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Job outlook for business strategists in the United States
Business strategist job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected business strategist job growth rate is 10% from 2018-2028.
About 33,700 new jobs for business strategists are projected over the next decade.
Business strategist salaries have increased 8% for business strategists in the last 5 years.
There are over 53,119 business strategists currently employed in the United States.
There are 100,217 active business strategist job openings in the US.
The average business strategist salary is $62,796.
Are business strategist jobs in demand?
Business strategist job and salary trends over time
Business strategist jobs over time
Business strategist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 53,119 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 31,729 | 0.01% |
| 2019 | 31,069 | 0.01% |
| 2018 | 49,428 | 0.01% |
| 2017 | 45,820 | 0.01% |
Average business strategist salary over time
Business strategist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $62,796 | $30.19 | +3.9% |
| 2024 | $60,446 | $29.06 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $59,315 | $28.52 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | $58,406 | $28.08 | +0.8% |
| 2021 | $57,942 | $27.86 | +1.9% |
Business strategist jobs by state
Most common states for business strategists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 454 | 65% |
| 2 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,325 | 24% |
| 3 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 399 | 21% |
| 4 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 186 | 21% |
| 5 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 215 | 20% |
| 6 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 1,298 | 19% |
| 7 | Alaska | 739,795 | 143 | 19% |
| 8 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 540 | 17% |
| 9 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 509 | 17% |
| 10 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 167 | 16% |
| 11 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 903 | 15% |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 867 | 15% |
| 13 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 463 | 15% |
| 14 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 111 | 15% |
| 15 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 1,671 | 14% |
| 16 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 596 | 14% |
| 17 | Nevada | 2,998,039 | 425 | 14% |
| 18 | Vermont | 623,657 | 89 | 14% |
| 19 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,090 | 13% |
| 20 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 958 | 13% |
Most common cities for business strategists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $52,209 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $80,730 |
| 3 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $70,385 |
| 4 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $65,113 |
| 5 | Alpharetta | 1 | 2% | $66,896 |
| 6 | Atlanta | 3 | 1% | $66,851 |
| 7 | Lansing | 1 | 1% | $72,008 |
| 8 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $57,762 |
| 9 | Chicago | 4 | 0% | $64,138 |
| 10 | Washington | 3 | 0% | $67,155 |
| 11 | Boston | 2 | 0% | $79,041 |
| 12 | Indianapolis | 2 | 0% | $51,861 |
| 13 | San Francisco | 2 | 0% | $99,703 |
| 14 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $52,826 |
| 15 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $67,549 |
| 16 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $57,820 |
| 17 | Los Angeles | 1 | 0% | $91,316 |
Business Strategist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of business strategist experts
Georgia State University
University Of Puget Sound
University of Scranton
University of Saint Mary
The Pennsylvania State University
Christopher Newport University
Northeastern University
What Business Strategist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Salomao De Farias: As businesses increasingly operate on an international scale, the demand for professionals who can analyze and navigate international markets continues to grow. Adding to this, the advancement in data analytics tools has enhanced the capability to collect and analyze extensive amounts of data, making international business analysis more efficient and insightful. AI tools will help in this task. Understanding complex global markets is crucial as companies seek to expand or improve their global footprint amidst fluctuating trade regulations and geopolitical tensions. After the COVID pandemic and the disruption of global markets, more than ever there is a need for professional that can understand and navigate the complexities of IB.
Andreas Udbye Ph.D.
Associate ProfessorUniversity Of Puget Sound
School of Business and Leadership
What soft skills should all Business Strategists possess?
Andreas Udbye Ph.D.: Collaboration and teamwork skills are crucial, as well as the ability to focus and meet deadlines. Although it is nice to mention that you are a good multi-tasker, most people are these days, and employers seem to like people who can stay the course and complete tasks on time and with high quality. Tenacity and accuracy are other attractive attributes.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Business Strategists?
Andreas Udbye Ph.D.: Job listings in supply chain management will typically list more technical skills than what can realistically be possessed by one person (SQL, Python, ERP, project management, etc.), but at a minimum, an applicant needs strong spreadsheet skills and at least some exposure to database management.
