What is a Quantitative Analyst?

A Quantitative Analyst, or a 'quant' as they are known in some communities, is a statistical and mathematical expert who uses the knowledge and methods from both subjects in order to do financial and risk assessment and management. A quant often chooses to specialize in a certain area of finance or, rather, quantitative analysis, such as trading, or risk management, or investment management.

They usually create and implement models to be used by companies, and create and maintain or search already existing databases, in hopes of collecting enough information to find a pattern or clues for what might come. They use various financial and analysis tools, apply systems, and work with teams of mathematicians, analysts, and IT professionals on various projects. They are often also hired as consultants.

A person hoping to begin work as a Quantitative Analyst will generally need to have a Master's degree in Quantitative Finance, Mathematical Finance or Engineering, or Operations Research, or a similar subject.

What Does a Quantitative Analyst Do

There are certain skills that many quantitative 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 computer skills, detail oriented and math skills.

Learn more about what a Quantitative Analyst does

How To Become a Quantitative Analyst

If you're interested in becoming a quantitative analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.1% of quantitative analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 36.0% of quantitative analysts have master's degrees. Even though most quantitative analysts have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Quantitative Analyst
Top Quantitative Analyst Jobs Near You

Quantitative 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 consultant you might progress to a role such as manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title executive vice president.

Quantitative Analyst

Average Salary for a Quantitative Analyst

Quantitative Analysts in America make an average salary of $101,197 per year or $49 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $148,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $68,000 per year.
Average Quantitative Analyst Salary
$101,197 Yearly
$48.65 hourly
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Roles and Types of Quantitative Analyst

The role of a quantitative analyst includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general quantitative analyst responsibilities:

  • Provide timely and accurate valuation of power transactions work closely with wholesale trading
  • Conduct generalist quantitative fixed income research using demonstrable fixed income market knowledge
  • Develop statistical and financial models to identify strategic issues

There are several types of quantitative analyst, including:

Analyst

Role:

An analyst can work in many different industries. So if you're looking for a position with endless job possibilities, then you've come to the right place. Who knows, the job might even come with a sweet salary, but you'll have to keep reading to find out.

Typically, an analyst will work in an office. They'll analyze data and make informed decisions based on the information they collect. An analyst might have a financial background or they might be a management analyst. Maybe you want to be a market research analyst or a news analyst. Either way, you've got to be good at making decisions.

The majority of analysts work a full-time position of 40 hours a week. Although, it isn't unheard of for analysts to work more than that. Did someone say overtime?

  • Average Salary: $73,007
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Finance Analyst

Role:

You know how it's smart to invest your money? Well, the brains behind that operation is a finance analyst. Essentially, they're in charge of advising and supporting investment decisions of individuals and businesses.

Most finance analysts work full-time, but some work even more than that. The typical finance analyst enters the career having earned a bachelor's degree. With the extra education, employers tend to invest a lot of their dime to pay finance analysts. So having the higher education definitely pays off.

  • Average Salary: $69,887
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Investment Analyst

Role:

Having good data and thorough analysis is critical to making sound investments. If you work as an investment analyst, you'll be able to ensure that these sound investment decisions are made by collecting information and performing research. Based on this research, you'll analyze assets such as stocks, bonds, currencies, and commodities. The research you perform will then be presented to investment managers, who use the information to sell investments to individual clients and the public at large.

As an investment analyst, you may work for many types of firms in the securities industry, including brokerages, banks, money management firms, hedge funds, and pension funds. If you're looking to get into this profession, you need to be prepared to work long hours and travel frequently. In addition, you'll assess the performance of stocks and bonds and analyze profit and loss sheets and companies' accounts.

To become an investment analyst, you need a Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, accounting, statistics, or a related field. With a Bachelor's degree, you'll qualify for entry-level jobs in the investment industry, like a junior analyst.

  • Average Salary: $79,056
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Quantitative Analyst Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active quantitative analyst jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where quantitative analysts earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Quantitative Analyst Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California1,907$107,037
2New York1,305$116,410
3Texas1,248$84,456
4Virginia932$93,634
5Illinois825$80,699
6Florida783$80,314
7Massachusetts590$99,830
8Maryland578$97,006
9Pennsylvania562$99,918
10Georgia536$80,720
11North Carolina487$89,803
12Ohio465$87,984
13New Jersey412$105,381
14Colorado374$71,332
15Arizona371$85,674
16Washington351$85,333
17Minnesota350$85,045
18Michigan307$93,059
19Indiana285$80,856
20Missouri260$80,083
21Tennessee218$77,009
22Oregon217$89,965
23Wisconsin196$84,337
24Alabama188$81,572
25Connecticut174$105,497
26Utah154$78,030
27South Carolina123$89,994
28Iowa115$78,793
29Kansas111$68,572
30Kentucky105$77,291
31Nevada97$91,070
32Nebraska90$77,765
33Louisiana87$74,848
34Arkansas80$70,792
35Delaware71$101,916
36New Mexico70$85,806
37Oklahoma70$69,845
38Hawaii60$76,518
39Idaho59$72,490
40Rhode Island49$99,244
41New Hampshire48$106,079
42Mississippi44$73,125
43North Dakota40$72,736
44Montana39$68,711
45Alaska37$79,135
46Maine36$88,129
47South Dakota34$69,417
48West Virginia32$92,443
49Vermont29$94,969
50Wyoming18$74,531

