Data analyst certifications: what 6,094 US job ads ask for

Which data analyst certifications do employers name, by country?

We searched one month of Adzuna job ads for the title "data analyst" (in Brazil analista de dados, in Mexico analista de datos) and counted the ads that contain each certificate or skill by its exact name. Five countries have both kinds of count for October 2026.

Source: Adzuna API, data-analyst job ads collected in October 2026, matched by exact phrase. Analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.

In the US, neither credential works as a hiring signal. The Google program appears in 7 of 6,094 ads and PL-300 in 4, while each of the three skills in the table appears in a sizable share of them.

In the UK, PL-300 appeared in 14 of the 741 ads in October 2026 (2%), too few to call a rule, but it fits another UK figure: Power BI appears in 36% of the ads. The Google certificate appeared in none of the 741 UK ads. If you plan to apply in the UK and the ads you read mention Power BI, the Microsoft exam is the credential to consider.

India follows the US pattern. SQL appears in 47% of 1,054 Indian ads and Python in 35%. The Google certificate appeared in 2 of the 1,054 Indian ads, and PL-300 in 2 ads.

Brazilian and Mexican ads name Power BI. In Brazil, it appears in 44% of 949 ads for analista de dados, and SQL in 45%. In Mexico, the two figures are 29% and 26%. The Mexican sample is small (243 ads), so its shares are less precise than the US ones.

What the count misses: we match exact names, so an ad that says "Microsoft certification preferred" or "analytics certificate a plus" without naming one is not counted. For Microsoft's exam we search for the code PL-300, so an ad that writes out only the credential's full name is missed. The figures show how often employers ask for a credential by name. They do not show that employers ignore certificates listed on a resume.

What are the top three skills for a data analyst?

The top three skills in data-analyst ads, of the ones we track, are SQL, Python and Power BI. In US ads, SQL appears in 42% of the ads, Python in 29% and Power BI in 25%. In UK ads, the three appear at 52%, 34% and 36%.

Two tools readers may expect to see are Excel and Tableau. They are not among the skills we track for this role, so we have no share for either and will not guess one. If your target ads mention Excel or Tableau, treat that as your own local data: open 20 ads for the job you want and tally what they repeat.

This shapes how you spend your first months. Of the three skills we track, learn SQL first; the table above gives each share. Python and a BI tool (Power BI or Tableau) come next. Spreadsheet work, which we do not count, is part of the Google course. A certificate is useful to the extent that it makes you practice SQL, Python and a BI tool.

Which certification is best for a data analyst?

Judged by job ads, no single title is the best data analytics certification: no credential is named in data-analyst ads the way the PMP is named in project-manager ads. The right pick depends on which of two problems you have. If you need to learn from zero, choose a course that teaches SQL with structure. If you can already do the work, choose the exam for the tool your target employers use.

The best certification for a data-analyst job, by goal

Source: vendor pages linked in the Sources section, checked October 3, 2026.

The ranking we can defend with data is short. In October 2026, PL-300 was the certification with the clearest signal in our count, from UK ads. Every other row is a choice you make by reading your own target ads, because our count covers only the Google certificate and PL-300.

Is there a good SQL certification for data analysts?

We do not count any SQL certification; we count the skill itself, with its shares in the table above. The best SQL certification for a data analyst, in practice, is a SQL test you pass in an interview, plus a project that shows queries you wrote. If your employer or target employer runs Snowflake, SnowPro Core is an exam built on a SQL platform: $175 per attempt with no free retakes, and Snowflake recommends six or more months of experience with it first. For learning SQL from scratch, the Google and IBM programs both teach it, and Python for Everybody includes a course on using databases with Python.

Entry-level data analyst certification options for beginners

An entry-level data analyst certification should require no experience and teach the skills ads name. The two course certificates require nothing at all. The four exams have no formal prerequisite, but each assumes you can already use the tool.

Source: Coursera program pages for Google Data Analytics and IBM Data Analyst; Microsoft Learn, PL-300 exam; Salesforce Trailhead Academy, Tableau Data Analyst and Desktop Foundations; Certiport MOS voucher. Checked October 3, 2026.

The two kinds work differently. A course certificate proves you finished a set of lessons; there is no proctored exam. A vendor certification proves you passed a timed, supervised test on one product. If you are a beginner, take the course first, and book an exam once you can use the tool. The Microsoft and Tableau exams assume you already work with the product: Microsoft expects PL-300 candidates to be proficient with Power Query and DAX, and Salesforce recommends six months of Tableau experience before the Data Analyst exam.

