Statisticians
US occupation · SOC 15-2041
Job titles people report: Database Analyst, Demographer, Education Research Analyst, Mathematical Statistician, Psychometric Consultant, Quantitative Methodologist, Statistical Analyst, Statistical Consultant, Statistical Reporting Analyst, Statistician
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $105,650
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $82,220 – $141,490
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 29,030
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- +11%
- Growing at twice the all-jobs rate or more (7%+)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 1,900
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- Master's degree
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Develop or apply mathematical or statistical theory and methods to collect, organize, interpret, and summarize numerical data to provide usable information. May specialize in fields such as biostatistics, agricultural statistics, business statistics, or economic statistics. Includes mathematical and survey statisticians.
Main tasks
- Analyze and interpret statistical data to identify significant differences in relationships among sources of information.
- Evaluate the statistical methods and procedures used to obtain data to ensure validity, applicability, efficiency, and accuracy.
- Report results of statistical analyses, including information in the form of graphs, charts, and tables.
- Determine whether statistical methods are appropriate, based on user needs or research questions of interest.
- Prepare data for processing by organizing information, checking for inaccuracies, and adjusting and weighting the raw data.
- Develop and test experimental designs, sampling techniques, and analytical methods.
- Identify relationships and trends in data, as well as any factors that could affect the results of research.
- Present statistical and nonstatistical results, using charts, bullets, and graphs, in meetings or conferences to audiences such as clients, peers, and students.
More specific O*NET® occupations under this one: Biostatisticians.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- Master's degree
- O*NET Job Zone 5
- Extensive preparation
- Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 26 programmes to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Business
- Business Statistics
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.
Where many students take business
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 35% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 28% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 26% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 22% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 25% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- University of the PeoplePasadena, CA · 53% of degrees · 22,688 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Biology & Life Sciences
- Biometry/Biometrics
- Biostatistics
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Biology & Life Sciences at the Major step.
Where many students take biology & life sciences
- University of California-San DiegoLa Jolla, CA · 20% of degrees · 34,948 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 10% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- Texas A&M University-College StationCollege Station, TX · 10% of degrees · 59,615 undergraduates
- University of California-DavisDavis, CA · 18% of degrees · 32,253 undergraduates
- University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA · 17% of degrees · 33,475 undergraduates
- Michigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI · 13% of degrees · 40,922 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Psychology
- Psychometrics and Quantitative Psychology
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Psychology at the Major step.
Where many students take psychology
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 12% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Digital ImmersionScottsdale, AZ · 11% of degrees · 53,782 undergraduates
- University of Central FloridaOrlando, FL · 10% of degrees · 59,146 undergraduates
- Florida International UniversityMiami, FL · 15% of degrees · 39,508 undergraduates
- Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · 12% of degrees · 50,012 undergraduates
- California State University-FullertonFullerton, CA · 11% of degrees · 38,546 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Social Sciences
- Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods
- Survey Research/Methodology
- Econometrics and Quantitative Economics
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Social Sciences at the Major step.
Where many students take social sciences
- University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA · 25% of degrees · 33,475 undergraduates
- University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA · 27% of degrees · 23,113 undergraduates
- University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · 17% of degrees · 33,068 undergraduates
- University of California-IrvineIrvine, CA · 15% of degrees · 30,197 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Digital ImmersionScottsdale, AZ · 8% of degrees · 53,782 undergraduates
- University of California-DavisDavis, CA · 13% of degrees · 32,253 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Education
- Educational Statistics and Research Methods
- Educational Assessment, Testing, and Measurement
- Institutional Research
- Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research, Other
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Education at the Major step.
Where many students take education
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 19% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 11% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- Liberty UniversityLynchburg, VA · 8% of degrees · 50,012 undergraduates
- Illinois State UniversityNormal, IL · 18% of degrees · 19,057 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 5% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- University of Nevada-Las VegasLas Vegas, NV · 11% of degrees · 24,622 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Mathematics & Statistics
- Mathematics, General
- Applied Mathematics, General
- Computational and Applied Mathematics
- Statistics, General
- Mathematical Statistics and Probability
- Mathematics and Statistics
- Statistics, Other
- Applied Statistics, General
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Mathematics & Statistics at the Major step.
Where many students take mathematics & statistics
- University of California-Los AngelesLos Angeles, CA · 7% of degrees · 33,475 undergraduates
- University of California-Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara, CA · 10% of degrees · 23,113 undergraduates
- University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignChampaign, IL · 5% of degrees · 36,258 undergraduates
- The University of Texas at AustinAustin, TX · 4% of degrees · 42,855 undergraduates
- University of California-BerkeleyBerkeley, CA · 4% of degrees · 33,068 undergraduates
- University of California-DavisDavis, CA · 4% of degrees · 32,253 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Other fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
- Mathematical Economics
- Data Science, General
- Data Science, Other
- Data Analytics, General
- Business Analytics
- Data Analytics, Other
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Data Scientists
$120,230 median · +34.6% projected
- Mathematicians
$126,710 median · +0.6% projected
- Survey Researchers
$69,460 median · -4.8% projected
- Operations Research Analysts
$88,940 median · +11.9% projected
- Computer and Information Research Scientists
$140,300 median · +21.8% projected
- Statistical Assistants
$50,330 median · -1.8% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk