Planning and Analysis
GIS Analyst
Career Area: Planning and Analysis
Occupation Group: Data Analysis and Mathematics
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical GIS Analyst earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $68,139
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $69,311
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Gathers data that can be used in geographic information system (GIS) maps or products. Gathers data from existing maps and reports; gathers information on people, plants, animals, buildings, natural terrain and elevation.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 669 | +11.4% |
| Nationwide | 18976 | +9.3% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every GIS Analyst is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Research: Experience performing creative and systematic work to understand a product, market, or customer, either before building a new solution, or to troubleshoot an existing issue
- Teamwork / Collaboration: Experience working in collaborative efforts with a team to achieve a common goal or to complete a task in the most effective and efficient way.
- Planning: Working experience with the process of thinking about and organizing the activities required to achieve desired goals.
- Problem Solving: Problem solving consists of using generic or ad hoc methods, in an orderly manner, for finding solutions to problems.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Geographic Information System (GIS): A geographic information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data.
- ArcGIS: ArcGIS is a geographic information system (GIS) for working with maps and geographic information.
- Information Systems: An information system (IS) is an organized system for the collection, organization, storage and communication of information.
- Python: Python is a widely used high-level programming language for general-purpose programming, created by Guido van Rossum and first released in 1991.
- SQL: SQL ( ESS-kew-EL or SEE-kwl, Structured Query Language) is a domain-specific language used in programming and designed for managing data held in a relational database management system (RDBMS), or for stream processing in a relational data stream management system (RDSMS).
Distinguishing Skills
Any GIS Analyst that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Remote Sensing: Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object and thus in contrast to on-site observation.
- Geospatial Intelligence: In the United States, Geospatial intelligence, GEOINT (GEOspatial INTelligence) is intelligence about the human activity on earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information that describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth.
- Photogrammetry: Working experience of Photogrammetry, which is the science of making measurements from photographs, especially for recovering the exact positions of surface points.
- GIAC Information Security Professional (GISP): Requires GIAC Information Security Professional (GISP), which is a certification administered by GIAC as an independent assessment of mastery of the (ISC)2 Common Body of Knowledge.
Education
This career typically requires the following level of education. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
.| Education Level | % |
| Bachelor's Degree | 59% |
| Master's Degree | 13% |
| Doctoral Degree | 3% |
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 30% |
| 3 to 5 years | 43% |
| 6 to 8 years | 17% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Gis Analyst
- Gis Technician
- Gis Developer
- Gis Specialist
- Geospatial Analyst
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles:
The wage and employment trend information shown here represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is downloaded regularly from Burning Glass Technologies. For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Burning Glass Technologies - Frequently Asked Questions.