Best Operations Research Analyst programs in Illinois, ranked by enrollment
Formulate and apply mathematical modeling and other optimizing methods to develop and interpret information that assists management with decisionmaking, policy formulation, or other managerial functions.
22 schools in Illinois run programs that feed this job, graduating 4,154 people a year. The job pays a median of $89,800 in Illinois across about 5,180 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).
Fields of study in Illinois that lead to this job
Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.
2 programs in Illinois that lead to this job
Ranked by graduates per year in Illinois (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Illinois page.
| # | Program | Graduates / yr | Share of pipeline | Schools | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Median debt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIP 52.1301In Illinois → | 4,118 | 99.1% | 22 | $62,069 | $23,500 |
| 2 | Operations Researchmain feeder CIP 14.3701In Illinois → | 36 | 0.9% | 3 | $92,531 | $15,000 |
Top 22 schools in Illinois
Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 11 of the 22 schools in this state.
| # | School | Graduates / yr | Top feeder program | Grad earnings (1 yr) | Grad rate | Net price | Acceptance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwestern University Evanston, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 1,672 | Management Science | — | 95% | $14,799 | 8% |
| 2 | University of Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1,296 | Management Science | — | 96% | $13,333 | 4% |
| 3 | Lewis University Romeoville, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 234 | Management Science | — | 67% | $17,632 | 71% |
| 4 | DePaul University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 190 | Management Science | $51,522 | 68% | $28,141 | 76% |
| 5 | University of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 149 | Management Science | $45,665 | 62% | — | 77% |
| 6 | Northern Illinois University Dekalb, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 119 | Management Science | $51,128 | 49% | — | 70% |
| 7 | Illinois State University Normal, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 94 | Management Science | $47,553 | 65% | — | 88% |
| 8 | University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign Champaign, IL Public · 2 feeder programs | 79 | Management Science | $72,527 | 85% | — | 42% |
| 9 | Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs | 57 | Management Science | — | 75% | $19,899 | 55% |
| 10 | Loyola University Chicago Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 55 | Management Science | — | 73% | $33,454 | 82% |
| 11 | Governors State University University Park, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 43 | Management Science | — | 22% | — | 48% |
| 12 | National Louis University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 27 | Management Science | $59,084 | 30% | $18,904 | 95% |
| 13 | Eastern Illinois University Charleston, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 24 | Management Science | $42,500 | 47% | — | 65% |
| 14 | Southern Illinois University - Carbondale Carbondale, IL Public · 1 feeder programs | 23 | Management Science | $42,711 | 62% | — | 87% |
| 15 | Quincy University Quincy, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 21 | Management Science | — | 45% | $17,003 | 51% |
| 16 | Elmhurst University Elmhurst, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 18 | Management Science | — | 70% | $20,794 | 74% |
| 17 | Roosevelt University Chicago, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Management Science | $48,715 | 35% | $21,085 | 97% |
| 18 | University of St Francis Joliet, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 17 | Management Science | $45,735 | 67% | $15,591 | 65% |
| 19 | McKendree University Lebanon, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 10 | Management Science | $45,899 | 53% | $23,994 | 72% |
| 20 | Bradley University Peoria, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 7 | Management Science | — | 76% | $21,768 | 77% |
| 21 | Augustana College Rock Island, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Management Science | — | 73% | $14,960 | 63% |
| 22 | Wheaton College Wheaton, IL Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs | 1 | Management Science | — | 85% | $23,461 | 87% |
All 22 schools in Illinois
Every school in Illinois with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.
| School | City | Control | Graduates / yr | Feeder programs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwestern University | Evanston | Private not-for-profit | 1,672 | 2 |
| University of Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 1,296 | 1 |
| Lewis University | Romeoville | Private not-for-profit | 234 | 1 |
| DePaul University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 190 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Chicago | Chicago | Public | 149 | 1 |
| Northern Illinois University | Dekalb | Public | 119 | 1 |
| Illinois State University | Normal | Public | 94 | 1 |
| University of Illinois Urbana - Champaign | Champaign | Public | 79 | 2 |
| Illinois Institute of Technology | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 57 | 2 |
| Loyola University Chicago | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 55 | 1 |
| Governors State University | University Park | Public | 43 | 1 |
| National Louis University | Chicago | Private not-for-profit | 27 | 1 |
| Eastern Illinois University | Charleston | Public | 24 | 1 |
| Southern Illinois University - Carbondale | Carbondale | Public | 23 | 1 |
| Quincy University | Quincy | Private not-for-profit | 21 | 1 |
What operations research analysts earn in Illinois
What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.
U.S. median $88,940. Illinois pays above the national figure.
Concentrated here: Illinois employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.
Metro areas in Illinois
Job outlook
Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.
Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.
How to get in
The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Operations Research Analysts page.
How to become a Operations Research Analyst
Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above- Typical entry education
- Bachelor's degree
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Top skills
The same job in other states
Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.
Related careers in Illinois
Every major mapped to this job
The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.
All 2 majors mapped to Operations Research Analysts2 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
- 14.3701Operations Research
- 52.1301Management Science
Common questions
Answers for people weighing operations research analysts programs in Illinois.
What degree do you need to become an Operations Research Analyst?+
Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Management Science, which awarded 4,118 degrees in Illinois in 2024-25, 99.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.
Which college majors lead to becoming an Operations Research Analyst?+
The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 2 programs to this occupation. The largest are Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Operations Research. Together they graduate about 4,154 people a year in Illinois.
How much do operations research analysts earn in Illinois?+
The median is $89,800 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.0% above the U.S. median of $88,940. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.
Is demand for operations research analysts growing?+
BLS projects a +21.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, much faster than average, with roughly 9,600 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.
How many schools offer programs for this career in Illinois?+
22 institutions in Illinois reported graduates from at least one of the 2 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.
What other job titles do operations research analysts work under?+
Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Researcher, Analytical Strategist, Operations Research Analyst (Ops Research Analyst), Operations Research Scientist (Ops Research Scientist) among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 15-2031.
About the data on this page
Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).
BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics
May 2025Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.
BLS Employment Projections
2024–34Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.
IPEDS Completions
2024-25 (provisional)Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.
College Scorecard, Field of Study
2020-21 cohortsMedian graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.
Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes
latest availableGraduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.
NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk
CIP 2020 / SOC 2018Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.
O*NET Database 30.3
30.3Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.
Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA
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