Since the depths of the Great Recession, Maryland’s economy has grown by more than 35% with 2018’s gross domestic product reaching more than $415 billion, more than putting the recession in the rear-view mirror.
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Nearly 150,000 employer firms are operating across Maryland, employing some 2.7 million people. Maryland is home to more than a dozen Fortune 500 firms, including Lockheed Martin, the 60th-largest U.S. company, and it drew more than $141 million in startup investment in the third quarter of 2019 alone, good enough for 16th among all the states.
About 1 in 2 Maryland jobs are in either transportation and utilities, education and healthcare, or professional and business services, which makes for a broad economic base and a diverse workforce. That setting is ideal for professionals who are trained and experienced in business analytics, as such professionals are needed to help guide decision-making across the spectrum of businesses, including public and private sector organizations. Particularly for those with advanced degrees, like a master’s or doctorate, Maryland is a perfect destination for business analytics and related fields.
What educational opportunities are available here in Maryland, what can people with education in business analytics expect to earn, how does the state compare with the rest of the United States, and which companies are looking to hire business analytics experts?
Business Analytics Salaries in Maryland
The obvious job title in business analytics is, well, Business Analyst. But there are literally dozens of other possible titles that professionals in this field can seek, and their particular passions and skills will largely drive their search whether they’re looking for highly technical roles or they prefer to manage large groups and remain more hands-off.
Business analytics job titles you can usually find in Maryland include:
- Product Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Management Consultant
- Transaction Monitor
- Financial Analyst
- Market Research Analyst
- Budget Analyst
- Insights Analyst
- Business Banking Specialist
- Research Executive
- Operations Research Analyst
- Decision Engineer
- Quantitative Modeler
To understand the health of the business analytics employment landscape in Maryland today, we’ll take a look at data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor. The bureau publishes employment and wage data on thousands of occupations across the U.S., and our analysis included five job titles for which detailed data was available.
For the majority of the five business analytics jobs we analyzed, Maryland offers better wages than the U.S. as a whole, though Maryland’s median annual wages for both Financial Analysts and Market Research Analysts was below the U.S. median. Still, all five jobs have better salary amounts than the typical job in Maryland, which pays a median wage of about $44,000.
Median annual wage, Maryland vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Maryland | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $89,710 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $81,300 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $97,850 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $61,660 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $96,550 | $83,390 |
For three of the five job titles, Maryland’s median wage puts it among the 10 highest in the country, while the state ranks 18th and 21st, respectively, for Financial Analyst and Operations Research Analyst wages. Maryland’s highest ranking is a tie for second place in Budget Analyst wages with Virginia.
Median annual wage, Budget Analyst
| Highest | |
| District of Columbia | $100,210 |
| Virginia | $89,710 |
| Maryland | $89,710 |
| California | $86,730 |
| Massachusetts | $83,240 |
| Connecticut | $81,850 |
| Alabama | $80,910 |
| New Jersey | $80,740 |
| Rhode Island | $80,320 |
| Colorado | $79,630 |
| Lowest | |
| Missouri | $63,870 |
| West Virginia | $63,730 |
| Louisiana | $63,270 |
| Idaho | $62,740 |
| Mississippi | $61,330 |
| Montana | $60,990 |
| South Dakota | $59,860 |
| Nebraska | $53,930 |
| Kentucky | $53,050 |
| Arkansas | $47,480 |
Not only are wages generally higher in Maryland than most other states, business analytics jobs tend to be more common here than elsewhere in the country. For instance, Maryland ranks third for the ratio of Management Analyst jobs in the broader economy.
Management Analyst employment per 1,000 jobs
| Highest | |
| District of Columbia | 25.841 |
| Virginia | 12.917 |
| Maryland | 6.923 |
| Washington | 6.73 |
| Illinois | 6.64 |
| Rhode Island | 6.469 |
| South Dakota | 6.404 |
| Massachusetts | 6.322 |
| California | 6.116 |
| Delaware | 5.682 |
| Lowest | |
| Nebraska | 2.342 |
| Alabama | 2.335 |
| Kentucky | 2.267 |
| Alaska | 1.83 |
| Maine | 1.814 |
| Louisiana | 1.777 |
| Wyoming | 1.474 |
| Mississippi | 1.417 |
| Montana | 1.32 |
| North Dakota | 1.304 |
The relatively generous wages and widespread availability of business analytics jobs is tempered slightly by lackluster growth projected in all five job openings, though they all are expected to move in a positive direction.
Maryland job opening growth rate, short- and long-term
| Job Title | Short-term | Long-term |
| Budget Analyst | 1.2% | 3.5% |
| Financial Analyst | 0.8% | 7.9% |
| Management Analyst | 2.1% | 5.7% |
| Market Research Analyst | 4.9% | 7.5% |
| Operations Research Analyst | 5.3% | 5.8% |
Note: Short-term 2016-2020; long-term 2016-2026
Typical wages vary considerably across the state, with some cities in Maryland offering wages higher than the state’s overall wage for business analytics jobs.
Median annual wage, Maryland vs. select cities
| Job Title | Maryland | Baltimore | California | Hagerstown |
| Budget Analyst | $89,710 | $83,900 | $91,680 | — |
| Financial Analyst | $81,300 | $78,330 | $72,350 | $82,250 |
| Management Analyst | $97,850 | $95,890 | $106,670 | $81,540 |
| Market Research Analyst | $61,660 | $59,730 | $67,320 | $49,930 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $96,550 | $95,230 | $104,700 | — |
Maryland Business Analytics Degree Programs
Maryland is home to some of the most prestigious higher education institutions in the United States, and for those interested in a business analytics degree, there are likely to be many options for educational programs in the field
Here’s a look at some of the colleges and universities in Maryland that offer applicable degrees:
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Maryland
Generally, business analytics jobs should be easy to come by in Maryland thanks to the state’s diverse and growing economy and because the nature of business analytics means that jobs exist in every conceivable industry. Maryland’s proximity to the nation’s capital means that a higher-than-average rate of federal government jobs are available.
SEE ALSO: Masters in Business Analytics Salary Outlook
Here is a sampling of the companies, organizations, agencies and other groups that had posted openings for business analytics professionals in Maryland in late 2019:
- Systems Integration
- Resource Energy
- FTI Consulting
- Naval Air Systems Command
- S. Army
- S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- National Security Agency
- Marriott International
- University of Maryland Medical System
- Prince George’s Community College
- McCormick & Co.
- Bank of America
- Chevo Consulting
- NetImpact Strategies
- Leidos
- Rowe Price
- AstraZeneca
- TimeWarner
- Lockheed Martin
Conclusion
Earning a Master of Business Analytics degree or an advanced degree in a related field could be the start of a long and fruitful career. That’s because every business, government agency, hospital or nonprofit is swimming in data, and that won’t be changing anytime soon. Business analytics training could be the key to future-proofing your career in any field.
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, Maryland. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.md.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 Maryland. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MDNGSP
U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Maryland. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MD/PST045218