Intelligence Analyst Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Intelligence Analysts earn a median of $93,790 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 84% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $45.09/hr. The middle half earn between $69,330 and $120,520. The top 10% earn $160,540 or more.

The median hourly wage for intelligence analysts is $45.09 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $93,790 annual median works out to about $7,820 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of intelligence analysts earn less than $55,390 a year and the bottom quarter less than $69,330 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Some do. $100,000 sits between the median ($93,790) and the 75th percentile ($120,520), so roughly a quarter to a half of intelligence analysts earn more than that (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 16 states the median itself is above $100,000: District of Columbia ($160,760), Maryland ($126,730), California ($124,840), Delaware ($122,050), and 12 more.

The highest state medians for Intelligence Analysts are District of Columbia ($160,760), Maryland ($126,730), California ($124,840) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split intelligence analysts' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $160,540, against a median of $93,790 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are District of Columbia ($160,760), Maryland ($126,730), California ($124,840). BLS also counts 2 specialty careers inside this occupation (intelligence operations officer, open source intelligence analyst), which share its federal pay figures.

No. A bachelor's degree is not the norm: BLS reports a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for Intelligence Analysts. BLS also lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical on-the-job training. Employers typically expect less than 5 years of related work experience first. In O*NET's survey of people already doing the job, 65.2% hold bachelor's degree.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for intelligence analysts is a high school diploma or equivalent, plus less than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation. Once hired, BLS lists moderate-term on-the-job training as typical. O*NET classes the work as needing considerable preparation.

It is growing, but slowly: 0.2% over 2025–2035 against 3.5% for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 7,800 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.

Police officers protect lives and property. A core O*NET task: gather, analyze, correlate, or evaluate information from a variety of resources, such as law enforcement databases. Employers most often ask for Analytical or scientific software, Business intelligence and data analysis software, Cloud-based management software.

Yes, for most. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 26% of intelligence analysts usually work more than 40 hours a week, 74% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 87% say their schedule is regular and 13% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Intelligence Analysts highest on the Investigative, Conventional and Enterprising interest areas, so the work mixes investigating, analysing and solving problems with ideas and data with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are INTJ, ISTJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 31.6% of intelligence analysts, against 47.1% of all employed people: more men than in the workforce as a whole. Only 16.1% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs): a young workforce. The median worker is 41.7 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.