Abhijit Roy
Professor of MarketingUniversity of Scranton
School of Management
What soft skills should all Business Strategists possess?
Abhijit Roy: These are very important, yet harder to quantify skills, not only for marketing professionals but for business graduates in general. They include the ability to make sound decisions under pressure, having a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) as embodied by having empathy towards coworkers and subordinates, delegating appropriately, mentoring, communicating, time management, maintaining positivity despite setbacks and adapting to unforeseen challenges, being flexible, being persuasive and assertive at appropriate moments, yet being collaborative, seeking feedback, and the ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts when needed, amongst others.
Soft skills are typically more instrumental in enabling candidates to fit into an organization's culture and be strong candidates for promotion. Most marketing jobs involve candidates representing their brand initiatives and building strong client relationships, so interpersonal, and other soft skills are often valued more than hard skills. The strongest case for having excellent soft skills is that they are more easily transferable across various jobs and industries.
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs, Coordinator of All-University Honors ProgramUniversity of Saint Mary
Division of Business and Information Technologies (DBiT)
What soft skills should all Business Strategists possess?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: First, critical and creative thinking. Employers value problem solvers. A Business Development Managers' problem usually is finding growth opportunities. Candidates need to learn to take the initiative to figure out how to solve problems like those.
Second, writing. The best employees know how to communicate in writing. More and more communication occurs through email and other forms of social media and apps, and as such, this skill is absolutely critical. You don't need to be a creative writing genius, but you do need to know how to write in a professional tone, present your ideas in an organized way, get to the point, and avoid errors. There is a direct line between a student's ability to write an academic essay with a clear thesis and an employee's ability to write a good email or proposal. If you can't do those things, then you risk embarrassment and possibly limited options for promotion.
Third, speaking. The American business world discriminates against introverts-sometimes at their own peril. Everyone needs to know how to give a quality speech, but more importantly, you need to sound confident and assertive in a board room during meetings. You need to be confident in front of clients. Fake it if you have to. The way you present yourself is absolutely critical.
Fourth, social skills. You need to be friendly. Get to know co-workers and clients. Find out what they like and show an interest. Find common ground. Your undergraduate degree hopefully exposed you to a wide diversity of topics you may have thought were irrelevant at some point. Now is the time to remember that stuff and use it to connect with people. Nearly everything you learned will have some application someday. It will help you connect with others. In addition, put away your cell phone when you are at work or on social occasions. To some people, a preoccupation with a cell phone communicates a lack of interest in the person you are with. It can alienate bosses, co-workers, and clients.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Business Strategists?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Familiarity with software-basic windows packages, particularly MS Word and Excel. Candidates should not be afraid of quantitative data analysis. Analytics are necessary to figuring out what your business is doing and how it can grow. Also, familiarity with whatever social media platforms are used in that industry can be very important.
What skills will help Business Strategists earn the most?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: One consideration is, does the position pay commission? If so, the soft skills listed above are extremely important because the more you apply those skills, the more likely you are to grow your business.
When a manager is not on commission, there's little correlation between skills and pay while doing the job. The employer will hire you at a given salary level, and it is your job to negotiate to the best position. Once they have chosen you-that's the moment when you have the most leverage. You will never get a raise that is as substantial as what you might be able to ask for upon hire. After that, most raises are not going to be tied mechanically to performance and skills. Your next chance at a raise will be when you move or are promoted to a new position. Thus, those soft skills can affect your ability to negotiate.
I will repeat a previous theme: education and experience are probably more important than skills in terms of making more money. An employer can't really tell what your skills are from your resume. Just because you say you have a skill doesn't mean that you really do. They can reasonably guess that somebody with a degree is responsible enough to have accomplished something big. Somebody who makes it through a graduate program is probably very good at what they know. And somebody who has been in the industry and/or in a similar job is more likely to be able to walk in with little orientation and know what they are doing. Employers take risks on employees and hope that they can deliver. Thus, with more education and more experience, you are able to apply for higher-level jobs, which usually come with higher salaries.
What skills stand out on Business Strategist resumes?
