Statisticians
Also called Database Analyst, Mathematical Statistician, Statistical Analyst, or Statistician
Updated · Source: O*NET 31.0
What Statisticians do
You turn messy piles of numbers into clear answers people can actually use, then explain what the numbers do and do not prove.
Statisticians design ways to collect data and then figure out what it means. You might plan a survey, set up an experiment, clean up raw numbers that arrived full of errors, and test whether a pattern is real or just chance. The work shows up everywhere: medicine, farming, business, economics, engineering. Many statisticians specialize in one of those fields.
A big part of the job is math and computer work, and just as much of it is explaining results to other people. You read research questions carefully, choose a method that fits, then share what you found in charts, tables and plain language with people who are not statisticians. If you cannot explain it, the analysis does not help anyone.
A day in the life
You spend most of the day indoors at a desk, sitting in front of a screen. Morning might be quiet work: checking a dataset for mistakes, adjusting it, running an analysis, and asking yourself whether the method actually fits the question. Email comes in steadily with requests and questions from colleagues. Then you meet face to face with the team or a client, sometimes to present findings with graphs and charts, sometimes just to understand what they really need before you start. You go back and forth between deep concentration alone and talking things through with other people. Some days end with writing up results so someone else can follow your reasoning step by step.
This could fit you if you…
- ✓Enjoy math and want to use it on real questions
- ✓Like finding patterns and figuring out why something happened
- ✓Can explain a complicated idea simply to someone outside your field
- ✓Care about getting details accurate rather than just close enough
- ✓Feel comfortable switching between solo focus and team meetings
You might not like it if you…
- –Want a job that keeps you moving instead of sitting indoors most of the day
- –Would rather not spend years in school, since most people enter with a master's degree
- –Dislike slow, careful work like cleaning and checking data before the interesting part
- –Get frustrated when the honest answer is that the evidence is unclear
How people get in
- 1Take as much math as you can in high school, and get comfortable with computers, since both are core knowledge in this job.
- 2Earn a bachelor's degree in a field like statistics, mathematics, data science, business analytics, or economics with a strong statistics focus.
- 3Learn at least one program used for working with data (software such as R or Python that lets you run calculations on large sets of numbers) through coursework or your own projects, and practice explaining your results in writing.
- 4Look for a research assistant role, internship, or campus project where you handle real, messy data.
- 5Plan for a master's degree, which is the typical entry-level education for this work.
- 6Pick a field you find interesting, such as health, business, or agriculture, and build knowledge in it alongside your statistics training.
Who tends to enjoy it
Curious
People who like figuring things out, research, science, and solving problems.
Organizing
People who like keeping things accurate, orderly, and running on schedule.
Hands-on
People who like building, fixing, working with tools, machines, plants, or animals.
Official task list
Statisticians 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. (O*NET)
- 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.
A typical day involves
Skills that matter most
- Mathematics
- Reading Comprehension
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Complex Problem Solving
What you'll need to know
- Mathematics
- Computers and Electronics
- English Language
- Education and Training
- Administration and Management
How much Statisticians make
The median pay for Statisticians in the U.S. is $105,650 a year ($50.79 an hour). Most earn between $64,000 and $174,050. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025)
Pay depends a lot on where you live: the median is highest in District of Columbia ($140,670) and lowest in Puerto Rico ($49,730).
Pay by state and territory
| State | Median pay | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $76,400 | 200 |
| Arizona | $79,640 | 440 |
| Arkansas | $105,720 | 570 |
| California | $135,960 | 2,480 |
| Colorado | $109,660 | 780 |
| Connecticut | $102,860 | 490 |
| Delaware | $109,570 | 70 |
| District of Columbia | $140,670 | 550 |
| Florida | $108,040 | 550 |
| Georgia | $115,150 | 460 |
| Hawaii | $76,780 | 90 |
| Illinois | $119,760 | 480 |
| Indiana | $109,300 | 230 |
| Iowa | $80,150 | 250 |
| Kansas | $111,780 | 80 |
| Kentucky | $112,520 | 80 |
| Louisiana | $76,400 | 70 |
| Maine | $85,680 | 80 |
| Maryland | $132,620 | 2,730 |
| Massachusetts | $96,710 | 2,480 |
| Michigan | $102,710 | 570 |
| Mississippi | $64,670 | 80 |
| Missouri | $66,330 | 680 |
| Nebraska | $83,480 | 140 |
| Nevada | $79,750 | 50 |
| New Hampshire | $96,080 | 70 |
| New Jersey | $118,280 | 880 |
| New Mexico | $84,330 | 230 |
| New York | $136,020 | 1,220 |
| North Carolina | $115,690 | 1,200 |
| North Dakota | $75,890 | 40 |
| Ohio | $98,190 | 580 |
| Oklahoma | $89,540 | 50 |
| Oregon | $93,620 | 600 |
| Pennsylvania | $93,830 | 1,630 |
| Puerto Rico | $49,730 | 230 |
| Rhode Island | $102,620 | 40 |
| South Carolina | $65,450 | 240 |
| Tennessee | $98,230 | 530 |
| Texas | $102,960 | 1,390 |
| Utah | $88,610 | 300 |
| Vermont | $82,210 | — |
| Virginia | $114,920 | 720 |
| Washington | $105,650 | 2,960 |
| West Virginia | $84,660 | 90 |
| Wisconsin | $107,150 | 250 |
Where to study for this
College programs that commonly lead to this career, and how many US colleges offer each.
- Mathematics 1,482 colleges
- Econometrics and Quantitative Economics 314 colleges
- Business Analytics 212 colleges
- Statistics 226 colleges
- Data Science 320 colleges
- Business Statistics 131 colleges
- Applied Mathematics 275 colleges
- Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods 70 colleges
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Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA), occupation 15-2041.00, used under CC BY 4.0 and modified by Whittle. Pay: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025), SOC 15-2041. Outlook and entry education: BLS Employment Projections 2025–35. Program links: NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. How we build these pages.