How To Become A Senior Economist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior economist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Erik Johnson Ph.D.

The senior economist understands the complex processes that power our economy. After years of work and study, including having gained an advanced degree such as a master's or Ph.D., the senior economist is a leader in their field.

The day-to-day work of a senior economist depends on what field they work in. Expert economic knowledge is in high demand, so a senior economist could work at a bank, a think tank, or even for the government. Their duties could include advising executives on business plans, researching the latest developments in economics, building connections with other economists, and more.

The hard work that it takes to become a senior economist pays off with the flexibility and influence that an expert has. The expertise of a senior economist can be very valuable when it comes to helping a business or government program succeed.

What general advice would you give to a senior economist?

Erik Johnson Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Economics, Carthage College

Economics gives you a set of tools to analyze a variety of policy and business problems. However, determining which tools to apply in which situation requires that you learn the industry, you are working from top to bottom. When you begin a new job in a new field, be sure to do everything you can to understand how the organization and the industry work to understand the primary incentives that everyone faces. One right way to do this is to make as many connections within the company you are working for as possible and always be on the lookout for new opportunities within the company and how they can help you learn more. Moreover, do your best to ensure that a significant portion of your job involves some creative endeavors such as economic modeling or building tools for yourself or others to use. As computing power continues to become cheaper, and artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, relatively repetitive tasks become more comfortable and easier to automate. Therefore you will have less job security. Creative tasks such as modeling and tool building are difficult to automate and are more likely to provide you with more satisfaction.

ScoreSenior EconomistUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $108,720

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.3

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.24%

Asian 15.46%

Black or African American 5.90%

Hispanic or Latino 10.94%

Unknown 5.58%

White 61.89%

Gender

female 28.49%

male 71.51%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

4.3

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior economist

Explore senior economist education requirements

Most common senior economist degrees

Bachelor's

46.7 %

Master's

33.4 %

Doctorate

15.9 %

Start to develop specific senior economist skills

Skills	Percentages
Econometrics	10.14%
Macro	7.61%
Research Projects	7.57%
SAS	6.34%
Data Analysis	5.86%

Research senior economist duties and responsibilities

Lead the department research in forecasting and econometrics.
Lead training session and mentore of co-workers in using SAS programming to perform quantitative analysis.
Organize and lead strategic meetings between senior management and local communities, NGOs, and government agencies.
Manage junior employees, teaching them SAS and company data, and ensuring their deliverables are accurate and clearly present.

Get senior economist experience

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