Also called: Analytics Consultant, Optimization Analyst
Uses data and math models to help organizations make better decisions about schedules, prices and routes.
A delivery company asks you how many trucks it needs for the holidays. You pull a year of order data, build a model in Python, and show managers that renting 40 extra vans beats hiring 2 new drivers per route.
BLS May 2024 median $91,290; percentiles approximate.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 4 years after high school. Bachelor's in operations research, industrial engineering, math or analytics; master's common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Mathematics.
Growing much faster than average (about 21% over 10 years). BLS 2024-34 projection: one of the fastest-growing occupations.
Medium risk in 5 years, high in 10. AI writes models and analysis code, cutting entry-level analyst work; problem framing and explaining trade-offs to leaders stay human.
Classes: AP Statistics, AP Calculus, Computer science, Economics.
Official data: O*NET occupation 15-2031.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.