What is a staff analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted Expert
Erik Johnson Ph.D.
introduction image

Staff analysts are tasked with ensuring company compliance with federal and state laws as well as spending time looking at all aspects of an organization. They study the organization's day-to-day operations and look for ways to make the employees' jobs easier. They may also be placed in charge of managing other staff analysts, including training and evaluation.

Staff analysts earn a median sum of $95,000 annually or $45 per hour. Staff analysts, also known as management analysts, address their department's administrative duties and oversee incoming and outgoing employees. They develop, coordinate, and assess meeting and briefing structures. They also reduce wasteful costs and improve productivity.

Depending on the employer, staff analysts can be charged with gathering data from reports, interviews, and research or using an existing one to look for areas of the budget to reduce or eliminate. In order to become a staff analyst, it will be best to hold at least a bachelor's degree in business, economics, management, or other relevant fields. Some states require them to pass a written examination to gain certification, which is earned through industry associations. Some employers prefer candidates to have an eye for details and the ability to solve problems creatively.

What general advice would you give to a Staff Analyst?

E

Erik Johnson Ph.D.Erik Johnson Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

Assistant Professor of Economics, Carthage College

Economics gives you a set of tools to analyze a variety of policy and business problems. However, determining which tools to apply in which situation requires that you learn the industry, you are working from top to bottom. When you begin a new job in a new field, be sure to do everything you can to understand how the organization and the industry work to understand the primary incentives that everyone faces. One right way to do this is to make as many connections within the company you are working for as possible, and always be on the lookout for new opportunities within the company and how they can help you learn more. Moreover, do your best to ensure that a significant portion of your job involves some creative endeavors, such as economic modeling or building tools for yourself or others to use. As computing power continues to become cheaper, and artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, relatively repetitive tasks become more comfortable and easier to automate. Therefore, you will have less job security. Creative tasks, such as modeling and tool building, are difficult to automate and are more likely to provide you with more satisfaction.
ScoreStaff AnalystUS Average
Salary
7.6

Avg. Salary $99,158

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level
6.8

Growth Rate 11%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.0
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 12.06%

Black or African American 8.01%

Hispanic or Latino 8.86%

Unknown 4.49%

White 66.41%

Gender

female 52.41%

male 47.59%

Age - 43
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 - 43
Stress Level
6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level
8.7

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance
2.2

Work Life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Staff Analyst career paths

Key steps to become a staff analyst

  1. Explore staff analyst education requirements

    Most common staff analyst degrees

    Bachelor's

    67.5 %

    Master's

    15.4 %

    Associate

    12.0 %
  2. Start to develop specific staff analyst skills

    Skills
    ascdesc
    Percentages
    ascdesc
    Project Management8.79%
    Process Improvement6.57%
    Technical Support6.21%
    Windows5.66%
    SQL5.65%
  3. Complete relevant staff analyst training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New staff 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 staff analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real staff analyst resumes.
  4. Research staff analyst duties and responsibilities

    • Develop infrastructure to enable clients to better understand and manage risks associate with their decision environment to capture opportunities.
    • Communicate with design engineers to obtain weekly status of engineering documents and update spreadsheet and charts in SharePoint.
    • Project manager for derivative processing on the accounting platform including creating a steam line process and validating tickets for accuracy.
    • Provide statistically orient in-depth market analyses using SAS for specific construction products including concrete, oil, steel and machinery equipment.
  5. Prepare your staff analyst resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your staff analyst resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a staff analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose From 10+ Customizable Staff Analyst Resume templates

    Build a professional Staff Analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Staff Analyst resume.
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  6. Apply for staff analyst jobs

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

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

How Did You Land Your First Staff Analyst Job

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Average staff analyst salary

The average Staff Analyst salary in the United States is $99,158 per year or $48 per hour. Staff analyst salaries range between $71,000 and $136,000 per year.

Average Staff Analyst Salary
$99,158 Yearly
$47.67 hourly

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How do staff analysts rate their job?

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Staff Analyst reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2021
Pros

Flexibility of schedule and type of work in Organizational Development. Telecommute options are also superb.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019
Pros

Generating data and consulting. Using Microsoft excel and Google sheets.

Cons

Sitting for long periods of time.


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A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2019
Pros

Everyday is different & it’s more of an art than a science.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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