Business analyst salary in the US
What business analysts are paid in the US, from the 10th to the 90th percentile, with how your own pay compares. Figures from the BLS OEWS release dated May 2025.
Median annual pay
$101,860
Middle half earn
$77,950 to $133,370
People in this job, US
898,280
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Management Analysts, national, annual pay, May 2025
- 10th percentile
- $60,640
- 25th percentile
- $77,950
- Median
- $101,860
- 75th percentile
- $133,370
- 90th percentile
- $171,640
BLS counts business analysts under Management Analysts.
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025, SOC 13-1111. Percentiles across everyone employed in the occupation, not experience levels.
At a glance
What business analysts earn across the US
- The highest-paying large metros are San Jose, CA ($136,670), Boston, MA ($135,640), Washington, DC ($126,830).
- At the other end are Las Vegas, NV ($79,870), Grand Rapids, MI ($81,710), Sacramento, CA ($82,990): the top metro's median is 71% higher than the lowest.
- 17 of the 48 metros listed below pay a median above the national figure.
- About 898,280 people are employed in this occupation across the US.
- Pay varies widely within the job: the 90th percentile earns 2.8 times the 10th.
Worked from BLS OEWS, May 2025. Not adjusted for the cost of living.
By metro
Business analyst pay by metro
Median annual pay in the largest US metros where BLS published figures for this occupation, highest first, May 2025.
- San Jose, CA$136,670
- Boston, MA$135,640
- Washington, DC$126,830
- San Francisco, CA$126,730
- Seattle, WA$126,340
- New York, NY$124,390
- Baltimore, MD$117,750
- Austin, TX$106,600
- Hartford, CT$105,970
- Chicago, IL$105,090
- Los Angeles, CA$104,930
- Portland, OR$103,470
- Charlotte, NC$102,920
- Milwaukee, WI$102,900
- Dallas, TX$102,860
- Nashville, TN$102,640
- Denver, CO$102,620
- Minneapolis, MN$101,560
- Virginia Beach, VA$101,380
- Atlanta, GA$101,220
- San Diego, CA$101,190
- Houston, TX$101,120
- St. Louis, MO$101,100
- Philadelphia, PA$100,920
- Detroit, MI$100,570
- Orlando, FL$100,420
- Providence, RI$100,360
- Oklahoma City, OK$99,400
- Kansas City, MO$98,430
- Cincinnati, OH$97,360
- Indianapolis, IN$97,020
- Raleigh, NC$96,820
- Tampa, FL$95,840
- San Antonio, TX$95,760
- Richmond, VA$95,660
- Memphis, TN$94,980
- Phoenix, AZ$94,900
- Miami, FL$94,290
- Louisville/Jefferson County, KY$91,560
- Columbus, OH$90,010
- Cleveland, OH$88,260
- Riverside, CA$87,910
- Pittsburgh, PA$85,990
- Buffalo, NY$84,710
- Jacksonville, FL$83,220
- Sacramento, CA$82,990
- Grand Rapids, MI$81,710
- Las Vegas, NV$79,870
Medians from BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Skills
What employers look for in a business analyst
The skills our business analyst resume example leads with, written for US employers.
- Requirements elicitation
- Process mapping
- User stories
- Acceptance criteria
- Stakeholder management
- Gap analysis
- SQL
- Data analysis
- Tableau
- Power BI
See the full business analyst resume example, with bullets and keywords.
Negotiating
Using these numbers
Below $77,950 puts you in the bottom quarter for business analysts in the US. That is worth raising, with evidence of what you deliver.
The median, $101,860, is the middle of the market, not a ceiling. An offer at or near it is a fair starting point to negotiate from.
Asking for $133,370 or more puts you in the top quarter, so it needs a reason an employer will accept: a wider scope, a competing offer, or a skill that is hard to hire for.
Percentiles are not experience levels. They describe everyone doing the job, so a senior hire can sit at the median of a market full of senior people.
About the numbers
What these figures are
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics surveys employers for its Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, and these figures are from the release dated May 2025. They cover wage and salary workers in Management Analysts, a category that is often broader than a single job title. Self-employed people are not included.
They are base pay: bonuses, equity and overtime are not included, and they are not adjusted for the cost of living.
Questions
Questions about business analyst pay in the US
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