Oregon businesses and workers created a total economic value in 2018 alone of nearly $240 billion. This represents a huge improvement from the depths of the Great Recession, and the Oregon gross domestic product rose by nearly 50% between 2009 and 2018.
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Nearly 120,000 employer firms are in operation across Oregon, and nearly 2 million people are employed in the state. Those jobs are in a wide variety of industries, led by the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which accounts for about 18% of all jobs in Oregon. That sector is followed by education and health services, which contributes nearly 16% of jobs, and government at 15%.
A total of six companies listed on the Fortune 1,000 call Oregon home, including No. 90 Nike, and the state drew $90 million in startup investment during the third quarter of 2019 alone. The mix of established industries and exciting new innovation is the perfect setting for a career in business analytics, which combines traditional business principles with cutting-edge education in data science. People with the skills necessary to harness data to help guide organizational decision-making, such as those who earn a Master of Business Analytics degree, should be well-positioned for long and fruitful careers.
SEE ALSO: Masters in Business Analytics Salary Outlook
What salaries can business analytics professionals expect to earn in Oregon, what educational opportunities exist in our state, and what are some real-life examples of employers seeking to hire business analytics professionals in Oregon?
Business Analytics Salaries in Oregon
Any business, nonprofit, government board or any other organization that uses data to help make decisions requires the expertise of people steeped in business analytics. That’s why the field is so broad and encompasses a virtually limitless range of job titles, from the highly technical to the creative.
What are some possible business analytics job titles in Oregon? Here’s a look at a few that exist here in our state:
- Business Intelligence Specialist
- Market Research Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Management Consultant
- Financial Analyst
- Budget Analyst
- Insights Analyst
- Research Executive
- Decision Engineer
- Marketing Engagement Analyst
- Quantitative Modeler
- Operations Research Analyst
What do these types of jobs pay in Oregon and how common are such roles in the broader economy? Because of the sheer volume of business analytics-related jobs, we’ll examine federal employment data for five jobs that provide a representative sample.
For each of the five business analytics jobs we studied, the median annual wage in Oregon is lower than but still within the ballpark of the overall U.S. median, which makes the state a fair analog for what’s happening nationally when it comes to business analytics pay. All five jobs also offer much higher wages than the overall median annual full-time wage in Oregon, $39,582.
Median annual wage, Oregon vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Oregon | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $74,060 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $84,300 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $78,760 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $62,950 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $80,330 | $83,390 |
Oregon wages may be slightly behind the overall national median for all five business analytics jobs, but that’s due in part to one or two states in each case that skew the data, and Oregon generally keeps the pace well with other states. For instance, Oregon’s median wage for Financial Analysts is No. 11 nationally.
Median annual wage, Financial Analyst, top 15
| 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 |
| Oregon | $84,300 |
| Texas | $83,060 |
| Alaska | $82,900 |
| Alabama | $82,130 |
| Pennsylvania | $82,010 |
Not only are Oregon business analytics wages roughly representative of the nation as a whole, the future could hold even higher wages for qualified professionals. That’s because job openings are expected to grow quite rapidly for all five roles, which may help top candidates command higher wages. In some cases, Oregon’s growth rate is among the top nationally, such as the long-term growth rate projected for Budget Analysts, which is in the top 10.
Budget Analyst long-term job opening growth rate, top 10
| Utah | 22.4% |
| Nevada | 20.0% |
| Texas | 15.2% |
| Colorado | 13.6% |
| Arizona | 12.8% |
| Georgia | 12.2% |
| Virginia | 12.1% |
| New York | 11.9% |
| Rhode Island | 11.8% |
| Oregon | 11.8% |
All five jobs are expected to become more in-demand in Oregon over the next couple of years and the next several years after that, with each of the five expected to see double-digit growth through 2026.
Oregon job opening growth rate, short- and long-term
| Job Title | Short-term | Long-term |
| Budget Analyst | 1.7% | 11.8% |
| Financial Analyst | 4.4% | 17.6% |
| Management Analyst | 3.4% | 16.4% |
| Market Research Analyst | 6.7% | 29.1% |
| Operations Research Analyst | 6.8% | 33.9% |
Note: Short-term 2016-2020; long-term 2016-2026
Typical salaries are variable depending on the area of the state in question, but for each of the five business analytics jobs we studied, at least one major Oregon city offers wages that are higher than the state’s median.
Median annual wage, Oregon vs. select cities
| Job Title | Oregon | Bend | Portland | Salem |
| Budget Analyst | $74,060 | — | $76,510 | $77,320 |
| Financial Analyst | $84,300 | — | $82,800 | $92,420 |
| Management Analyst | $78,760 | $68,700 | $83,030 | $78,750 |
| Market Research Analyst | $62,950 | $56,340 | $64,730 | $56,080 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $80,330 | $79,990 | $82,030 | — |
Oregon Business Analytics Degree Programs
Oregon colleges and universities rank among some of the most well-regarded in the U.S., with many opportunities out there for a rigorous, rewarding business education, particularly in the modern and emerging field of business analytics.
Here’s a look at some of the colleges and universities in Oregon that offer degrees applicable to jobs in business analytics:
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Oregon
Business analytics roles are data-driven, and we’ve seen what the numbers say about how healthy business analytics employment has been over the recent past in Oregon. But we can get a bit closer to real-time analysis by looking at recent job openings in the business analytics space in Oregon, whether they’re in for-profit businesses, government boards or nonprofit agencies.
Here are just a handful of the actual examples of business analytics employers in Oregon who were looking to hire in late 2019:
- PacificSource
- First Tech Federal Credit Union
- Wells Fargo
- The Standard
- Life Flight Networks
- Unitus Community Credit Union
- The Cadmus Group
- Nike
- Oregon Department of Revenue
- Colvin Oil
- BMO Harris Bank
- ProKarma
- Lam Research
- Tillamook County Creamery Association
- SurveyMonkey
- GitLab
- KeyBank
- Slalom
- KEEN Footwear
- Mavensoft Technologies
Conclusion
For professionals with advanced training in business analytics, the future looks bright, both across the U.S. and here in Oregon. High wages and job growth look to combine and make many business analytics roles ideal for next career steps.
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, Oregon. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.or.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 Oregon. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ORNGSP
U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Oregon. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/OR/PST045218