With a total economic output that tops $780 billion annually, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania is crucial to the broader U.S. and global economies. There are more than 300,000 employers across the commonwealth, and Pennsylvania’s total workforce tops 6.4 million.
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Pennsylvania’s top economic sector is education and health services, which provides more than 21% of all jobs in the commonwealth, just ahead of trade, transportation and utilities. Large percentages of jobs are in sectors like business services, government and manufacturing as well, and nearly two dozen Fortune 500 companies are headquartered here in Pennsylvania.
The large and diverse Pennsylvania economy is good news for individuals with an advanced education in business analytics, as such degrees can apply to virtually any industry since every organization can benefit from the sophisticated study that professionals with Master of Business Analytics degrees are uniquely suited to provide.
What types of jobs in Pennsylvania can be found in business analytics, how much do those jobs pay, and which colleges and universities offer the best educational opportunities for those interested in business analytics?
Business Analytics Salaries in Pennsylvania
There is no single job title that a person with a degree in business analytics might seek, though, to be sure, Business Analyst is certainly a good place to start. Some roles, such as Quantitative Modeler or Decision Engineer, are likely to be hands-on and involve working directly with numbers or writing code for algorithms. Others, such as Management Consultant or Research Executive, are more likely to be focused on leading teams or communicating with key stakeholders. But all business analytics jobs will be grounded in principles of business as well as data science.
Business analytics job titles you can find in Pennsylvania include:
- Financial Analyst
- Market Research Analyst
- Budget Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Management Consultant
- Insights Analyst
- Research Executive
- Quantitative Modeler
- Decision Engineer
- Operations Research Analyst
Which business analytics roles are the most lucrative here in Pennsylvania, and how do those salaries stack up with others across the country? To understand that and more, we’ll analyze data published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics covering a sampling of the potential business analytics job titles a graduate might be looking for.
Most salaries for the example business analytics jobs are about the same as the U.S. median wage figures for those jobs, making Pennsylvania a good example for the country.
Median annual wage, Pennsylvania vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Pennsylvania | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $70,610 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $82,010 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $81,560 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $62,250 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $82,080 | $83,390 |
Pennsylvania’s highest ranking among the states when it comes to median wages for the example business analytics roles is its No. 15 ranking for Financial Analyst jobs.
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 |
While the commonwealth as a whole isn’t necessarily a hotbed of super-high salaries for business analytics jobs, multiple metro areas in Pennsylvania are among the top 25 for Market Research Analyst salaries.
Median annual wage, Market Research Analyst, top 25 cities
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $94,100 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA | $81,210 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | $76,370 |
| Trenton, NJ | $75,820 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA | $75,010 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | $74,740 |
| Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO | $74,290 |
| Austin-Round Rock, TX | $73,640 |
| Longview, TX | $72,770 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $72,670 |
| Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX | $72,430 |
| Sumter, SC | $72,290 |
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT | $72,020 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $70,530 |
| Napa, CA | $70,410 |
| Merced, CA | $69,780 |
| Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD | $69,690 |
| Jonesboro, AR | $69,590 |
| Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH | $69,420 |
| New Bedford, MA | $69,320 |
Salaries for all five of the business analyst jobs we’ve looked at are higher in Philadelphia than in Pennsylvania as a whole, and while wages vary in other cities, Allentown boasts near-six-figure salaries for Operations Research Analyst jobs.
Median annual wage, Pennsylvania vs. select cities
| Job Title | Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Pittsburgh | Allentown |
| Budget Analyst | $70,610 | $74,620 | $61,480 | $71,480 |
| Financial Analyst | $82,010 | $84,590 | $82,430 | $86,620 |
| Management Analyst | $81,560 | $88,490 | $76,220 | $84,530 |
| Market Research Analyst | $62,250 | $69,690 | $61,830 | $57,330 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $82,080 | $87,080 | $75,310 | $91,740 |
Pennsylvania Business Analytics Degree Programs
Pennsylvania is home to some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the world, including what many experts consider to be the best business school in the U.S., the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Pennsylvania
With a healthy and growing economy, jobs for those with the skills and education in business analytics should remain plentiful in Pennsylvania for years to come, but here is a sampling of the organizations with posted openings for business analytics professionals in Pennsylvania in mid-2019:
- S. Department of Defense
- Deloitte
- Penn State University
- Unisys
- Police and Fire Federal Credit Union
- G. Wentworth Company
- GeoBlue
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
- Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.
- Penn Mutual Life Insurance
- Cigna
- Gap International
- Temple Health
- Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
- Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
- American Eagle Outfitters
- Guardian Life
- Crayola
- Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network
- Aramark
Conclusion
Any business that rejects the power of analytics will probably not be in business long. That means that earning a Master of Business Analytics degree could be the key that opens the door to a long and successful career for anybody with a passion for harnessing and analyzing data to inform business decisions.
SEE ALSO: Masters in Business Analytics Salary Outlook
References
Note: Information on recent job openings was gathered from Indeed.com and Glassdoor.com in late July 2019.
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 Pennsylvania. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PANGSP
U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Pennsylvania. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/PA