Quantitative Analyst Education

Quantitative Analyst Majors

Finance
22.2 %
Mathematics
16.7 %
Economics
12.2 %

Quantitative Analyst Degrees

Bachelors

53.1 %

Masters

36.0 %

Doctorate

9.1 %

Top Colleges for Quantitative Analysts

1. University of Notre Dame

Notre Dame, IN • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,391

Enrollment

8,568

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,465

Enrollment

6,483

4. Harvard University

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,420

Enrollment

7,582

5. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

6. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,740

Enrollment

5,567

7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cambridge, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,832

Enrollment

4,550

8. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

9. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

10. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Top Skills For a Quantitative 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, 13.4% of quantitative analysts listed python on their resume, but soft skills such as computer skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Quantitative Analyst Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Quantitative Analyst templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Quantitative Analyst resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Quantitative Analyst Resume

Quantitative Analyst diversity

Quantitative Analyst Gender Distribution

Male
Male
80%
Female
Female
21%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among quantitative analysts, 20.5% of them are women, while 79.5% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among quantitative analysts is White, which makes up 68.0% of all quantitative analysts.

  • The most common foreign language among quantitative analysts is Mandarin at 27.2%.

Online Courses For Quantitative Analyst That You May Like

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1. Finance & Quantitative Modeling for Analysts

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The role of an Analyst is dynamic, complex, and driven by a variety of skills. These skills range from a basic understanding of financial statement data and non-financial metrics that can be linked to financial performance, to a deeper dive into business and financial modeling. Analysts also utilize spreadsheet models, modeling techniques, and common investment analysis application as part of their toolkit to make informed financial decisions and investments.\n\nThis multifaceted specialization...

2. Financial Risk Management with R

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This course teaches you how to calculate the return of a portfolio of securities as well as quantify the market risk of that portfolio, an important skill for financial market analysts in banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, and other financial services and investment firms. Using the R programming language with Microsoft Open R and RStudio, you will use the two main tools for calculating the market risk of stock portfolios: Value-at-Risk (VaR) and Expected Shortfall (ES). You will need a...

3. Investment Analysis & Portfolio Management with Python

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4.5
(283)

Financial Analysis Done Right - Rigorously Analyse Investments & Manage Portfolios using Python for Finance / Investing...

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Best States For a Quantitative Analyst

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a quantitative analyst. The best states for people in this position are New York, California, New Hampshire, and Connecticut. Quantitative analysts make the most in New York with an average salary of $116,410. Whereas in California and New Hampshire, they would average $107,037 and $106,079, respectively. While quantitative analysts would only make an average of $105,497 in Connecticut, 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. New York

Total Quantitative Analyst Jobs: 1,305
Highest 10% Earn:
$167,000
Location Quotient:
1.83

$116,410

Avg. Salary

View 1,305 Quantitative Analyst Jobs In NY

2. Connecticut

Total Quantitative Analyst Jobs: 174
Highest 10% Earn:
$151,000
Location Quotient:
0.94

$105,497

Avg. Salary

View 174 Quantitative Analyst Jobs In CT

3. Delaware

Total Quantitative Analyst Jobs: 71
Highest 10% Earn:
$146,000
Location Quotient:
1.02

$101,916

Avg. Salary

View 71 Quantitative Analyst Jobs In DE
Full List Of Best States For Quantitative Analysts

How Do Quantitative Analysts Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Quantitative Analyst Employers

Most Common Employers For Quantitative Analyst

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Google$129,074$62.05591
2MUFG EMEA$124,809$60.0050
3D. E. Shaw group$123,382$59.3286
4Two Sigma$122,444$58.8763
5Bloomberg$120,152$57.7772
6Citi$112,869$54.26471
7Bank of the West$109,442$52.6257
8State Street$108,473$52.15207
9Tower Research Capital$107,733$51.7985
10*n/a*$100,736$48.4375
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Updated April 6, 2023