Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
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Economists
Economists conduct research, prepare reports, or formulate plans to address economic problems related to the production and distribution of goods and services or monetary and fiscal policy. May collect and process economic and statistical data using sampling techniques and econometric methods.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Economists with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $59,220 to $79,860 per year or $28 to $38 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Economists to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
| Level | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Highest (Top 10%) | $95 | $198,230 |
| Senior (Top 25%) | $73 | $151,210 |
| Middle (Mid 50%) | $52 | $108,350 |
| Junior (Bottom 25%) | $38 | $79,860 |
| No experience (Bottom 10%) | $28 | $59,220 |
Highest paying states
| State | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| NY | $72 | $150,160 |
| DC | $69 | $144,110 |
| CA | $63 | $131,500 |
| MD | $61 | $126,960 |
| VT | $57 | $118,230 |
| AL | $57 | $117,740 |
| IL | $55 | $115,280 |
| MA | $54 | $111,550 |
| LA | $53 | $109,410 |
| WA | $52 | $108,830 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as an Economist is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like NY doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at NY might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid Economists are in the states of NY, DC, CA, MD and VT.
Highest paying industries
| Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Legal Services | $216960 | $104.31 |
| Monetary Authorities-Central Bank | $156770 | $75.37 |
| Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | $143270 | $68.88 |
| Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services | $136140 | $65.45 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | $132510 | $63.71 |
| Agencies, Brokerages, and Other Insurance Related Activities | $131890 | $63.41 |
| Federal Executive Branch | $128640 | $61.85 |
| Computer Systems Design and Related Services | $123580 | $59.41 |
| Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations | $120450 | $57.91 |
| Social Advocacy Organizations | $118780 | $57.11 |
| Grantmaking and Giving Services | $114970 | $55.28 |
| Insurance Carriers | $113710 | $54.67 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $113000 | $54.33 |
| Postal Service (Federal Government) | $112880 | $54.27 |
| Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution | $110940 | $53.34 |
| Natural Gas Distribution | $110090 | $52.93 |
| Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services | $106410 | $51.16 |
| Office Administrative Services | $95600 | $45.96 |
| Employment Services | $92320 | $44.39 |
| Local Government | $87150 | $41.90 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | $85320 | $41.02 |
| State Government | $75560 | $36.33 |
| Land Subdivision | $63710 | $30.63 |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $ | $* |
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