Decision analysts are responsible for organizing and overseeing the development of requirements/resources necessary to meet objectives. They translate recommendation into communication materials to effectively present to all levels of management. They also incorporate visualization techniques to support the analysis's relevant points and ease the understanding for less technical audiences.
Decision analysts earn an average salary of $75,000 annually or $36 per hour. They apply quantitative analysis and interpretation of data using appropriate and established research and statistical methodologies and objectives. Part of their duties includes deriving meaningful conclusions and implications from data to report and present findings and recommendations to clients. They also oversee and control the quality of execution of studies by all parties.
Decision analysts typically hold a bachelor's or master's degree in business, statistics, economics, or other related fields from an accredited university in terms of academic qualifications. They are expected to have some years of proven work experience as a decision analyst or in a similar role. Some employers prefer candidates with solid writing, math, and interpersonal skills.
Decision Analyst Overview
Decision Analyst Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a decision analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $35.9 an hour? That's $74,676 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 26% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Decision Analyst Do
There are certain skills that many decision 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, math skills and interpersonal skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a decision analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 25.4% of decision analysts included data analysis, while 15.7% of resumes included sql, and 14.7% of resumes included sas. 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 decision analyst job title. But what industry to start with? Most decision analysts actually find jobs in the finance and technology industries.
How To Become a Decision Analyst
If you're interested in becoming a decision analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 64.0% of decision analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 24.0% of decision analysts have master's degrees. Even though most decision analysts have a college degree, it's impossible 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 decision analyst. When we researched the most common majors for a decision analyst, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on decision analyst resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a decision analyst. In fact, many decision analyst jobs require experience in a role such as business analyst. Meanwhile, many decision analysts also have previous career experience in roles such as finance analyst or research assistant.
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Average Salary for a Decision Analyst
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
USAA Decision Science Analyst I-Consumer Lending Decision Science Analyst I-Consumer Lending | USAA USAA | 05/24/2021 05/24/2021 | $66,30005/24/2021 $66,300 |
Burtch Works Analyst, Decision Sciences Analyst, Decision Sciences | Burtch Works Burtch Works | 05/18/2021 05/18/2021 | $100,00005/18/2021 $100,000 |
Burtch Works Analyst, Decision Sciences Analyst, Decision Sciences | Burtch Works Burtch Works | 05/18/2021 05/18/2021 | $100,00005/18/2021 $100,000 |
USAA Decision Science Analyst Senior-Life Company Data and Analytics Team-SAN Antonio, Colorado Spring Decision Science Analyst Senior-Life Company Data and Analytics Team-SAN Antonio, Colorado Spring | USAA USAA | 03/28/2021 03/28/2021 | $88,20003/28/2021 $88,200 |
Argus Information and Advisory Services LLC Associate-Pams (ARG), Data Science and Decision Analyst Associate-Pams (ARG), Data Science and Decision Analyst | Argus Information and Advisory Services LLC Argus Information and Advisory Services LLC | 03/24/2021 03/24/2021 | $73,85003/24/2021 $73,850 |
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Top Colleges for Decision Analysts
1. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
2. New York University
New York, NY • Private
3. Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA • Private
4. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
5. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
6. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Public
7. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
8. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
9. University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame, IN • Private
10. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
Online Courses For Decision Analyst That You May Like
This course prepares participants to begin running data analysis on databases...
Master One of the Most In-Demand Skills for Data Analysts in 2020!...
This is the second course in the Google Data Analytics Certificate. These courses will equip you with the skills needed to apply to introductory-level data analyst jobs. You'll build on your understanding of the topics that were introduced in the first Google Data Analytics Certificate course. The material will help you learn how to ask effective questions to make data-driven decisions, while connecting with stakeholders' needs. Current Google data analysts will continue to instruct and provide...
Top Skills For a Decision 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, 25.4% of decision analysts listed data analysis on their resume, but soft skills such as writing skills and math skills are important as well.
- Data Analysis, 25.4%
- SQL, 15.7%
- SAS, 14.7%
- R, 11.8%
- Powerpoint, 7.6%
- Other Skills, 24.8% See All Decision Analyst Skills
Best States For a Decision Analyst
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a decision analyst. The best states for people in this position are Washington, Alaska, Delaware, and New York. Decision analysts make the most in Washington with an average salary of $97,666. Whereas in Alaska and Delaware, they would average $89,062 and $88,287, respectively. While decision analysts would only make an average of $86,279 in New York, 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. Delaware
$88,287
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$92,469
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$89,062
Avg. Salary