Industry
Business analyst salary by state: pay vs. local prices
Business analyst salary by state against local price levels: how pay bands and two-bedroom rents change which market leaves the most.
What to take away
- No federal wage table lists business analysts. Business analyst salary by state figures rest on the closest published proxy, management analysts, with a national median near $100,000 on the May 2024 estimate.
- Divide a state pay band by its regional price level and the gaps shrink. The adjusted bands overlap heavily between roughly $92,000 and $105,000. Only California's top end clears that cluster.
- Housing does the rest. Two-bedroom rent runs near a third of gross pay in San Jose and near a fifth in Columbus or Detroit.
- Once rent is subtracted, the cheaper states keep more of the paycheck than coastal California does. Seattle sits between the two.
- A state median is a midpoint across industries and experience levels. It is not an offer.
Where the published numbers come from
The Bureau of Labor Statistics files this work under management analysts, occupation 13-1111 in the Standard Occupational Classification. Its national median for the occupation sits near $100,000 a year, based on the May 2024 estimate printed on that page. State medians run from roughly $75,000 to about $135,000. Read both as reference points: employers use the title loosely, so match the code before you lean on a figure.
The finer table is the annual state wage estimates for management analysts, and it prints a median wage for every state and metropolitan area. Read your own state's row there rather than a national average. Both pages print a reference year, so match the wage year to the price year before you divide anything.
Entry pay anchors every rung above it. Settle the questions behind business internships salary before you weight a state median in your thinking.
Cost of living comes from the Bureau of Economic Analysis regional price parities, where 100 equals the national average. A state at 93 means goods and services cost about 7 percent less than average. Housing moves further than that headline index, so rent needs its own line.
Management analyst pay benchmarks
- $100,000national median pay
- $75,000low state median
- $135,000high state median
- 100national price level index
Pay against price level
The table pairs pay bands with price levels for six states chosen to bracket the expensive and cheap ends of the market. The pay column is a range built for comparison, not a published state median and not an offer. The same division works for any state you add.
| State | Illustrative median pay | Price level (US = 100) | Pay at national prices |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | $116,000 to $128,000 | 112 to 114 | $104,000 to $112,000 |
| Washington | $110,000 to $120,000 | 107 to 109 | $103,000 to $110,000 |
| Texas | $90,000 to $100,000 | 95 to 97 | $93,000 to $105,000 |
| Georgia | $86,000 to $96,000 | 92 to 94 | $91,000 to $104,000 |
| Michigan | $84,000 to $92,000 | 89 to 91 | $92,000 to $103,000 |
| Ohio | $82,000 to $90,000 | 89 to 91 | $90,000 to $101,000 |
Pay versus price by state
Texas
- Median pay
- $95k-$105k
- Price level
- About 96
- Housing
- Large metro, no coastal
California
- Median pay
- $110k-$125k
- Price level
- About 112
- Housing
- Housing eats premium
Washington
- Median pay
- $108k-$122k
- Price level
- About 108
- Housing
- Seattle does damage
Georgia
- Median pay
- $90k-$100k
- Price level
- About 92
- Housing
- Moderate prices
Five of the six overlap between $92,000 and $105,000 once adjusted. Geography explains part of a pay band, and the management careers salary takeaways cover what else moves it.
The published index gives one value per state rather than a range. The published price index put California at 110.7 in 2024, the highest in the country, ahead of Hawaii at 110.0 and New Jersey at 108.8, with the District of Columbia at 109.9. Drop that single value in for the range in the table when you want the exact divisor.
What housing does to the premium
| Metro | Typical two-bedroom rent | Share of gross pay |
|---|---|---|
| San Jose | $3,200 to $4,200 | 31 to 41 percent |
| Seattle | $2,500 to $3,100 | 26 to 32 percent |
| Austin | $1,800 to $2,300 | 23 to 29 percent |
| Atlanta | $1,700 to $2,200 | 22 to 29 percent |
| Dallas | $1,700 to $1,900 | 21 to 24 percent |
| Houston | $1,600 to $1,800 | 20 to 23 percent |
| Detroit | $1,300 to $1,600 | 18 to 22 percent |
| Columbus | $1,200 to $1,500 | 17 to 21 percent |
Those rents are typical asking ranges, not signed leases, and they shift with the submarket. Check current listings for the specific neighborhood before you commit.
Metro estimates sit well above and below their state medians. The state wage estimates for adjacent analyst roles show how far one tech hub can pull away from its state. Inside analyst pay itself, the project management salary guide tracks the same hubs named here.
Example: two offers run properly
Offer A pays $122,000 in California, where the price level is about 113. In national dollars that is roughly $108,000. Offer B pays $95,000 in Texas, where the price level is about 96. That converts to about $99,000. California leads by about 9 percent.
Rent closes the gap. A $3,500 two-bedroom in San Jose costs $42,000 a year. An $1,800 two-bedroom in Dallas costs $21,600. The $20,400 difference is more than twice the adjusted pay gap. On money left after housing, Texas wins.
Applying it to your own shortlist
- Pull the state estimate for management analysts and read the median, not the mean.
- Divide the offer by the state price level so two markets sit on one scale.
- Find a two-bedroom asking rent in the exact metro, not across the state.
- Subtract a year of rent from the adjusted figure.
- Count open postings for the title, since a thin market makes a high median hard to reach.
- Rerun everything with a partner's income, because two careers rarely move at one price level.
Midwest markets reward this method differently. The supply chain analyst pay comparison shows how a lower price level can beat a higher headline number in the same region.
The limit every index shares
Every index averages households it has never met. None knows your lease, your commute or your partner's job. Employers also pay against an internal band rather than a state column, so the state median is a starting point for negotiation and nothing more.
