How much do business analysts make in 2026?
Business analysts are mapped here to the BLS management analysts series, where OEWS May 2025 gives a national median of $101,860 a year ($48.97 an hour), with a 10th percentile near $60,640 and a 90th percentile of $171,640. The match deserves a qualification rather than a footnote. SOC 13-1111 counts 898,280 people and is built around consulting and process improvement work, which describes the classic business analyst well — process mapping, requirements gathering, stakeholder analysis, business case development, operating model change. It describes the technology-facing business analyst less well: analysts who write user stories, work inside product and engineering teams, model data and integrations, and support system implementations are doing work that sits between this series and the technology occupations, and their pay is often set by the technology market rather than this one. Within either variant, pay follows domain depth and technical range. Analysts with genuine subject-matter knowledge in a complex domain, or with data and system fluency alongside the elicitation skills, sit well above the median. Employment is projected to grow 8.8% through 2034 with roughly 98,100 openings a year. → Full business analyst career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $101,860 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Business Analysts earn a national median $101,860/yr ($48.97/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1111); the P10 to P90 range is $60,640 to $171,640.
- The $101,860 median comes from the BLS management analysts series, an 898,280-person row built around consulting and process improvement — a good fit for the classic BA role and a partial one for technology-facing analysts.
- Technology-facing business analysts working inside product and engineering teams are often priced by the technology labour market rather than by this series.
- Domain depth and technical range are the pay levers inside the $60,640 to $171,640 band: subject-matter knowledge in a complex domain, or data and system fluency alongside elicitation skill.
US Business Analyst Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do business analysts earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 13-1111; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-1111, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does a business analyst earn at each career stage?
Business analysis pay follows domain depth, technical range and the size of the change being delivered. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-1111, a broad analytical and advisory series.
By State
Which states pay business analysts the most in 2026?
State figures are modeled estimates — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers salary-calculator state wage index — not BLS state observations. Business analysis is widely performed remotely, and technology-facing roles are often priced nationally by the technology market, so the employer's sector predicts pay considerably better than the state does.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($117,140), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
business analyst pay by state — all 4 state guides
By Metro
Which cities pay business analysts the most?
Metro figures are modeled — national median times state wage index times published metro index — not BLS MSA observations. Metro premiums reflect the concentration of large change programmes and technology employers, which is where senior analysis roles exist.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a business analyst’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does business analyst pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Business Analysts sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify business analyst wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a business analyst actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Business Analyst Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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