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Job outlook for imagery analysts in the United States
Imagery analyst job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected imagery analyst job growth rate is 3% from 2018-2028.
About 20,600 new jobs for imagery analysts are projected over the next decade.
Imagery analyst salaries have increased 11% for imagery analysts in the last 5 years.
There are over 3,837 imagery analysts currently employed in the United States.
There are 4,449 active imagery analyst job openings in the US.
The average imagery analyst salary is $60,703.
Are imagery analyst jobs in demand?
Imagery analyst job and salary trends over time
Imagery analyst jobs over time
Imagery analyst job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3,837 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 3,769 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 3,756 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 3,679 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 3,746 | 0.00% |
Average imagery analyst salary over time
Imagery analyst salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $60,703 | $29.18 | +4.5% |
| 2025 | $58,070 | $27.92 | +1.5% |
| 2024 | $57,198 | $27.50 | +2.4% |
| 2023 | $55,836 | $26.84 | +2.4% |
| 2022 | $54,544 | $26.22 | +1.2% |
Imagery analyst jobs by state
Most common states for imagery analysts
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 205 | 30% |
| 2 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 816 | 10% |
| 3 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 527 | 9% |
| 4 | Hawaii | 1,427,538 | 114 | 8% |
| 5 | Vermont | 623,657 | 48 | 8% |
| 6 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 51 | 7% |
| 7 | Delaware | 961,939 | 54 | 6% |
| 8 | Alaska | 739,795 | 48 | 6% |
| 9 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 254 | 5% |
| 10 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 54 | 5% |
| 11 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 41 | 5% |
| 12 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 31 | 5% |
| 13 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 84 | 4% |
| 14 | Idaho | 1,716,943 | 69 | 4% |
| 15 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 51 | 4% |
| 16 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 47 | 4% |
| 17 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 110 | 3% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 92 | 3% |
| 19 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 86 | 3% |
| 20 | West Virginia | 1,815,857 | 50 | 3% |
Most common cities for imagery analysts
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suitland | 2 | 8% | $71,990 |
| 2 | Laurel | 1 | 4% | $72,013 |
| 3 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $72,127 |
| 4 | Fort Hood | 1 | 3% | $51,975 |
| 5 | Natick | 1 | 3% | $63,192 |
| 6 | Burlington | 1 | 2% | $49,802 |
| 7 | Charlottesville | 1 | 2% | $65,338 |
| 8 | McLean | 1 | 2% | $65,890 |
| 9 | Lansing | 1 | 1% | $57,572 |
| 10 | Austin | 1 | 0% | $52,342 |
| 11 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $56,941 |
| 12 | El Paso | 1 | 0% | $51,856 |
| 13 | Long Beach | 1 | 0% | $67,707 |
| 14 | Madison | 1 | 0% | $63,705 |
Imagery Analyst job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of imagery analyst experts
University of New Orleans
Arizona State University
University of Mississippi
University of California, Irvine
Quinnipiac University
What general advice would you give to an Imagery Analyst?
Dr. Mark Kulp Professor: Have as much practical, hands-on experience in the field as possible and be sure that your CV reflects your desire to learn and excel within the field. Also demonstrate that you are team player and willing and able to work under stressful conditions when projects need to be completed and work in the midst of others with whom you may not necessarily agree.
What Imagery Analyst skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Mark Kulp Professor: As mentioned geospatial skills, team player mentality and perhaps most importantly be able to express yourself in spoken and written form. Especially important is the ability to technically write and convey complex topics in an easy to read, error free format. Also, the ability to orally present information in front of others in the form of powerpoint presentations.
What will help Imagery Analysts increase their earning potential?
Dr. Mark Kulp Professor: Individuals should make sure that they have some GIS/Geospatial software background and the more that they have the better. Individuals that can easily store, display and interpret large, complex datasets will be those who are most well equipped for entry-level positions. Learning modern programming language such as PYTHON is a substantial benefit. Field and laboratory experience is a necessity and students should strive to have experience working within and on research projects as part of a group project or individual research-based project.
B.L. Turner
Arizona State University
Geography And Cartography
What general advice would you give to an Imagery Analyst?
B.L. Turner: Focus on one of the STEM parts of geographical sciences-remote sensing, GIS, and integrated human-envirnmental science plus modeling that has both academic/research and application applicability.
What Imagery Analyst skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
B.L. Turner: All of the STEM elements that permit analysis of remotely sensed data, foremost satellite data, GIS analysis, spatial analysis, and ability to integrate social and biophysical elements of problems
What will help Imagery Analysts increase their earning potential?
B.L. Turner: By maintaining skill sets for problem solving-for geographical science these are those related to remote sensing, GIScience, and integrated human-environmental issues (that include sustainability).
Wesley Jennings
Gillespie Distinguished Scholar, Chair, & ProfessorUniversity of Mississippi
Criminal Justice And Corrections
What Imagery Analyst skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Wesley Jennings: Technology proficiency is becoming one of the more sought after skills of those entering the workforce in criminal justice settings as technological advancements are constantly changing how criminals perpetrate their crimes as well as how law enforcement performs their duties and promotes crime prevention. Similarly, an important skill in the criminal justice profession has been and will continue to be critical thinking and analytical skills. This will become more important as the nature of crime, criminal networks, cybercrime, terrorism, etc. is becoming increasing more complex to prevent or investigate.
David Feldman Ph.D.
Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy and Political Science, Director, Water UCI, Director, MPP ProgramUniversity of California, Irvine
Urban Planning and Public Policy
What skills stand out on Imagery Analyst resumes?
David Feldman Ph.D.: Succinct writing, critical thinking, strong quantitative analytical skills.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Imagery Analysts in the next 3-5 years?
Christopher Ball Ph.D.: Economics is at the cutting edge of data science and, also, cognitive psychology or "behavioral economics." All of the artificial intelligence and network sciences are booming in our field. So any technology supporting that area will grow in importance for economists. Most students in economics today learn necessary coding in R - an open-source programming language used in statistical analysis - and slowly in Python as well, which is broader than R. Again, all the areas feeding the use of those technologies are only growing in importance for us. Finally, because all techs generate lots of data, and data continues to grow in availability, data management, and understanding both the potential and the limits of big data, will become more critical.