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Job outlook for home economists in the United States
Are home economist jobs in demand?
Home economist job and salary trends over time
Home economist jobs over time
Home economist job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 328 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 367 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 398 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 391 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 410 | 0.00% |
Average home economist salary over time
Home economist salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $56,687 | $27.25 | +3.2% |
| 2024 | $54,945 | $26.42 | +0.7% |
| 2023 | $54,589 | $26.24 | +1.8% |
| 2022 | $53,622 | $25.78 | +1.4% |
| 2021 | $52,868 | $25.42 | +1.9% |
Home economist jobs by state
Most common states for home economists
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 879 | 10% |
| 2 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 101 | 10% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 61 | 9% |
| 4 | Indiana | 6,666,818 | 506 | 8% |
| 5 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 456 | 8% |
| 6 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 350 | 8% |
| 7 | New Mexico | 2,088,070 | 158 | 8% |
| 8 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 957 | 7% |
| 9 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 468 | 7% |
| 10 | Tennessee | 6,715,984 | 447 | 7% |
| 11 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 257 | 7% |
| 12 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 230 | 7% |
| 13 | Delaware | 961,939 | 69 | 7% |
| 14 | Vermont | 623,657 | 41 | 7% |
| 15 | New York | 19,849,399 | 1,114 | 6% |
| 16 | Ohio | 11,658,609 | 689 | 6% |
| 17 | Michigan | 9,962,311 | 579 | 6% |
| 18 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 481 | 6% |
| 19 | Missouri | 6,113,532 | 378 | 6% |
| 20 | Alaska | 739,795 | 41 | 6% |
Most common cities for home economists
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philadelphia | 1 | 0% | $52,089 |
Home Economist job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of home economist experts
Meredith College
University of Rhode Island
King's College
University of Nebraska - Omaha
Loyola University New Orleans
Christopher Newport University
Arizona State University
Cornerstone University
Fairfield University
Gonzaga University
Elmira College
Quinnipiac University
Orfalea College of Business
Eastern Washington University
What Home Economist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Michael Altman: Understanding the basics of supply and demand is how anyone can maximize their salary potential. Occupations with high demand and few available workers with those needed skills will command higher salaries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook is one reliable source about future job growth by occupation. Graduates can increase their bargaining power with employers by casting a wide net for employment opportunities and gaining more than one job offer.
Liam Malloy
Chair and Associate ProfessorUniversity of Rhode Island
Economics
What Home Economist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Liam Malloy: The skills that have become most relevant and will continue to be relevant will be data analysis, presentation, and communication skills. On top of that, being able to use the latest technology (whether that's data analysis software or artificial intelligence tools) will make you more productive and more employable. There's more and more economic data available and being able to find the data, analyze it, and present your findings in a clear manner will be extremely valuable.
What Home Economist skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Jason Dean PhD: From my personal experience, many economists appreciate the intellectual challenge and the significant impact their work can have on policy and business decisions. Economists often excel in roles that require thorough analysis and enjoy working with data, allowing them to thrive in areas where they can apply their skills effectively. However, the profession can also be demanding, with long hours sometimes required to meet the needs of complex projects or tight deadlines. This can be a source of stress, despite the work being interesting and related to the skills learned in school. That being said, the salaries are typically competitive. For instance, in Canada economists working in their field with a bachelor's degree earn an average salary of approximately $142,300, which significantly increases with a master's degree to around $191,100. Note, however, there is quite a bit of variation in salaries, which can range between $102,700 to a high $290,200.
What soft skills should all Home Economists possess?
Dr. Dustin White Ph.D.: All of them! In my experience, students never spend enough time on soft skills. Good writing, good verbal communication, good presentation skills, and the ability to contribute to a team environment are probably the big ones. Make presentations to your peers (universities ALWAYS have opportunities to present your work!), work in teams whenever you can, take writing courses, and be active in discussions inside and outside of class. You can have all the technical skills globally, but you will still be passed over for a job if you can't nail the soft skills.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Home Economists?
Dr. Dustin White Ph.D.: The big differentiator for econ majors is econometrics. It's not required everywhere, but it is one of the most important tools you can have in your arsenal. Econometrics teaches you how to rigorously test hypotheses about the world. Did my A/B test succeed? Did that sale we ran increase profitability? Does our product change people's behavior? We have to answer these questions with statistics, and econometrics is where you get the practice to do that. After that, the ability to create a model of behavior is probably the next most important skill. You have to be able to express a hypothesis to test it!
What skills will help Home Economists earn the most?
Dr. Dustin White Ph.D.: In today's world, data science and econometric skills will help you earn the most. So many firms are desperate for quantitative analysts. You probably won't be called an "economist," but there are a LOT of jobs and a lot of great-paying opportunities in this area right now. It helps that there is a pretty significant shortage of these skills since that shortage leads to higher wages and the ability to find some pretty cool jobs, even without as much experience as you would expect otherwise.
John Levendis
Professor of Business Analytics and EconomicsLoyola University New Orleans
College of Business
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Home Economists?
John Levendis: The impact could be long-lasting if students rush and make bad choices. The economy is quite weak right now, so there isn't much demand for new workers. And with unemployment so high, new graduates will be competing with seasoned veterans for the few available jobs. This pushes starting salaries for new graduates down. Accepting a low paying job starts you off lower on the job ladder, and it can take several years to climb up. Sometimes, it makes more sense to stay out of the job market for an extra year -- building your skill set and avoiding the market turbulence -- and then, enter the job force at a more senior position. Students shouldn't rush to graduate early into a low paying position.
What soft skills should all Home Economists possess?
