How much do risk analysts make in 2026?
Risk analysts are reported in SOC 13-2054, financial risk specialists, which BLS OEWS May 2025 puts at a national median of $117,330 a year, or $56.41 an hour, with a P10 to P90 range of $64,820 to $196,110 across 63,850 workers. This is a close rather than exact match, because the code was created to capture quantitative risk work across banking, insurance and asset management, and the title risk analyst is used for jobs of quite different technical depth. The clearest pay driver is which risk you cover. Operational and vendor risk roles sit in the lower half of the band; credit and market risk roles sit around and above the median; model risk, capital and stress-testing roles that feed regulatory submissions sit in the upper quartile, because the work is quantitatively demanding and the consequence of getting it wrong is a supervisory finding. The second driver is regulated status, since institutions subject to formal capital and stress-testing regimes staff these functions more heavily and pay accordingly. BLS projects 6.5% growth through 2034 with roughly 4,800 openings a year. → Full risk analyst career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $117,330 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Risk Analysts earn a national median $117,330/yr ($56.41/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 13-2054); the P10 to P90 range is $64,820 to $196,110.
- Risk type sets position in the band: operational and vendor risk in the lower half, credit and market risk around the median, and model risk, capital and stress testing in the upper quartile.
- Regulated institutions with formal capital and stress-testing obligations staff these teams more heavily and pay above the median for the same nominal title.
- The FRM and PRM designations, and increasingly demonstrable modelling and programming skill, are what separate a reporting analyst from a quantitative one in this distribution.
US Risk Analyst Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do risk 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 13-2054; 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 13-2054, 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 risk analyst earn at each career stage?
Risk analyst pay follows quantitative depth and regulatory consequence. Each median below is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 13-2054.
By State
Which states pay risk analysts the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates, not BLS state observations: the national median for SOC 13-2054 scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index. Risk analytics concentrates in a small number of financial centres where actual pay exceeds what a general wage index predicts, and the model below cannot see that concentration, so read it as cost-of-living context.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($134,930), the highest-paying state shown. See all role salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay risk analysts the most?
Metro figures are modeled, national median times state wage index times published metro index, not BLS metropolitan observations. Charlotte, Jersey City and Wilmington are significant risk-function locations that a general metro index does not flag, and several large institutions have deliberately moved analytics teams to lower-cost cities.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise a risk 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 risk analyst pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Risk 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 risk analyst wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does a risk 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
Risk Analyst Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
Risk Analyst career research journey
Do your homework, then let the network do the rest.Get the job, then keep rising
FreeSet your intent, matching jobs come to you. No applying.
A roadmap to your next licence tier and higher pay band.
Once placed, we cover all certification, licence & career-guide fees.
Hiring risk analysts?
Get a verified shortlist of 3–5 qualified candidates in 48 hours
GlobalCybers verifies active state licenses, trade certifications, Intent and right-to-work status before any candidate reaches your portal. Flat $2,999/mo RPO (Recruitment Process Outsourcing), up to 3 concurrent roles, or a free trial (pay on hire). 90-day written guarantee.
Related · Risk Analyst
Everything for risk analysts in one place
Salary data, licensing, interview prep, and hiring, all cross-linked so you (and search engines) can move through the full risk analyst cluster.