Economists Career, Salary and Skills
Economists have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $124,720 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 17,790. Wage data is published for 102 locations.
Occupation description
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.
O*NET code
19-3011.00
Job zone
5
Typical education
Master's Degree
Experience
None
National salary and employment
Median annual
$124,720
Hourly median
$59.96
Employment
17,790
Data year
2025
National salary distribution
Top skills
| Skill | Importance | Level |
|---|---|---|
| Critical Thinking | 4.12 | 4.75 |
| Mathematics | 4.12 | 4.25 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.12 | 4.75 |
| Active Listening | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Writing | 4.00 | 4.38 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 4.00 | 4.12 |
| Speaking | 4.00 | 4.38 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.75 | 4.12 |
| Active Learning | 3.75 | 4.12 |
| Instructing | 3.25 | 3.12 |
Typical tasks
- Study economic and statistical data in area of specialization, such as finance, labor, or agriculture.
- Compile, analyze, and report data to explain economic phenomena and forecast market trends, applying mathematical models and statistical techniques.
- Study the socioeconomic impacts of new public policies, such as proposed legislation, taxes, services, and regulations.
- Explain economic impact of policies to the public.
- Review documents written by others.
- Provide advice and consultation on economic relationships to businesses, public and private agencies, and other employers.
- Formulate recommendations, policies, or plans to solve economic problems or to interpret markets.
- Supervise research projects and students' study projects.
Technology
- Formula translation/translator FORTRAN
- Global Insight AREMOS
- IBM Lotus 1-2-3
- IBM SPSS Statistics
- Insightful S-PLUS
- LaTeX
- MacKichan Software Scientific Notebook
- Maplesoft Maple
- Mathsoft Mathcad
- MediaWiki
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Microsoft Office software
Economists salary by location
Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.
- Economists Salary in Washington, DCMedian $156,750 · Employment 4,570
- Economists Salary in DCMedian $167,590 · Employment 3,000
- Economists Salary in MDMedian $144,680 · Employment 1,130
- Economists Salary in MAMedian $106,380 · Employment 1,030
- Economists Salary in VAMedian $137,590 · Employment 950
- Economists Salary in NYMedian $136,660 · Employment 910
- Economists Salary in CAMedian $119,410 · Employment 860
- Economists Salary in New York, NYMedian $176,090 · Employment 850
- Economists Salary in Boston, MAMedian $108,140 · Employment 820
- Economists Salary in PAMedian $115,000 · Employment 560
- Economists Salary in TXMedian $121,420 · Employment 560
- Economists Salary in FLMedian $102,430 · Employment 500
Related careers
- Operations Research AnalystsNational median $88,940
- Securities, Commodities, and Financial Services Sales AgentsNational median $78,660
- Social Science Research AssistantsNational median $61,990
- Political Science Teachers, PostsecondaryNational median $98,070
- Personal Financial AdvisorsNational median $105,070
- ActuariesNational median $130,000
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsNational median $78,760
- Climate Change Policy AnalystsNational median $82,220
Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.