Zhaochen He Ph.D.: In terms of which skills are most important, have a look at this chart, which was featured on this Website , and based on this paper. According to the chart, "maturity" is the single highest ranking soft skill. Interestingly, but not wholly unsurprising, especially for recent college graduates.
Cara McDaniel Ph.D.
Clinical Associate Professor/Executive Director of Undergraduate StudiesArizona State University
Department of Economics
What soft skills should all Home Economists possess?
Cara McDaniel Ph.D.: People trained in economics have excellent critical thinking skills. By this, I mean they can identify a problem, break it into smaller parts, and weigh the costs and benefits of different solutions. They are also good at applying these skills to various problems, from tax policy issues to individual firm pricing decisions.
Will there be an increase or decrease in demand for Home Economists in the next 5 years?
Jeffery Degner: In short, yes! In terms of the next five years in this profession, the opportunities should continue to grow. The continued integration of the world economy may face local geopolitical challenges in Southeast Asia, given the tensions surrounding Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and more. However, the post-Covid realities of working from home, and even telecommuting across national borders, means that firms will continue to increase their demand for students with a firm grasp of international team-building and possess a high degree of cultural intelligence. Employers also know that they can cast a wider recruiting net to new graduates worldwide and integrate them into their corporate cultures. With this larger labor supply, graduates can set themselves apart with their multilingual capacity and cultural awareness.
What are the best companies to work for a Home Economist?
Dr. Dina Franceschi Ph.D.: Here is a list of our most recent placements for Economics grads from Fairfield.
JP Morgan
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
Synchrony
Google
Cigna
Travelers
Reuters
Peoples United Bank
BlackRock, Inc.
Newtown Savings Bank
American Express
Gabelli Asset Management Co.
General Electric Co.
Greenwich Capital
IBM Corp.
Are there any particularly good places in the United States for Home Economists to find work opportunities?
Ryan Herzog Ph.D.: The tech industry is booming as firms adjust operations for the work-from-home environment. We are in a strange transition, and I'm not sure it is ending any time soon. Careers tied to leisure and hospitality and air travel will take years before they return to pre-pandemic levels. So Boeing, Delta, United, American Airlines, etc. might not be hiring for a while, but Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, etc. will be able to pick up the slack.
We also see demand pick up in service sectors (hardware stores, fast food), delivery (FedEx, UPS, UberEats/Grubhub), outdoor recreation, and construction (especially single and multifamily units). The pandemic will speed up a lot of tech developments (Zoom, Instacart) and create a lot of new opportunities (still figuring these out).
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Home Economists in the next 3-5 years?
Matthew Burr: Erp systems are critical to know and understand. His and payroll systems are necessary for accounting professionals to understand. Microsoft Excel is also a program all need to be subject matter experts with. Look for evolving technologies and apps. The internet of things.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Home Economists?
Christopher Ball Ph.D.: Yes. The coronavirus pandemic has further helped sever the community connection between a place of work and its employees. Some jobs will continue to be online, and others not, but the current generation of graduates already feel less connected to specific institutions and are more likely to change jobs. I believe this online experiment we all did during the coronavirus will permanently enhance that, and all our graduates should expect to change careers more often in their lifetimes. They will always have the option of picking a job where they can work from home. That was a growing possibility with the growing “gig economy” (Uber, etc.) but will be a more significant option. Simultaneously, I believe personally that this has also highlighted the fact that there is a premium to doing things in person. No one was happy just staying home and only working online. To get counseling, to sell or teach, to motivate colleagues, and many more things, we learned that you need to meet in person. Also, specific experiences people want in person: college generally, going to a bar, a restaurant, and so on. So, it’s like we all learned that the world wouldn’t be all online or all in person, but we don’t know what the right mix will be. The premium, however, will be on the in-person side of things. So, our graduates need to think about this. Yes, it’s valuable to be able to code, and you can work from home. But if you just work from home, you compete globally against people coding in Europe, Asia, Australia, etc. So those who can understand those work-from-home skills but combine them with interpersonal skills will be even more valuable in the future.
What general advice would you give to a Home Economist?
Eduardo Zambrano: First, here is some 'technical' advice:
Every Economics graduate should feel very comfortable with coding and data management. This training can be obtained if your school does not offer it by attending software and data carpentry workshops online (https://carpentries.org/). A graduate with good Python and R skills, and working knowledge of SQL, will stand out in a crowded field, no matter what sub-field of economics the graduate may be interested in.
Now, here is some 'big picture' advice:
Economic data does not analyze itself, and it does not come from 'nature.' Economic data is the result of the decisions of individuals. To understand data generated by a human activity, you need to think about the incentives that lead individuals to make the decisions that are captured in this data. Therefore, knowledge of econometrics is essential, as it is knowledge of economic theory. What distinguishes Economists from other kinds of data analysts is this emphasis on the understanding that if you do not factor accurately how individuals respond to incentives in the analysis of your data, your review is likely to be flawed or at least incomplete. Getting good at this way of data analysis takes many years, and graduates should be prepared to continue learning how to do this well past their college years. With this advice comes a caveat, and an acknowledgment of responsibility: every data analyst must understand that decisions based on data have ethical implications, and can affect some gender or ethnic groups in different ways. These considerations must be explicitly addressed, or the analyst may provide biased and ultimately undesirable advice to the decision-makers.
How do you envision technology impacting Home Economists in the next 5 years?
David Bunting Ph.D.: Economics majors use statistical, and data are accessing technology. Most of the skills to use this technology are acquired through learning-by-doing. Majors should be flexible and willing to adopt technological changes as their merits become apparent. Many of the claims for technological changes are straightforward claims by vendors.