Personnel Analyst Overview
Working as a Personnel Analyst
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a personnel analyst. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.47 an hour? That's $50,893 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 5,300 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Personnel Analyst Do
There are certain skills that many personnel 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 analytical skills, business skills and communication skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a personnel analyst, we found that a lot of resumes listed 16.7% of personnel analysts included payroll, while 6.6% of resumes included job descriptions, and 6.2% of resumes included personnel policies. 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 personnel analyst job title. But what industry to start with? Most personnel analysts actually find jobs in the government and education industries.
How To Become a Personnel Analyst
If you're interested in becoming a personnel analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.9% of personnel analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 34.1% of personnel analysts have master's degrees. Even though most personnel 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 personnel analyst. When we researched the most common majors for a personnel analyst, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on personnel analyst resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a personnel analyst. In fact, many personnel analyst jobs require experience in a role such as human resources generalist. Meanwhile, many personnel analysts also have previous career experience in roles such as administrative assistant or personnel technician.
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Personnel Analyst Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of human resources analyst you might progress to a role such as human resources manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title human resources vice president.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Personnel Analyst
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
University of California Personnel Analyst Personnel Analyst | University of California University of California | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $50,56801/28/2021 $50,568 |
San Joaquin County, Ca Personnel Analyst I Personnel Analyst I | San Joaquin County, Ca San Joaquin County, Ca | 12/22/2020 12/22/2020 | $18,00012/22/2020 $18,000 |
University of California Academic Personnel Analyst Academic Personnel Analyst | University of California University of California | 12/22/2020 12/22/2020 | $48,08412/22/2020 $48,084 |
Northern Essex Community College Personnel Analyst I-Northern Essex Community College Personnel Analyst I-Northern Essex Community College | Northern Essex Community College Northern Essex Community College | 12/20/2020 12/20/2020 | $51,98412/20/2020 $51,984 |
State of Nevada Personnel Analyst 2-Underfill for Personnel Analyst 3 Personnel Analyst 2-Underfill for Personnel Analyst 3 | State of Nevada State of Nevada | 12/05/2020 12/05/2020 | $49,15212/05/2020 $49,152 |
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Top Colleges for Personnel Analysts
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Boston University
Boston, MA • Private
3. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
4. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
5. SUNY College at Oswego
Oswego, NY • Public
6. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
7. Baylor University
Waco, TX • Private
8. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
9. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
10. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
Top Skills For a Personnel 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, 16.7% of personnel analysts listed payroll on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and business skills are important as well.
- Payroll, 16.7%
- Job Descriptions, 6.6%
- Personnel Policies, 6.2%
- Personnel Actions, 5.0%
- Selection Procedures, 5.0%
- Other Skills, 60.5% See All Personnel Analyst Skills
Best States For a Personnel Analyst
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a personnel analyst. The best states for people in this position are Rhode Island, Delaware, New York, and Pennsylvania. Personnel analysts make the most in Rhode Island with an average salary of $61,663. Whereas in Delaware and New York, they would average $60,219 and $58,515, respectively. While personnel analysts would only make an average of $57,936 in Pennsylvania, 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
$60,219
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$58,515
Avg. Salary
3. Rhode Island
$61,663
Avg. Salary