%), and political campaigns (9%) making a majority of the organizations represented.
A majority of respondents’ primary job function or primary function of their team was general analytics or data science (22%), general data management and reporting (19%), or field/grassroots-focused data (11%).
39% of respondents are managers. The likelihood of being a manager did not meaningfully vary by race and/or gender.
Other Findings:
If respondents were to leave the progressive/Democratic data space, the top reasons were: for a better-paying job (39%); for a better work/life balance (27%); because they feel stagnated or that there isn’t a clear next step in their career (26%); for better opportunities to learn and grow in other fields (24%); or due to burn out (22%).
59% of respondents worked somewhere that provided additional benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
26% respondents work in a unionized workplace or have a recognized bargaining unit. Among those respondents, a large plurality (47%) work someplace that has unionized within the past two years.
Notes:
- People of Color (POC) include those who identified as Black, Latinx, Hispanic, Asian, Native, and people who selected multiple race categories. We report differences between POC and White respondents here to preserve anonymity.
- We use gender bins of Cis Man, Cis Woman, and Trans/Nonbinary in order to surface the areas where Trans respondents are underpaid relative to Cisgender respondents of the same gender.
Respondent Charateristics
Demographic Information
Gender
What is your gender identity?| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Cis woman | 49% | 297 |
| Cis man | 43% | 259 |
| Gender non-binary or non-conforming | 5% | 33 |
| Trans man | 1% | 5 |
| Different gender identity, prefer to specify | 1% | 4 |
| Trans woman | 0% | 2 |
| Prefer not to answer | 1% | 8 |
Race / Ethnicity
What is your race / ethnicity? Please select all that apply.
| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| White | 64% | 390 |
| Asian or Asian American (including South Asian) | 13% | 77 |
| Multi-Racial | 10% | 63 |
| Hispanic or Latinx | 5% | 33 |
| Black | 5% | 30 |
| Prefer not to answer | 1% | 6 |
| Middle Eastern | 1% | 5 |
| Other | 0% | 3 |
| Native American | 0% | 1 |
Immigration Status
How long have you or your family lived in the United States?
| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| I’m the first generation in the United States | 11% | 67 |
| One or more of my parents immigrated to the United States | 20% | 120 |
| One or more of my grandparents immigrated to the United States | 16% | 95 |
| My family has been in the United States for 3 generations or more | 52% | 314 |
| None of the above | 1% | 9 |
| Prefer not to answer | 0% | 3 |
Age
2020 - What is your year (YYYY) of birth?
| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| 20-24 | 10% | 60 |
| 25-29 | 36% | 221 |
| 30-34 | 28% | 170 |
| 35-39 | 16% | 96 |
| 40-44 | 6% | 35 |
| 45-49 | 2% | 12 |
| 50-54 | 2% | 11 |
| 55-59 | 0% | 2 |
| 60+ | 0% | 1 |
Sexuality
Do you consider yourself to be …?| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Heterosexual/straight | 62% | 379 |
| Bisexual | 14% | 86 |
| Queer | 10% | 63 |
| Gay or Lesbian | 9% | 53 |
| Different identity, prefer to specify | 1% | 6 |
| Prefer not to answer | 3% | 21 |
Disability
Do you identify as a disabled? You are considered to have a disability if you have a physical or mental impairment or medical condition that substantially limits a major life activity, or if you have a history or record of such an impairment or medical condition.
| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, I have or previously had a disability | 15% | 90 |
| No, I don’t have a disability | 80% | 484 |
| Other | 2% | 12 |
| Prefer not to answer | 4% | 22 |
Military Status
Are you a member of the military or a veteran?| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Yes, Reserve/National Guard | 0% | 2 |
| Yes, Veteran | 1% | 5 |
| No | 98% | 598 |
| Prefer not to answer | 0% | 3 |
Education
What is the highest level of education that you have completed?| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| High School Diploma or GED | 3% | 17 |
| Associate’s Degree | 1% | 4 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 57% | 344 |
| Post-bachelor’s Work, no Higher Degree | 7% | 45 |
| Master’s or Professional Degree (MA, MPP, JD, etc.) | 28% | 172 |
| Doctoral Degree (PhD) | 4% | 23 |
| Other | 0% | 2 |
| Prefer not to answer | 0% | 1 |
Geography
Country
What country do you live in?| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 99% | 603 |
| Australia | 0% | 1 |
| Canada | 0% | 1 |
| France | 0% | 1 |
| Spain | 0% | 1 |
| Turkey | 0% | 1 |
Area
What’s your zip code? [only asked to US respondents, responses coded to Census metropolitan areas]
| Proportion | N | |
|---|---|---|
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | 35% | 214 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | 8% | 51 |
| Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI | 6% | 39 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH | 4% | 26 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | 3% | 21 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA | 3% | 20 |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA | 2% | 14 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | 2% | 13 |
| Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, TX | 2% | 11 |
| Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta, GA | 2% | 10 |
| Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO | 1% | 9 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | 1% | 8 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | 1% | 8 |
| Raleigh-Cary, NC | 1% | 8 |
| Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA | 1% | 6 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | 1% | 5 |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ | 1% | 5 |
| Other (less than 5 people in metro area) | 20% | 122 |
| Missing | 3% | 18 |
Work Experience
Politics & Data
How many years of work experience do you have in progressive politics and in data, analytics, and technology (i.e., how many years have you been a progressive data, analytics, or technology practitioner)?
Politics, Not Data
How many years of work experience do you have in progressive politics but not in data, analytics, and technology (i.e., exclude any years worked in data, analytics, and technology)?
Data, Not Politics
How many years of work experience do you have in data, analytics, and technology but not in progressive politics (i.e., exclude any years worked in progressive politics)?