Is the Google data analyst certification worth it?

As training at a low price, yes for a beginner; as a credential, the ad counts below apply. It is sometimes called the Google data analyst certification, but its name is the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, and it is a course certificate, not an exam-based certification. In October 2026 it appeared in 7 of the 6,094 US data-analyst ads, none of the 741 UK ads and 2 of the 1,054 ads in India.

What it teaches lines up well with what the ads ask for. Google lists the tools as spreadsheets, SQL, Python and Tableau, and says it does not cover R. A poster on r/coursera noticed the change: when they took the course "it still taught R" (r/coursera, April 2026), and it has since been updated to Python. US employers name Python in 29% of the ads for this role, which fits the switch.

Google makes two claims worth reading closely. Graduates can apply directly to Google and over 150 US employers, including Deloitte, Target and Verizon, through its employer consortium. And 75% of graduates report a positive career outcome, defined as a new job, a promotion or a raise, within six months; that figure comes from Google's own 2022 survey of US graduates. The consortium is a channel for applications, not a hiring commitment, and the survey's definition includes raises and promotions, not only new jobs.

Show the numbers

What the PL-300 certification costs: required and optional fees (USD). Source: learn.microsoft.com, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	Fee
Fees to get certified: Exam	$165

Google data analyst certification cost

Coursera charges $49 a month in the US and Canada after a seven-day free trial, and Google estimates six months at 10 hours a week. At that pace the certificate costs about $294; finish in three months and it is $147. Prices differ by country. Several questions in our Reddit sample ask whether financial aid works one course at a time. It does: Coursera's help center says that for a multi-course program you submit a separate application for each course, and an application is canceled if you start a free trial. For plan choices such as Coursera Plus, see our Coursera pricing and value analysis.

The certificate also carries an American Council on Education recommendation of up to 12 college credits. Whether a college accepts them is the college's decision.

Google or IBM Data Analyst?

The IBM Data Analyst Certificate is the closest alternative: 11 courses, about four months at 10 hours a week, also beginner level with no experience required, and also an ACE recommendation of up to 12 credits. Our job-ad count does not include the IBM certificate, so we cannot say whether employers prefer either. Pick by syllabus and by the tools in your target ads. IBM also sells the IBM Data Science Certificate (12 courses, about four months) for people heading toward machine learning; see the IBM Data Science Certificate page.

After the Google certificate: the advanced course or a project?

A poster on r/analytics asked exactly this: "Should I do the advanced Google Analytics Certificate or should I do a personal project showing my skills in data analysis?" (r/analytics, June 2026). Google Advanced Data Analytics is another seven courses and about six months at $49 a month. Our count does not include it, so we cannot say how often employers name it. The skills the ads do name, SQL and Python, are things a project on a public data set can show directly, and a project gives an interviewer something concrete to ask about. The Google Business Intelligence Certificate, four courses at advanced level, makes sense when your target jobs are BI roles built around dashboards. For the whole program family, see Google Career Certificates, and for a subscription alternative, DataCamp vs Google Data Analytics.

Google certificate vs PL-300 and Tableau: course or vendor exam?

This is the choice once you have the basics: another course certificate, or a vendor exam on a specific tool.

Microsoft PL-300 (Microsoft Certified: Power BI Data Analyst Associate) is a proctored exam: 100 minutes, a passing score of 700 on Microsoft's scale, $165 in the US with prices set by country. It covers four areas: preparing data, modeling it, and visualizing it (25% to 30% of the exam each), and managing and securing Power BI (15% to 20%). Since April 20, 2026, the skills list includes using Copilot in reports. The certification expires after 12 months, and renewal is a free online assessment. PL-300 appeared in 2% of the 741 UK data-analyst ads and in 4 of the 6,094 US ones.

Tableau certifications come from Salesforce, which owns Tableau. Desktop Foundations (formerly Desktop Specialist) costs $75 with a free retake: 40 questions in 70 minutes. The Tableau Data Analyst exam costs $200 ($100 to retake): 60 questions in 105 minutes, a passing score of 65%, and a maintenance module on Trailhead once a year to keep it current. We do not count Tableau certifications in ads yet, so we cannot tell you how often employers name them.

Our verdict on Google Data Analytics against vendor certifications: the Google certificate is the better first purchase if you cannot yet write a SQL query, because it teaches from zero. PL-300 is the better second purchase if the ads in your market name Power BI, because it is a supervised exam on a tool employers write into their ads. Microsoft expects candidates to be proficient with Power Query and DAX, so plan practice time in Power BI before you book it. A Tableau exam is the equivalent choice where ads name Tableau. Before you pay for both a course and an exam on the same tool, check 20 to 30 local ads to see whether either is named.

