Economist Salaries

The Survey of the Labor Market for New Ph.D. Hires in Economics 2011-2012, published by the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research, found that 191 of the responding educational institutions hired 132 new PhD graduates for the 2010-2011 academic year, starting them with an average salary of $87,596.

Specialized foci among new hires were distributed as follows:

• 16.1 percent in macro/monetary economics
• 11.3 percent in microeconomics
• 11.3 percent in general economics
• 10.5 percent in math and quantitative methods
• 9.7 percent in international economics
• 8.9 percent in labor and demographic economics

The survey also reported the following mean salaries among economics professors for the 2010-2011 academic year:

• Senior Assistant Professor – $102,177
• Associate Professor –  $127,096
• Full Professor –  $191,778

The mean annual salary for economists was $100,270, as of May 2011, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The top paying industries were:

• Depository Credit Intermediation, at an average of $141,190
• Monetary Authorities-Central Bank, at an average of $135,120
• Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing, at an average of $120,790

The industries that employ the most economists and the respective average salary for each are as follows:

• The Federal Executive Branch, at an average of $109,380
• Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services, at an average of $119,180
• State Government, at an average of $62,030
• Local Government, at an average of $74,770
• Scientific Research and Development Services, at an average of $105,460

The National Association for Business Economics (NABE) 2010 salary survey showed the median base salary among NABE members to be $120,000, and a median base salary of $58,000 among entry-level survey respondents. The highest base salary was in the manufacturing sector, where the median was $152,500, followed by the securities and investment sector, where the median salary was $150,000. The lowest base salaries were found among economists in non-profit research, where the median was $93,000.

By function, the survey found that the highest median base salary was for general administrative/economics positions ($155,500), followed by macroeconomic forecasting ($150,000).

The median base salary among NABE members with a master’s degree was $100,380, compared to $91,000 for the bachelor’s degree sampling, and $150,000 among PhD holders. The survey also found that the median salary for graduates of “top-ranked” economics programs was 46 percent more than what graduates of other programs earned.

Budget Analyst Salaries

Economist Salaries

Financial Examiner Salaries

The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics made the earnings information contained within these tables available in May 2011.

* Earnings are equal to or more than $90.00 per hour or $187,199 per year.

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