Maryland·Business and Financial Operations Occupations·SOC 13-1141

Best Compensation programs in Maryland, ranked by enrollment

Conduct programs of compensation and benefits and job analysis for employer.

39 schools in Maryland run programs that feed this job, graduating 7,581 people a year. The job pays a median of $79,700 in Maryland across about 1,650 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBenefits AnalystBenefits SpecialistCompensation AnalystCompensation SpecialistJob AnalystWage AnalystWage AdjusterWage Conciliator
Graduates / yr
7,581
in Maryland
Median pay · Maryland
$79,700
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,650
people employed
Schools
39
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
49%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,136
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Maryland that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

3 programs in Maryland that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Maryland (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 Maryland page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.0201In Maryland
6,159
81.2%
39$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.0801In Maryland
713
9.4%
7$53,572$23,672
3
CIP 52.1001In Maryland
709
9.4%
5$49,084$26,536

Top 25 schools in Maryland

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 12 of the 39 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Maryland Global Campus
Adelphi, MD Public · 3 feeder programs
4,729Business Administration and Management, General$62,63433%
2University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
509Finance, General$75,68989%45%
3Towson University
Towson, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
425Business Administration and Management, General$54,77269%82%
4Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
206Business Administration and Management, General31%
5Loyola University Maryland
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
206Business Administration and Management, General$60,65679%$26,58575%
6Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
193Business Administration and Management, General$40,36141%82%
7College of Southern Maryland
La Plata, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
188Business Administration and Management, General33%
8Salisbury University
Salisbury, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
154Business Administration and Management, General$49,27868%87%
9Bowie State University
Bowie, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
123Business Administration and Management, General$50,68338%72%
10Frostburg State University
Frostburg, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
108Business Administration and Management, General$43,67050%89%
11University of Baltimore
Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
77Business Administration and Management, General38%79%
12Stevenson University
Owings Mills, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
72Business Administration and Management, General$52,44268%$26,55679%
13Mount St. Mary's University
Emmitsburg, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
70Business Administration and Management, General65%$23,13674%
14Hood College
Frederick, MD Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
55Business Administration and Management, General$47,69457%$23,24478%
15Strayer University - Maryland
Baltimore, MD Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
49Business Administration and Management, General38%$18,092
16Maryland Institute College of Art
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
45Business Administration and Management, General72%$37,65977%
17Prince George's Community College
Largo, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
34Business Administration and Management, General18%
18McDaniel College
Westminster, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Business Administration and Management, General$59,04863%$18,98878%
19Washington College
Chestertown, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
33Business Administration and Management, General65%$24,97357%
20Community College of Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
26Business Administration and Management, General19%
21Coppin State University
Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
23Business Administration and Management, General26%46%
22Frederick Community College
Frederick, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
22Business Administration and Management, General37%
23University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Princess Anne, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
22Business Administration and Management, General35%96%
24Wor - Wic Community College
Salisbury, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
22Business Administration and Management, General27%
25St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
20Business Administration and Management, General70%69%

All 39 schools in Maryland

Every school in Maryland 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.

All schools in Maryland that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphiPublic4,7293
University of Maryland - College ParkCollege ParkPublic5092
Towson UniversityTowsonPublic4251
Anne Arundel Community CollegeArnoldPublic2061
Loyola University MarylandBaltimorePrivate not-for-profit2062
Morgan State UniversityBaltimorePublic1932
College of Southern MarylandLa PlataPublic1881
Salisbury UniversitySalisburyPublic1542
Bowie State UniversityBowiePublic1231
Frostburg State UniversityFrostburgPublic1081
University of BaltimoreBaltimorePublic771
Stevenson UniversityOwings MillsPrivate not-for-profit721
Mount St. Mary's UniversityEmmitsburgPrivate not-for-profit701
Hood CollegeFrederickPrivate not-for-profit552
Strayer University - MarylandBaltimorePrivate for-profit492

What compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists earn in Maryland

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Maryland
$79,700
Mean annual
$83,830
Jobs in state
1,650
What the range looks like
10th pct$51,820Median$79,70090th pct$117,940
Versus the national median
+1.9%

U.S. median $78,210. Maryland pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.83×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Maryland

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
$76,000median
930 jobs
Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV
$60,890median
40 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+5.3%
Faster than average
Openings per year
8,500
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
5,600
107,000 → 112,700
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree

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 Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists page.

How to become a Compensation

Job zone 4 of 5 · SVP 7.0 to < 8.0
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Work experience needed
Less than 5 years

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningSpeakingCritical ThinkingActive LearningWriting

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Maryland

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 4 majors mapped to Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists4 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 52.0201Business Administration and Management, General
  • 52.0801Finance, General
  • 52.1001Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General
  • 52.1701Insurance

Common questions

Answers for people weighing compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists programs in Maryland.

What degree do you need to become a Compensation?+

Bachelor's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Business Administration and Management, General, which awarded 6,159 degrees in Maryland in 2024-25, 81.2% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Compensation?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 3 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Finance and Financial Management Services, Human Resources Management and Services. Together they graduate about 7,581 people a year in Maryland.

How much do compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists earn in Maryland?+

The median is $79,700 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 1.9% above the U.S. median of $78,210. 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 compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists growing?+

BLS projects a +5.3% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, faster than average, with roughly 8,500 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Maryland?+

39 institutions in Maryland reported graduates from at least one of the 3 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 compensation, benefits, and job analysis specialists work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Benefits Analyst, Benefits Specialist, Compensation Analyst, Compensation Specialist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 13-1141.

Compensation, Benefits, and Job Analysis Specialists in other statesCaliforniaTexasArizonaFloridaNew YorkNorth CarolinaNew HampshireIndiana

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 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected 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 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

All Clema data sources and release dates →

Explore every U.S. college in one conversation

Clema turns plain-language questions into sourced answers across every U.S. institution — earnings, aid, acceptance, graduation, safety, and athletics from IPEDS, College Scorecard, and 10+ federal datasets, built in.

Free for teams up to 3 · No credit card