Show the numbers

PL-300 exam format at a glance. Source: learn.microsoft.com, checked October 3, 2026.

Item	PL-300
Exam time	100 minutes (1 h 40 min)
Passing score	700 (scaled score)
Format	proctored exam; may include interactive components
Languages	10 languages
Where you take it	Pearson VUE proctored exam

Is a data analyst certification worth it?

Whether it is worth getting a certificate in data analytics depends on what you expect it to do. A certificate is worth it when it makes you learn SQL, a BI tool and enough Python to clean a data set, and when you finish with work you can show. It is not worth it as a ticket past a resume filter, because the certificate counts in the table above are small next to the ad totals. Of the vendor exams, we count only PL-300; see the UK paragraph above.

Three groups gain from paying. Career changers with no technical background get structure from a beginner course; budget for the months it takes, not just the monthly fee. Analysts who already work in a Microsoft or Tableau shop can turn that experience into a line recruiters can check, and PL-300 renewal costs nothing. People applying in the UK will find PL-300 named in 2% of the ads for data analysts there.

Two groups can skip it. If you already use SQL and a BI tool at work, your projects and job history say more than a course certificate. If your time is limited and the choice is between a certificate and a portfolio, spend the time on the portfolio.

Do you need a certification to be a data analyst?

No. Data analysts don't need certifications under any rule we could find: we found no law or professional body that requires one. A course can help you get the skills, and a vendor exam can confirm them. In the 6,094 US ads we counted, though, SQL appeared in 42% of the ads.

Data analyst certification requirements

Since no certification is required for the job, the requirements that matter are those of each credential. The Google and IBM course certificates require nothing: no degree and no experience. PL-300 has no formal prerequisite, but Microsoft expects you to be proficient with Power Query and DAX. The Tableau Data Analyst exam has no prerequisite either; Salesforce recommends six months of hands-on Tableau experience. Microsoft suggests about 150 hours of instruction and hands-on practice before the Excel specialist exam. If the question is whether you need a degree, our page on how to become a data analyst without a degree covers that route.

Best certification for data analysts: what Reddit posters ask

We grouped the questions posted about these certificates on Reddit. Those threads argue less about which brand is best than about whether any credential helps.

The most upvoted question in our sample (111 upvotes on r/analytics) asks hiring managers for "the minimum skill set that actually gets someone hired" in an entry-level analyst job (r/analytics, August 2026). That is the question our data answers best: SQL, Python and Power BI, with the US shares in the table above.

On Power BI, one poster asked whether "companies prefer official courses like PL-300" or whether learning from YouTube is enough (r/PowerBI, August 2026). A thread title asks it directly: "Is PL-300 actually worth it for landing a first Data Analyst job, or do portfolio projects matter more?" (r/PowerBI, October 2026). Learning material can come from anywhere; the exam result is a separate, proctored record. Tableau users ask the same thing about their exams (r/tableau, August 2026).

On the Google certificate, a poster in India asked whether it was worth the monthly price in rupees (r/coursera, January 2026). The certificate appeared in 2 of the 1,054 Indian data-analyst ads, so the answer depends on whether you need the lessons, not the name.

Related roles and where to go next

Data analysis sits next to three roles we cover with the same method. A business analyst works closer to requirements and processes. A data scientist goes further into statistics and machine learning, and a data engineer builds the pipelines and warehouses analysts query. For every certificate in this field in one place, see the data analytics field overview.

Sources

• Adzuna job-ad counts, data-analyst ads in the US, UK, India, Brazil and Mexico, October 2026; analysis: CertWorthIt. How we count.
• Coursera, Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate, Google Advanced Data Analytics, Google Business Intelligence, IBM Data Analyst, IBM Data Science and Python for Everybody, checked October 3 and 4, 2026.
• Microsoft Learn, Power BI Data Analyst Associate, PL-300 study guide and renewal, checked October 3 and 4, 2026.
• Microsoft Learn, MOS: Excel; Certiport, MOS voucher, checked October 3, 2026.
• Salesforce, Tableau Data Analyst exam, Tableau Desktop Foundations exam and Trailhead exam prep, checked October 3, 2026.
• Snowflake, SnowPro Core and certification policies, checked October 3, 2026.
• Reddit threads linked in the text, from our collection of posts on r/analytics, r/coursera, r/PowerBI and r/tableau.

Edited by Elena Marsh · Data checked October 4, 2026