Utah’s economy has been making a steadily upward journey over the past decade, and the state’s gross domestic product in 2018 rose to $178 billion. That represents the ninth consecutive GDP increase, and since the height of the Great Recession, the value of Utah’s economy has expanded by about 58%.
Sponsored School(s)
More than 80,000 employer establishments are in operation across the state, and about 1.6 million people are employed in a diverse array of sectors. Trade, transportation and utilities is Utah’s single biggest economic sector, accounting for more than 18.6% of all jobs in the state, followed by government (16%), and professional and business services (14.3%).
Four of the 1,000 largest U.S. corporations call Utah home, and startups across Utah drew an eye-popping $287 million in investments during the third quarter of 2019 alone, making Utah the No. 11 state for startup investment in the entire U.S.
A growing economy, a diverse workforce, a storied history and a possibly bright future? All are possibilities in Utah, which makes the state an attractive option for professionals with experience in business analytics.
What can these individuals expect to earn here in Utah, what does the state’s educational community offer for business analytics training, and what are some examples of employers who’ve been looking to hire business analytics experts?
Business Analytics Salaries in Utah
Before we can dig into data on business analytics wages and employment, it’s helpful first to explore the range of job possibilities in the field. Of course, detailing every single possible job role within business analytics would be a fool’s errand. Not only is the field already vast, but advances in technology and data science mean job opportunities are growing by the day. Suffice to say that regardless of your temperament and individual passions, it’s likely there are many business analytics roles that would suit you.
SEE ALSO: Masters in Business Analytics Salary Outlook
Here’s a look at some of the business analytics job titles that exist here in Utah:
- Market Research Analyst
- Data Scientist
- Management Consultant
- Financial Analyst
- Insights Analyst
- Business Intelligence Specialist
- Budget Analyst
- Research Executive
- Marketing Engagement Analyst
- Decision Engineer
- Quantitative Modeler
- Operations Research Analyst
What can business analytics professionals expect to earn in Utah? To answer that, we’ll study data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for five specific job titles that provide a representative sample of the types of jobs within business analytics. One note: All the jobs we’ve included are analyst roles, which are likely to involve at least some hands-on work with data, though they don’t all require programming experience. So we advise adjusting your expectations based on your education and personal experience.
All five of our sample business analytics jobs pay a bit less in Utah than in the U.S. as a whole, though in some cases, the differences are minor. Still, in the case of all five jobs, wages are much higher than the overall Utah median annual full-time wage, $36,795.
Median annual wage, Utah vs. U.S.
| Job Title | Utah | U.S. |
| Budget Analyst | $74,610 | $76,220 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,060 | $85,660 |
| Management Analyst | $72,320 | $83,610 |
| Market Research Analyst | $50,000 | $63,120 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $69,210 | $83,390 |
While Utah tends to lag behind the overall U.S. median, the state still compares quite well with others across the country for many business analytics jobs. For instance, Utah’s median annual wage for Budget Analysts is No. 16 in the country, and No. 15 if you exclude the District of Columbia, which skews the data.
Median annual wage, Budget Analyst, top 20
| 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 |
| Hawaii | $79,610 |
| Michigan | $78,750 |
| Alaska | $77,130 |
| Minnesota | $76,400 |
| New York | $75,260 |
| Utah | $74,610 |
| New Hampshire | $74,410 |
| Oregon | $74,060 |
| New Mexico | $73,700 |
| Texas | $73,170 |
Business analytics wages should continue to climb in Utah as the state sees demand for qualified business analytics professionals rise. All five jobs are expected to see positive growth over the next several years, and Utah has some of the best growth rates in the country. In fact, the state has the nation’s highest short-term growth rate for Management Analysts, with these roles expanding by nearly 10% for the four-year period ending in 2020.
Management Analyst short-term job opening growth rate, top 10
| Utah | 9.4% |
| Washington | 7.4% |
| Arizona | 6.6% |
| North Carolina | 6.3% |
| Florida | 5.9% |
| Arkansas | 5.8% |
| Georgia | 5.5% |
| Nebraska | 5.5% |
| Massachusetts | 4.9% |
| Texas | 4.7% |
All five business analytics roles we studied should become more prevalent in Utah over the next several years, and some of the growth rates will be incredibly high in Utah.
Utah job opening growth rate, short- and long-term
| Job Title | Short-term | Long-term |
| Budget Analyst | 3.0% | 22.4% |
| Financial Analyst | 5.9% | 27.3% |
| Management Analyst | 9.4% | 57.4% |
| Market Research Analyst | 10.6% | 59.6% |
| Operations Research Analyst | 9.6% | 60.3% |
Note: Short-term 2016-2020; long-term 2016-2026
As one would expect, cities tend to offer higher wages than the state as a whole, and salaries range considerably depending on the community in question. Still, for all five business analytics jobs we studied, at least one city or metro area offers higher-than-state-median wages.
Median annual wage, Utah vs. select cities
| Job Title | Utah | Ogden | Provo | Salt Lake City |
| Budget Analyst | $74,610 | $79,600 | $65,890 | $75,320 |
| Financial Analyst | $72,060 | $75,210 | $77,360 | $70,250 |
| Management Analyst | $72,320 | $78,250 | $58,340 | $75,130 |
| Market Research Analyst | $50,000 | $48,660 | $43,780 | $53,340 |
| Operations Research Analyst | $69,210 | $87,010 | $75,230 | $64,410 |
Utah Business Analytics Degree Programs
Educational leaders are increasingly seeing the value of investment in business analytics programs as part of a challenging, future-proof business education, and many of them are working right here in Utah.
SEE ALSO: 10 Reasons to Choose a Business Analytics Degree
Here’s a look at some of the colleges and universities in Utah that offer degrees applicable to careers in business analytics:
SEE ALSO: List of Utah Masters in Business Analytics Degrees
Business Analytics Degree Jobs in Utah
In addition to exploring federal data on business analytics employment, we also combed through thousands of job openings across the state to get an idea of the job titles and employers job-seekers are likely to find.
Here is a look at some select employers who were advertising for business analytics professionals in December 2019:
- eBay
- Avalon Health Care Group
- Brio Energy
- Slingshot
- Goldman Sachs
- SoFi
- American Express
- State of Utah
- Thermo Fisher Scientific
- University of Utah
- Discover
- Lambda
- Northrop Grumman
- Traeger Wood Pellet Grills
- Adobe
- Peek
- Federal Reserve Bank
- S. Air Force
- S. Treasury Department
- Tesla
- Oracle
- Purple
- com
Conclusion
Earning an advanced degree in business analytics, such as a Master of Business Analytics, could be the ideal next step in a long and fruitful career that will carry well into the future. Because every organization that uses any numbers to help guide decision-making will need experts to help crunch those numbers, business analytics professionals should remain in high demand.
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, Utah. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ut.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 Utah. (2019). Retrieved from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UTNGSP
- U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Utah. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/UT/PST045218