Also called: Optimization Scientist, Decision Scientist
Uses advanced math and computer models to find the best possible way to schedule, route and plan huge operations.
An airline wants to know how to schedule 900 planes and 20,000 crew members so nobody is stranded when a storm hits. You build a math model with millions of variables, run it on a server cluster, and test it against last winter's worst week.
Tech companies and airlines pay the most.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Doctorate (PhD), about 8 years after high school. Master's or PhD in operations research, industrial engineering or applied math.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Applied Mathematics.
Growing much faster than average (about 21% over 10 years). Tracks operations research analysts, one of the fastest-growing jobs.
Medium risk for 10 years. AI writes optimization code and models faster, so fewer junior analysts; framing hard problems and choosing what to trust stays human.
Classes: AP Calculus, AP Statistics, AP 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.