Career comparison
Operations Research Analyst vs. Statistician
Side-by-side pay, training, growth and day-to-day duties to help you choose between two related careers.
Statisticians earn more at the median ($105,650 vs. $88,940), while operations research analysts usually get to work faster (Entry-level with a quantitative degree of training). Operations research analysts use math models to help organizations make better decisions. Statisticians design studies and analyze data to answer questions in health, business and science.
Pay data: BLS OEWS, May 2025 · Outlook: BLS 2025–35 · Checked October 15, 2026
| Operations Research Analyst | Statistician | |
|---|---|---|
| Median pay | $88,940 ($42.76/hr) | $105,650 ($50.79/hr) |
| Pay range (10th–90th) | $57,060 – $159,910 | $64,000 – $174,050 |
| Job growth, 2025–35 | +11.9% (much faster than average) | +11.0% (much faster than average) |
| Openings per year | 7,500 | 1,900 |
| Typical entry education | Bachelor's degree | Master's degree |
| Training time | Entry-level with a quantitative degree | 2 years after a bachelor’s |
| Key credential | CAP | PStat |
| Work setting | Analysts work in offices, often remotely.. | Statisticians work in offices for pharma, government, universities and companies; many work remotely.. |
What each job does
Operations Research Analyst
- Define business problems
- Gather data
- Build optimization models
- Run simulations
- Analyze results
Statistician
- Design studies
- Choose methods
- Analyze data
- Build models
- Check assumptions
How they’re similar
Both careers involve working with information, problem-solving, in-demand, and remote-friendly work. They sit in different fields, business & office and science, engineering & lab, but share transferable skills such as problem-solving and communication.
Which should you choose?
Choose operations research analyst if…
- I love math puzzles
- I like real-world problems
- I can code
Choose statistician if…
- I love data
- I’m skeptical of easy answers
- I can code
Still torn? Take the Operations Research Analyst fit quiz and the Statistician fit quiz, or the full Career Match Quiz.
Quick comparisons
Which pays more, operations research analyst or statistician?
Statisticians earn more at the median: $105,650 versus $88,940 for operations research analysts, based on BLS May 2025 data.
Which takes less time to train for?
Operations Research Analysts typically train faster (Entry-level with a quantitative degree) than statisticians (2 years after a bachelor’s).
Which career has better job growth?
BLS projects operations research analysts to grow +11.9% from 2025–35, compared with +11.0% for statisticians.