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Economics & Policy Analyst
Think-tank, Fed, consulting. The default econ major path.
Entry earning
$60k
Research Assistant
Senior tier earning
$220k
Director / Partner
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
Words with a dotted underline are industry terms. Hover or tap for a plain-English definition.
What the job actually looks like
Economists at the Federal Reserve, Treasury, or economic consulting firms use data and models to answer policy questions: 'Will this tax change help the economy? Did this merger hurt consumers?' Day-to-day is statistics and writing memos.
Paths inside the field
Pick a branch to retrace the arc
Click any specialization. The timeline and salary curve above update to match.
The full arc
How this career unfolds
Research Assistant
Economist / Senior Analyst
Senior Economist
Director / Partner
Surprising fact
Econ placed at economic-consulting firms routinely start at $200,000+, higher than finance PhDs on Wall Street.
Two ways in
Education paths & payback
Standard route
Public econ BA + RA job to
Total cost
$50k
Length
4 yrs
How we calculate it: total education cost ÷ (15% of first-year pay put toward paying it back).
Standard route
Private + funded econ
Total cost
$240k
Length
9 yrs
How we calculate it: total education cost ÷ (15% of first-year pay put toward paying it back).
The real cost will be different for you
The numbers above are medians from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The price you actually pay depends on financial aid, scholarships, family help, state residency, and which schools accept you. A "$250k" private university is often $60k to $120k after aid. A "cheap" community college can still be out of reach without a plan. Use these as a starting point, then get real quotes from the specific schools you're considering.
Location matters
How pay changes by metro
Pay differs by about 20-35% across the country. Cost of living often cancels most of it.
| Metro | Pay at Senior Economist |
|---|---|
San Francisco Bay Area, CA | $189k |
New York City, NY | $182k |
Seattle, WA | $171k |
Boston, MA | $165k |
Washington, DC | $164k |
Los Angeles, CA | $161k |
Denver, CO | $148k |
Chicago, IL | $146k |
Austin, TX | $144k |
Atlanta, GA | $137k |
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX | $136k |
Phoenix, AZ | $132k |
Nashville, TN | $129k |
Indianapolis, IN | $123k |
Rural / small metro | $109k |
How to read this: Pay is US median for Senior Economist scaled by BLS metro wage data. Cost of living index is C2ER (US avg = 100). A means that metro isn't just paid better. It's essentially required to work at the top of this field.
Start now
What you can do in high school
Classes & electives
- Economics
- Statistics
- Public Speaking
- Marketing or Business
Things to try outside class
- Run a small side hustle (reselling, tutoring, lawn care, etc.)
- Join DECA, FBLA, or student government
- Do mock interviews. Sales and business is about conversation
- Get a customer-facing summer job (retail, server, front desk)
Read, listen, watch
The cheapest way to find out whether you actually like a field is to read what people in it read.
- 'Shoe Dog' by Phil Knight (how Nike actually got built)
- 'The Hard Thing About Hard Things' by Ben Horowitz
- 'Acquired' podcast (long-form company histories: Nvidia, LVMH, Costco)
- Stratechery by Ben Thompson (strategy analysis, free weekly articles)
None of this is required. It's just the lowest-friction way to find out if you actually like this kind of work before you commit money or time.
Salary and progression source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook (bls.gov/ooh). Figures are medians or typical ranges in today's dollars; real outcomes vary by employer, city, and specialty.