How To Become A Decision Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a decision analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Lan Jiang Ph.D.

Decision analysts are responsible for organizing and overseeing the development of requirements/resources necessary to meet objectives. They translate recommendation into communication materials to effectively present to all levels of management. They also incorporate visualization techniques to support the analysis's relevant points and ease the understanding for less technical audiences.

Decision analysts earn an average salary of $75,000 annually or $36 per hour. They apply quantitative analysis and interpretation of data using appropriate and established research and statistical methodologies and objectives. Part of their duties includes deriving meaningful conclusions and implications from data to report and present findings and recommendations to clients. They also oversee and control the quality of execution of studies by all parties.

Decision analysts typically hold a bachelor's or master's degree in business, statistics, economics, or other related fields from an accredited university in terms of academic qualifications. They are expected to have some years of proven work experience as a decision analyst or in a similar role. Some employers prefer candidates with solid writing, math, and interpersonal skills.

What general advice would you give to a Decision Analyst?

Lan Jiang Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Menlo College

Technically speaking, salary is a quantitative measure of your value. So, to maximize your salary potential, you ask the question how to increase my value in general, and specifically to a certain organization". It is important to have a growth mindset, you can keep learning for self improvement, and you should always go beyond the expectation to offer more to the organization.

ScoreDecision AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,900

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

4.6

Growth Rate 23%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.62%

Asian 13.66%

Black or African American 11.95%

Hispanic or Latino 12.86%

Unknown 5.92%

White 54.99%

Gender

female 46.67%

male 53.33%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress Level

4.6

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.9

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.8

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become a decision analyst

Explore decision analyst education requirements

Most common decision analyst degrees

Bachelor's

64.3 %

Master's

25.5 %

Associate

5.1 %

Start to develop specific decision analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	25.91%
SQL	18.11%
SAS	16.71%
PowerPoint	8.63%
Data Collection	7.70%

Complete relevant decision analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New decision analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a decision analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real decision analyst resumes.

Research decision analyst duties and responsibilities

Lead the project life cycle from business requirements through implementation to convert the PeopleSoft AP reporting platform to Cognos.
Lead an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system selection, including gathering requirements, vendor evaluation and business case development.
Manage vendors and supervise campus project initiatives to provide infrastructure upgrades.
Provide reporting to senior management; manage invoice payment, collections and reconciliations.

Apply for decision analyst jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a decision analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do decision analysts rate their job?

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Decision Analyst reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Cons

Too much detail oriented