After a couple of years of relative stagnation, Missouri’s economy grew by nearly 5% in 2017-18 alone and has expanded by nearly 30% since the depths of the great recession, with gross domestic product growing to more than $315 billion in 2018.
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More than 150,000 employer firms are operating across the Show-Me State, and nearly 3 million people are employed throughout Missouri, and the state’s unemployment level is just 3.1%, putting Missouri in the top quarter of the nation.
Home to nearly two dozen Fortune 500 companies and closing in on $70 million in startup investment in the third quarter of 2019 alone, Missouri has a vast and diverse economy that’s got feet in both traditional and emerging industries.
That’s what makes Missouri such an ideal location for individuals who have education and expertise in the business analytics field. After all, any organization that collects or produces numbers needs to hire professionals who can harness and take advantage of those numbers.
Let’s take a look at the business analytics employment landscape in Missouri, including how the state stands among others and what educational opportunities exist in Missouri for people seeking further training in business analytics and related areas.
Business Analytics Salaries in Missouri
The big tent of business analytics covers literally dozens of possible job titles that exist across industries and sectors. That includes, of course, the job of Business Analyst, but it also extends to less-obvious jobs like Data Scientist, Management Consultant and Marketing Specialist. Many jobs are ideal for those with hands-on technology experience, while others may be more creative in nature.
Business analytics job titles you can find in Missouri include:
- Data Scientist
- Management Consultant
- Product Analyst
- Transaction Monitor
- Financial Analyst
- Market Research Analyst
- Budget Analyst
- Insights Analyst
- Business Banking Specialist
- Research Executive
- Decision Engineer
- Quantitative Modeler
- Operations Research Analyst
To understand the strength of business analytics employment in Missouri, we’ll dig into data published recently by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on five specific job titles that apply to the business analytics field. We’ll look at wages, employment and growth projections in Missouri and around the United States.
For each of the five jobs we studied, Missouri’s median annual wage is lower than the overall U.S. median wage, though usually not by very much. However, in all cases, the business analytics jobs here are far more lucrative than the average job in Missouri, which pays just over $36,000 per year.
Median annual wage, Missouri vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Missouri | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $63,870 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $81,990 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $76,230 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $56,710 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $72,020 | $83,390 |
While Missouri tends to lag behind the U.S. as a whole when it comes to pay for business analytics roles, the state performs well when compared to its regional neighbors. In fact, Missouri has the second-highest wage for Financial Analysts in the entire Midwestern region.
Median annual wage, Financial Analyst, Midwestern states
| Minnesota | $85,940 |
| Missouri | $81,990 |
| Illinois | $79,310 |
| Michigan | $78,490 |
| Iowa | $73,710 |
| Indiana | $72,320 |
| Ohio | $71,920 |
| Wisconsin | $71,330 |
| North Dakota | $69,990 |
| Kansas | $69,870 |
| South Dakota | $69,240 |
| Nebraska | $68,850 |
Business analytics jobs in Missouri account for a relatively high percentage of all jobs. Missouri ranks 22nd overall for Financial Analyst employment per 1,000 jobs, better than the majority of the Midwest.
Financial Analyst employment per 1,000 jobs, top 25
| Delaware | 7.665 |
| New York | 5.673 |
| District of Columbia | 5.403 |
| Connecticut | 3.758 |
| Massachusetts | 3.752 |
| New Jersey | 2.606 |
| Illinois | 2.473 |
| Virginia | 2.23 |
| California | 2.229 |
| Texas | 2.216 |
| Minnesota | 2.205 |
| Maryland | 2.103 |
| Rhode Island | 2.098 |
| Pennsylvania | 2.049 |
| North Carolina | 2.038 |
| Utah | 1.989 |
| Washington | 1.987 |
| Arizona | 1.912 |
| Ohio | 1.71 |
| Georgia | 1.684 |
| Iowa | 1.564 |
| Florida | 1.556 |
| Missouri | 1.525 |
| Tennessee | 1.524 |
| Wisconsin | 1.472 |
Missouri is expected to see all five job titles become more common over the next several years, with double-digit growth expected in four of the five jobs through 2026.
Missouri job opening growth rate, short- and long-term
| Job Title | Short-term | Long-term |
| Budget Analyst | 2.7% | 7.0% |
| Financial Analyst | 1.4% | 11.9% |
| Management Analyst | 3.0% | 14.4% |
| Market Research Analyst | 5.1% | 24.7% |
| Operations Research Analyst | 4.4% | 24.3% |
Note: Short-term 2016-2020; long-term 2016-2026
Salaries for business analytics, as one would expect, vary depending on the area of the state, and the state’s two largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City, tend to offer higher wages for all five business analytics roles.
Median annual wage, Missouri vs. select cities
| Job Title | Missouri | St. Louis | Kansas City | Columbia |
| Budget Analyst | $63,870 | $67,990 | $71,880 | — |
| Financial Analyst | $81,990 | $82,840 | $75,470 | $75,980 |
| Management Analyst | $76,230 | $79,970 | $81,250 | $68,500 |
| Market Research Analyst | $56,710 | $61,090 | $60,640 | $44,160 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $72,020 | $77,530 | $77,220 | $65,040 |
Missouri Business Analytics Degree Programs
Missouri is home to several well-regarded institutions of higher learning, offering many options both in public and private education. Here’s a look at some of the colleges and universities in Missouri that offer applicable degrees:
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Missouri
We’ve already seen that rapid growth is expected for most business analytics jobs in the coming years, but what sorts of jobs are available now? The good news is that regardless of the sector, industry or even type of employer, for business analytics professionals in Missouri, job openings should be readily 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 Missouri in late 2019:
- Cerner Corp.
- Spirit of ’76 Fireworks
- EDCO Health Information Solutions
- Americo
- ABI Document Support Services
- Schaeffer Manufacturing
- Quaker Windows
- Datix
- Enterprise
- O’Reilly Automotive
- Codeforce 360
- Verizon
- Wells Fargo
- FormFast
- Boom Lab
- Infosys
- BJC Healthcare
- University of Missouri Hospital
- EquipmentShare
- Sun Life Financial
- Kansas City Police Department
Conclusion
Seeking advanced education in business analytics in Missouri looks to be quite a wise investment, indeed, as the state is home to a bustling and diverse economy that’s likely to keep on producing challenging and interesting jobs for years to come.
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, Missouri. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.mo.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 Missouri. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MONGSP
U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Missouri. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MO/PST045218