Connecticut workers and businesses created a combined economic value of more than $275 billion in 2018 alone, and the state’s gross domestic product has risen steadily over the past decade. Since just after the Great Recession, Connecticut’s GDP has climbed by more than 15%.
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About 1.7 million people are employed across the state, and nearly 90,000 employer firms are in operation in a wide range of industries and sectors. The largest economic sector in Connecticut is education and health services, which accounts for more than 1 in 5 jobs, followed by trade, transportation and utilities (17.2%) and government (13.8%).
More than two dozen Fortune 1,000 companies are headquartered in Connecticut, including three in the top 100 — United Technologies (No. 46), Cigna (No. 65) and Charter Communications (No. 70). Not only is the state a well-established spot for traditional business, but it’s also drawn considerable startup investment to the tune of more than $80 million during the third quarter of 2019 alone.
SEE ALSO: Masters in Business Analytics Salary Outlook
All of those factors combine to make Connecticut an ideal place for professionals who are educated and experienced in business analytics. Every business, nonprofit organization, government body or any other group that uses data to drive decision-making requires the expertise of business analytics professionals.
What can such workers expect to earn in Connecticut, what educational opportunities exist here, and what are some real-world examples of employers looking to hire business analytics professionals?
Business Analytics Salaries in Connecticut
Business analytics is a broad field that encompasses a huge range of job types, from the heavily technical to the more creative or even hands-off. The possibilities are basically limitless, and whatever an individual’s unique interests, chances are good there are several business analytics job titles that would fit the bill.
What are some possible business analytics job titles that candidates in Connecticut should consider? Here are just a few:
- Data Scientist
- Insights Analyst
- Market Research Analyst
- Business Intelligence Specialist
- Research Executive
- Decision Engineer
- Marketing Engagement Analyst
- Management Consultant
- Financial Analyst
- Budget Analyst
- Quantitative Modeler
- Operations Research Analyst
To understand the state of business analytics employment in Connecticut, we’ll dig into data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for five specific job titles that will serve as a representative sample of jobs in the field. It’s important to note that all five of these jobs are analyst roles, and people with advanced education like a Master of Business Analytics degree will probably command even higher salaries and can open up more senior positions.
Four of the five job titles we studied have higher median wages in Connecticut than in the United States overall. The only exception is for Operations Research Analysts, but the difference is small. Also, in all five cases, the median wage for business analytics jobs is considerably higher than the overall median wage for all jobs in Connecticut, $46,924.
Median annual wage, Connecticut vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Connecticut | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $81,850 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $92,470 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $94,410 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $67,520 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $81,890 | $83,390 |
Not only do Connecticut business analyst wages tend to be higher than the overall U.S. median, in some cases, the state’s wages are among the highest in the country. For instance, Connecticut ranks No. 4 among the states and the District of Columbia for Financial Analyst wages.
Median annual wage, Financial Analyst, highest and lowest
| Highest | |
| New York | $107,160 |
| California | $95,680 |
| New Jersey | $94,070 |
| Connecticut | $92,470 |
| District of Columbia | $91,390 |
| Colorado | $90,060 |
| Massachusetts | $87,060 |
| Virginia | $86,550 |
| Montana | $86,520 |
| Minnesota | $85,940 |
| Lowest | |
| Oklahoma | $62,600 |
| Kentucky | $65,760 |
| Louisiana | $67,760 |
| South Carolina | $68,260 |
| Nebraska | $68,850 |
| Florida | $69,060 |
| Tennessee | $69,130 |
| West Virginia | $69,190 |
| South Dakota | $69,240 |
| Kansas | $69,870 |
Not only are these jobs generally well-paying, they are likely to continue an upward trend in wages and availability, and growth rates in Connecticut tend to be among the highest in the nation. For instance, Connecticut ranks in the top 20 for long-term job opening growth in Operations Research Analyst positions.
Operations Research Analyst long-term job opening growth rate, top 20
| Utah | 60.3% |
| South Dakota | 50.0% |
| Nevada | 48.6% |
| Arizona | 47.1% |
| Tennessee | 45.6% |
| Colorado | 42.5% |
| Iowa | 39.7% |
| North Dakota | 38.5% |
| South Carolina | 37.6% |
| Louisiana | 37.0% |
| Virginia | 36.5% |
| Texas | 36.2% |
| Oregon | 33.9% |
| Arkansas | 33.3% |
| Florida | 32.7% |
| North Carolina | 32.3% |
| Alabama | 30.6% |
| Delaware | 30.0% |
| New York | 29.9% |
| Connecticut | 29.9% |
All five business analytics jobs we studied are expected to see steady growth over the next couple of years and for the next several years after that, and three of the five jobs are expected to produce double-digit growth through 2026.
Connecticut job opening growth rate, short- and long-term
| Job Title | Short-term | Long-term |
| Budget Analyst | 1.1% | 6.7% |
| Financial Analyst | 2.3% | 8.5% |
| Management Analyst | 2.8% | 15.6% |
| Market Research Analyst | 3.3% | 21.9% |
| Operations Research Analyst | 5.4% | 29.9% |
Note: Short-term 2016-2020; long-term 2016-2026
Wages vary widely depending on the area of the state in question, and for all five business analytics jobs we studied, at least one city or metro area in Connecticut offers higher wages than the state overall, with Bridgeport offering six-figure wages in two of the five jobs, Financial Analyst and Management Analyst.
Median annual wage, Connecticut vs. select cities
| Job Title | Connecticut | Bridgeport | Hartford | New Haven |
| Budget Analyst | $81,850 | $85,150 | $84,670 | $79,460 |
| Financial Analyst | $92,470 | $104,810 | $84,840 | $77,140 |
| Management Analyst | $94,410 | $109,460 | $90,430 | $88,200 |
| Market Research Analyst | $67,520 | $72,020 | $68,320 | $59,370 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $81,890 | $94,160 | $78,670 | $63,630 |
Connecticut Business Analytics Degree Programs
As the home of Yale University, Connecticut has a long and storied educational tradition, and that makes it an ideal place to pursue a business education, whether in the Ivy League or elsewhere.
Here’s a look at some of the colleges and universities in Connecticut that offer degrees in business analytics or a related field:
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Connecticut
We’ve seen the health of business analytics employment in Connecticut through the lens of federal data, and we’ve seen what some options are for business analytics students. But what about actual employers? What types of companies are hiring for business analytics professionals in Connecticut?
Here are just a handful of the many examples of actual companies posting openings in December 2019:
- Datto
- Practical Data Solutions
- Burt’s Bees Baby
- The Travelers Companies
- Griffin Hospital
- Aetna
- Nel Hydrogen
- AmTrust Financial Services
- Willis Towers Watson
- Anthem
- Sacred Heart University
- Philips
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- Commonfund
- Infosys
- Bank of America
- Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
- Walt Disney Co.
- Campbell Soup Co.
- Yale New Haven Health
Conclusion
The future looks to be exciting for people with advanced training in business analytics since every organization in the world that uses data to guide any type of decision-making will be looking to hire qualified people to help them crunch the numbers.
References
Note: Information on recent job openings was gathered from Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com in late 2019.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Economy at a Glance, Connecticut. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ct.htm
PWC/CB Insights, MoneyTree Report, Q3 2019. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.pwc.com/us/en/moneytree-report/assets/moneytree-report-q3-2019.pdf
U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics Query System, Custom Tables. (Undated). Accessed from https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/home
Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Total Gross Domestic Product for Connecticut. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CTNGSP
U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Connecticut. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CT/PST045218