Cost analysts are mainly responsible for gathering financial data and analyzing them to find discrepancies and inefficiencies. They perform these tasks to reduce costs and understand how markets are performing in the industry. They conduct market research and utilize different financial software to analyze and track organizational expenses.
Cost analysts earn a median salary of $61,000 annually or $29 per hour. Cost analysts serve as the bridge between the accounting department, customers, managers, and any other department involved in an endeavor's finances. They keep records of daily accounting and bookkeeping duties while reviewing these assessments with project stakeholders to monitor costs and keep them in line with the original budget.
Due to the nature of the job, cost analysts are required to possess excellent math, accounting, and analytical skills to succeed. In terms of academic qualifications, cost analysts have a bachelor's degree with strong business or financial training, such as finance, accounting, or business administration. Employers prefer candidates with an aptitude to succeed in a thriving and deadline-oriented environment. They are also expected to have some years of proven experience as an analyst in supply chain or finance.
Cost Analyst Overview
Cost Analyst Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a cost analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.66 an hour? That's $51,301 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 4% and produce 2,400 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Cost Analyst Do
There are certain skills that many cost analysts have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed writing skills, analytical skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a cost analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 11.7% of cost analysts included financial statements, while 7.5% of resumes included cost analysis, and 6.1% of resumes included cost estimates. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the cost analyst job title. But what industry to start with? Most cost analysts actually find jobs in the manufacturing and technology industries.
How To Become a Cost Analyst
If you're interested in becoming a cost analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.7% of cost analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 30.1% of cost analysts have master's degrees. Even though most cost analysts have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a cost analyst. When we researched the most common majors for a cost analyst, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on cost analyst resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a cost analyst. In fact, many cost analyst jobs require experience in a role such as finance analyst. Meanwhile, many cost analysts also have previous career experience in roles such as cost accountant or accountant.
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Cost Analyst Career Paths
As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a cost analyst can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as finance analyst, progress to a title such as senior accountant and then eventually end up with the title regional controller.
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Average Salary for a Cost Analyst
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Randstad Cost Analyst Cost Analyst | Randstad Randstad | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $55,00001/29/2021 $55,000 |
Randstad Project Cost Analyst Project Cost Analyst | Randstad Randstad | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $83,48001/29/2021 $83,480 |
Ball Corporation Analyst II-Cost Estimating & Pricing Analyst II-Cost Estimating & Pricing | Ball Corporation Ball Corporation | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $59,00001/28/2021 $59,000 |
Randstad Project Cost Analyst Project Cost Analyst | Randstad Randstad | 01/26/2021 01/26/2021 | $83,48001/26/2021 $83,480 |
Godshall Recruiting Cost Analyst Cost Analyst | Godshall Recruiting Godshall Recruiting | 01/20/2021 01/20/2021 | $41,74001/20/2021 $41,740 |
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Cost Analyst Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Cost Analyst. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Cost Analyst Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Cost Analyst resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Cost Analysts
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
5. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
6. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
7. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
8. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
9. SUNY Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY • Public
10. New York University
New York, NY • Private
Top Skills For a Cost Analyst
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 11.7% of cost analysts listed financial statements on their resume, but soft skills such as writing skills and analytical skills are important as well.
- Financial Statements, 11.7%
- Cost Analysis, 7.5%
- Cost Estimates, 6.1%
- Cost Reduction, 4.4%
- Data Analysis, 4.2%
- Other Skills, 66.1% See All Cost Analyst Skills
Best States For a Cost Analyst
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a cost analyst. The best states for people in this position are Massachusetts, Virginia, West Virginia, and Vermont. Cost analysts make the most in Massachusetts with an average salary of $66,442. Whereas in Virginia and West Virginia, they would average $65,819 and $63,941, respectively. While cost analysts would only make an average of $63,049 in Vermont, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$77,588
Avg. Salary
2. Virginia
$65,819
Avg. Salary
3. Massachusetts
$66,442
Avg. Salary
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