The following article discusses the career path of Pricing Analyst. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Pricing Analysts.
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Job Duties
Pricing analysts are responsible for studying pricing policies and trends in order to make sure that the right target price is set for their business. It is common for businesses to have pricing analysts as members of their full time staff, although some work independently as consultants.
The pricing analysts’ role is to make sure they determine the service or product’s best price point. They look at industry standards and prices set by the competition and identify the pricing strategies used by the competition. They create various graphs using data in order to show pricing trends over specific periods of time. This helps to understand whether there are times during the year in which prices can be higher or need to be lower. Doing so also helps companies determine when they should consider launching new concepts, products, or services.
Another important element of the pricing analysts’ role is to track consumer habits. Furthermore, they must gain an understanding what a product or service’s internal costs are. This includes the cost of development and manufacturing, and also the cost of packaging and shipping, and the cost of marketing. If a product or service becomes of higher quality, the pricing analyst may recommend a price increase as a result.
Other job duties of a pricing analyst include:
- Identifying and implementing improvement projects for pricing at a strategic level.
- Being proactive in communicating project objectives, metrics, barriers, status, and results to every element of the organization
- Working with various other teams to ensure understanding of every component of a project and its prices.
- Identifying issues and creating solutions that allow for effective price measurements.
Where We Work
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 595,400 market research analysts in 2016, a profession closely related to that of a pricing analyst. The largest employers of these professionals were:
- Management, scientific, and technical consulting services: 12%
- Finance and insurance: 10%
- Wholesale trade: 9%
- Management of companies and enterprises: 8%
- Publishing industries (except Internet): 3%
How to Become
Typically, pricing analysts will have a bachelor’s degree in a field related to business. This field is highly specialized, however, which means that few entry level positions exist. Rather, pricing analysts tend to work within an organization for many years, during which time they gain experience and take part in training that eventually enable them to grow to the position of pricing analyst.
Education Requirements
Pricing analysts will generally have a bachelor’s degree in business, market research, or related fields. This includes computer science, mathematics, statistics, social sciences, business administration, or communication. They must also take part in courses in marketing, research methods, and statistics, while social sciences, communications, consumer behavior, and economics courses are equally important.
In some organizations, a pricing analyst is expected to hold a master’s degree. This could be in marketing, statistics, or marketing research. The master of business administration (MBA) is also a popular degree for pricing analysts. These degrees ensure that they can conduct more technical research and can take on a position of leadership.
Pricing analysts are not legally required to be certified. However, various certifications exist that do show proficiency in the role and a commitment to excellence. An example is the Professional Research Certificate (PRC) offered by the Marketing Research Association. This is available for those with at least three years experience working in the field, who pass an examination, and who meet a variety of other criteria. Certification must be renewed every two years.
Traits & Qualities
The most effective pricing analysts have the following traits to some degree or other:
- Strong analytical skills
- Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
- Critical thinking skills
- Detail oriented
Minimum Education
Bachelor’s Degree
The national average salary estimate for Pricing Analyst was $63,937. This number is estimated from over 438,224 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $33.30 and monthly of $5,328.
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$14,000
$156,000
The following section lists Pricing Analyst salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, Nebraska had the largest quoted salary of $95,701 while South Carolina had the smallest quoted salary of $25,363.
According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Pricing Analyst. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.
| Employer Name | Location | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Selby Jennings Pricing Analyst | Oregon | $162,194 |
| JeanBlaque Solutions Inc Pricing Analyst | Iowa | $160,000 |
| CyberCoders Pricing Analyst | Illinois | $139,167 |
| Accounting Career Network Pricing Analyst | Connecticut | $114,034 |
Learn More
- Pricing Analyst: Career and Salary Facts – Learn.org
- Financial Analysts : Occupational Outlook Handbook: : U.S …
- Pricing Analyst – 447279000 | IllinoisJobLink.com
- 8 Best Entry Level Business & Analyst Jobs
- 5 Awesome Entry Level MBA Business Jobs
| Career Name | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Supply Chain Analyst | $66,387 |
| Compensation Analyst | $66,326 |
| Research Analyst | $65,125 |
| Operations Manager | $64,810 |
| Financial Advisor | $64,188 |
| Insurance Agent | $62,908 |
| Tax Analyst | $62,619 |
| Account Manager | $62,548 |
| Project Analyst | $62,133 |
| Logistics Manager | $62,099 |