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Resumes are hard. It is very difficult to predict what any employer is looking for on any resume. The "skills" section of a resume is probably not the first thing most employers are looking at. The first consideration is probably education. Those with a bachelor's degree will be sorted first in fields-such as those who have business degrees, or particularly sales and marketing majors. Those with MBAs will be placed on the top. Those who have MBAs and marketing concentrations will likely be valued the most. The second consideration would probably be experience. Someone with several years of experience in business development or sales and marketing will be moved to the top. Someone with a bachelor's degree who has a lot of experience might beat out a fresh MBA. However, MBA plus experience beats almost everything. Someone with an MBA going for an entry-level position with little experience needed will likely beat out all bachelor challengers. For new graduates, getting some kind of internship in sales and marketing can differentiate them from those who do not.
Most hiring managers will probably assume that somebody who has sales and marketing education and/or experience probably has the skills necessary to do the job. An interviewer may probe on specific skills. I'll comment more specifically on other kinds of skills below, but it's also fair to say that a candidate's soft skills should shine in the interview. Simply saying that you have certain skills on a resume doesn't mean that you actually have them.
I think that the best thing a candidate can do is to research the company they hope to work for and tailor their resume to that employer. What does the business do? What kinds of things do you think that development manager is going to do in that particular industry? How do your skills as a candidate match what you guess they're looking for? The more you customize your resume, the better chances you have of resonating with the company. Employers are impressed when you already know something about the job and the industry.
James Wilkerson Ph.D.
Business Program Coordinator, Project and Supply Chain Management Program CoordinatorThe Pennsylvania State University
Business Department
What skills stand out on Business Strategist resumes?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Skills, experience, knowledge, and abilities that matter especially strongly include target market analysis (including market research skills and knowledge), product/service positioning within competitive field, project work or coordination with sales staff, major client relationship management, and enough general business and industry knowledge to be able to relate business development to operational/production realities.
What soft skills should all Business Strategists possess?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Verbal skills (both speaking and writing), negotiation skills, unfailing honesty, ability to empathize with clients' wants, and teamwork skills suitable for working collaboratively with sales and operations staff.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Business Strategists?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Spreadsheet (Excel) skills (including graph production from data), basic statistical knowledge, and online information search skills.
What skills will help Business Strategists earn the most?
James Wilkerson Ph.D.: Skill at rapidly learning market trends, relating business development to product development, and persuading major prospective clients when brought in to help with closing sales. Bottom line: the business development manager must be on the cutting edge of new market conditions and new business opportunities to help the firm organically grow its sales, especially in new markets or product/service lines.
Todd Lee Goen
Instructor & Internship DirectorChristopher Newport University
Department of Communication
What's a good job out of college for Business Strategists?
Todd Lee Goen: Pandemic or no pandemic, the best job out of college is one that sets you on the path to achieve your ultimate career goal(s). Reflect on where you want to be in five or ten years or even twenty-five years. Then consider positions that will set you on the path to achieve that goal. Very few people land their dream job upon graduation - dream jobs are typically those we're not qualified to do without some additional work experience and training. A good job is one that will help you achieve your goal(s) - just don't frame it that way in the interview.
Good jobs pay a livable salary for the location, offer benefits (health insurance and retirement at minimum), and provide professional development opportunities (these can take a variety of forms). Too often, college grads overlook professional development. If an employer isn't willing to invest in you, there's no guarantee you will succeed in the job. Good employers understand they need qualified employees who continually develop their skills and abilities, and good employers will make sure employees have the resources they need to succeed.
What will help Business Strategists increase their earning potential?
Ravi Sarathy Ph.D.: Positions involving IB are multi-faceted, requiring the integration of skills from different disciplines, and bringing to bear not only business thinking, but an understanding of politics, ideologies, Governmental regulations, history, languages, in sum, a multidisciplinary approach beyond just business. This can be exciting, rewarding, and one can always continue learning, by being exposed to new situations, countries, people and problems. The downside is that IB requires an open minds, a willingness to accept greater uncertainty and volatility, and readiness to work with foreign firms, as equal partners, sharing decision making, and trusting them. IB has more uncontrollable factors, and a firm and the team and an individual’s performance will all be affected by such unpredictability. Someone well trained in IB and with growing IB experience can help reduce this unpredictability, make it more manageable.