Analyze This: Starting Salaries for Web Analysts top $60K

The Digital Analytics Association (DAA) has released a breakdown of Web analytics professionals' salaries across the U.S., and the bottom line is that the industry is a good one to be in right now.

In the midst of a recession, the starting salary for a digital analyst across key geographic locations is $60,800. The data was drawn from actual job placements provided by IQWorkforce and was analyzed by the DAA's research committee, led by Brian Thopsey.

"I found this research to be incredibly valuable to my personal career and I hope other analysts will find the same success with this revealing report," says Thopsey. "The project, through the DAA, yielded great insights into the career tracks of digital analysts around the country and it will allow all analysts to determine if they're in the right place."

According to the research, Atlanta is the best city for digital analysts to live and work in when comparing both salary and the cost of living. San Francisco has the highest salaries on average, but the cost of living knocks it out of the top five best cities for digital analysts.

The lowest salary area is Salt Lake City, and the high cost of living puts New York City in last place for digital analysts to call home.

"We found this research to be quite revealing," says Peter Sanborn, president of the DAA. "Since New York and San Francisco are large hubs for digital analysts, we expected those cities to be the best places for them in terms of take-home earnings. However, we were surprised to find that Atlanta grabbed the number one spot. It will be interesting to see how this data changes in the years to come and see if there is a migration of analysts to the south."

Visit the DAA for more insights on the newly released research.