Operations Research Analysts salary

SOC 15-2031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$88,940

per year, nationally

Middle half

$68,360–$125,990

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

108,510

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+21.5%

9,600 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$57,060$159,910

10th: $57,060
25th: $68,360
Median: $88,940
75th: $125,990
90th: $159,910

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where operations research analysts earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Colorado	$129,880	103.1	770	0.39×
2	Virginia	$129,460	101.1	6,980	2.43×
3	Alabama	$115,630	88.8	550	0.37×
4	New York	$108,610	107.9	5,890	0.87×
5	Ohio	$103,620	92.8	2,600	0.67×
6	Idaho	$103,600	95.5	500	0.84×
7	Oregon	$102,170	103.4	2,710	1.97×
8	California	$102,100	110.7	10,620	0.84×
9	Delaware	$101,070	99.8	660	1.96×
10	Hawaii	$100,600	110.0	120	0.28×
11	Maine	$99,460	97.0	220	0.49×
12	Nebraska	$98,300	90.1	330	0.46×
13	Washington	$98,030	107.0	3,050	1.23×
14	Maryland	$97,410	105.0	4,710	2.44×
15	North Carolina	$97,290	94.3	2,520	0.73×
16	Connecticut	$96,700	103.6	950	0.80×
17	Massachusetts	$96,500	105.8	4,200	1.66×
18	District of Columbia	$96,030	109.9	2,250	4.59×
19	Minnesota	$95,550	98.6	1,240	0.60×
20	Mississippi	$92,310	87.0	120	0.15×
21	Kansas	$92,050	90.1	—	—
22	Texas	$90,710	97.1	11,890	1.21×
23	Utah	$90,200	98.9	810	0.67×
24	Illinois	$89,800	100.0	5,180	1.22×
25	Vermont	$89,790	98.0	170	0.78×
26	Alaska	$88,750	102.4	70	0.30×
27	Nevada	$86,500	100.0	370	0.34×
28	Indiana	$85,280	93.3	1,380	0.62×
29	Kentucky	$83,850	90.2	660	0.47×
30	Michigan	$83,480	96.2	980	0.32×
31	North Dakota	$82,460	89.0	130	0.44×
32	Iowa	$80,580	87.8	300	0.27×
33	Montana	$80,400	94.6	150	0.42×
34	New Mexico	$80,360	92.2	510	0.84×
35	South Carolina	$80,240	93.7	1,380	0.86×
36	Pennsylvania	$79,640	97.6	3,220	0.76×
37	Rhode Island	$77,910	102.3	360	1.04×
38	Florida	$77,600	103.4	9,120	1.32×
39	Tennessee	$76,680	91.9	1,200	0.52×
40	Georgia	$76,220	96.3	4,600	1.35×
41	Arizona	$75,470	100.7	2,600	1.15×
42	Wisconsin	$71,820	94.1	4,270	2.08×
43	West Virginia	$64,100	89.5	200	0.42×
44	Louisiana	$63,210	88.2	550	0.41×
45	Missouri	$62,380	90.8	1,190	0.58×
46	Oklahoma	$61,520	87.8	1,840	1.55×
47	Arkansas	$59,030	86.9	210	0.24×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where operations research analysts wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for operations research analysts

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Colorado Springs, CO	$140,590	100.7	170	0.75×
2	Lexington Park, MD	$135,300	100.8	390	7.89×
3	Huntsville, AL	$132,000	93.1	350	1.91×
4	Peoria, IL	$129,300	91.2	130	1.09×
5	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$127,810	105.8	490	0.44×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$127,600	108.9	8,080	3.69×
7	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$123,360	110.4	920	1.16×
8	Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH	$122,570	92.7	410	1.56×
9	Bakersfield-Delano, CA	$119,020	100.9	80	0.34×
10	Panama City-Panama City Beach, FL	$118,810	97.3	80	1.25×
11	York-Hanover, PA	$117,740	96.0	30	0.24×
12	Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL	$115,920	97.0	240	2.74×
13	Las Cruces, NM	$114,150	90.2	130	2.35×
14	Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC	$114,070	97.9	470	0.89×
15	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$110,560	115.6	2,050	1.24×
16	Richmond, VA	$109,650	97.9	1,020	2.22×
17	New Haven, CT	$109,540	104.6	80	0.39×
18	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$109,110	97.6	50	0.19×
19	Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	$106,380	103.1	4,270	1.51×
20	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$105,570	108.8	60	0.40×
21	Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	$105,360	95.4	410	0.54×
22	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$105,180	97.3	1,360	1.43×
23	Columbus, OH	$104,970	95.5	670	0.87×
24	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$104,680	109.9	50	0.73×
25	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$104,640	110.5	220	0.95×
26	Charleston-North Charleston, SC	$104,220	101.0	340	1.24×
27	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$104,210	106.7	510	0.68×
28	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$103,110	112.6	6,890	1.04×
29	Roanoke, VA	$102,930	93.6	50	0.46×
30	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,930	111.1	2,110	1.45×
31	Omaha, NE-IA	$102,900	91.9	240	0.70×
32	Wichita, KS	$102,880	88.9	140	0.64×
33	Portland-South Portland, ME	$102,860	101.9	100	0.47×
34	Ogden, UT	$102,730	100.3	100	0.53×
35	Akron, OH	$102,670	93.4	80	0.34×
36	Salem, OR	$102,520	103.6	150	1.15×
37	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$102,480	105.4	2,100	2.48×
38	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$101,900	106.9	130	0.46×
39	Fresno, CA	$101,780	102.2	130	0.39×
40	Cleveland, OH	$101,560	93.9	330	0.45×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where operations research analysts wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Data Scientists$120,230
Statisticians$105,650
Actuaries$130,000
Mathematical Science Occupations, All Other$81,490
Mathematicians$126,710