Financial Analyst Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 6,643 US job postings by 3,214 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for financial analysts: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 6,643 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for financial analysts in US job postings is $104,000 a year (1,847 postings from 999 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $83,000 to $131,000.
- The skills that most set financial analyst postings apart are Excel, financial modeling, financial analysis.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Financial Analyst job postings in the US, October 2026
- $104,000
- Median advertised pay (1,847 postings)
- $83,000–$131,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 6,643
- US job postings from 3,214 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a financial analyst make?
The median advertised pay is $104,000 a year, from 1,847 US job postings by 999 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $177,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 1,847 US financial analyst job postings: median $104,000 a year, middle half $83,000 to $131,000.
- Median: $104,000
- 25th percentile: $83,000
- 75th percentile: $131,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 0.7% |
| $40K–$50K | 4.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 3.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 4.3% |
| $70K–$80K | 8.1% |
| $80K–$90K | 11.6% |
| $90K–$100K | 10.5% |
| $100K–$110K | 13.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 9.5% |
| $120K–$130K | 7.7% |
| $130K–$140K | 5.3% |
| $140K–$150K | 4.7% |
| $150K–$160K | 2.4% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.8% |
| $170K–$180K | 2.0% |
| $180K–$190K | 2.7% |
| $190K–$200K | 1.3% |
| $200K–$210K | 1.8% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.6% |
| $220K–$230K | 0.6% |
| $230K–$240K | 1.2% |
| $240K–$250K | 0.2% |
| $250K–$260K | 0.3% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $28.00 | $22.00–$47.51 | 259 | Finance Intern, Financial Analyst, Finance Internship |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $107,000 | $89K–$133K | 1,535 | Financial Analyst, Senior Financial Analyst, Sr. Financial Analyst |
| All pay postings, annualised | $104,000 | $83K–$131K | 1,847 | – |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Financial and Investment Analysts (13-2051) at $103,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a financial analyst?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Financial analyst levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked. Senior financial analysts have a median advertised pay of $108,000 a year.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 65.6% | 3 years | $100,000 |
| Senior | 25.6% | 4 years | $108,000 |
Highest-paying financial analyst jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Analyst (general) | $98,000 | 805 | 436 |
Financial analyst pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $126,000 | $102,000–$180,000 | 249 | 13.8% |
| New York | $116,000 | $88,000–$164,000 | 169 | 9.0% |
Skills employers ask for in financial analyst job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Excel | 55% |
| Communication | 47% |
| Analytical skills | 41% |
| Attention to detail | 27% |
| Problem-solving | 25% |
| Financial modeling | 19% |
| Powerpoint | 18% |
| Financial analysis | 18% |
| Organizational skills | 17% |
| Forecasting | 16% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set financial analysts apart
- Excel5.4× as often as in all postings · 55%
- Financial modeling93.2× as often as in all postings · 19%
- Financial analysis60.4× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Analytical skills5.6× as often as in all postings · 41%
- Forecasting33.3× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Budgeting26.2× as often as in all postings · 14%
- Fp&a141.9× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Variance analysis95.1× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Power BI19.2× as often as in all postings · 13%
- SAP11.3× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Powerpoint4.7× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Accounting21.4× as often as in all postings · 8%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a financial analyst job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a financial analyst do?
Employers post these jobs as Senior Financial Analyst, Sr. Financial Analyst, Finance Intern, Budget Analyst, Treasury Analyst and other titles. The largest specializations are Finance Intern (9%), Financial Planning & Analysis Manager (5%), FP&A Manager (5%), Budget Analyst (6%), FP&A Analyst (5%), Finance Analyst (5%).
How much experience do you need to be a financial analyst?
Among 3,469 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. 2% say 0 years and 11% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 3,469 US financial analyst job postings: median 3 years, and 11% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | 2% |
| 1 yr | 9% |
| 2 yrs | 20% |
| 3-4 yrs | 34% |
| 5-7 yrs | 27% |
| 8-9 yrs | 4% |
| 10+ yrs | 5% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 97%, Part-time 3% of the 628 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a financial analyst: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Financial Analyst | 836 (26.0%) |
| Senior Financial Analyst | 484 (15.1%) |
| Sr. Financial Analyst | 162 (5.0%) |
| Finance Intern | 159 (5.0%) |
| Budget Analyst | 157 (4.9%) |
| Treasury Analyst | 93 (2.9%) |
| FP&A Manager | 90 (2.8%) |
| Financial Analyst II | 83 (2.6%) |
| FP&A Analyst | 71 (2.2%) |
| Sr Financial Analyst | 51 (1.6%) |
| Senior FP&A Analyst | 46 (1.4%) |
| Financial Analyst III | 42 (1.3%) |
| Financial Planning & Analysis Manager | 40 (1.2%) |
| Senior Finance Analyst | 39 (1.2%) |
| Finance Analyst | 36 (1.1%) |
| Financial Analyst I | 35 (1.1%) |
| Senior Treasury Analyst | 32 (1.0%) |
| Finance Internship | 31 (1.0%) |
| Director, Financial Planning & Analysis | 31 (1.0%) |
| Strategic Finance Manager | 27 (0.8%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Financial analyst job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget Analyst | 251 | 157 | – | – | Excel, communication, analytical skills |
| Treasury Analyst | 106 | 93 | – | – | – |
Financial Analyst compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Financial Analyst | $104K | 3 years | 6,643 | – |
| Finance Manager | $153K | 5 years | 3,165 | 17 |
| Investment Banker | $186K | 3 years | 815 | 14 |
| Investment Analyst | $140K | 3 years | 782 | 14 |
| Accountant | $100K | 3 years | 24,685 | 14 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Finance Manager | 17 | $153K |
| Investment Banker | 14 | $186K |
| Investment Analyst | 14 | $140K |
| Accountant | 14 | $100K |
| Strategy Manager | 15 | $150K |
| Credit Analyst | 13 | $104K |
Applying for financial analyst jobs?
- Financial analyst resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find financial analyst jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a financial analyst make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.