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

Best Compensation programs in Mississippi, ranked by enrollment

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

26 schools in Mississippi run programs that feed this job, graduating 2,900 people a year. The job pays a median of $51,670 in Mississippi across about 370 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBenefits AnalystBenefits SpecialistCompensation AnalystCompensation SpecialistJob AnalystWage AnalystWage AdjusterWage Conciliator
Graduates / yr
2,900
in Mississippi
Median pay · Mississippi
$51,670
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
370
people employed
Schools
26
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
46%
across those schools
Median net price
$18,117
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Mississippi that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Mississippi that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Mississippi (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 Mississippi page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
12,405
82.9%
26$43,506$25,000
2413
14.2%
7$53,572$23,672
351
1.8%
3$49,084$26,536
431
1.1%
1$56,988$22,500

Top 25 schools in Mississippi

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 14 of the 26 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Mississippi State University
Mississippi State, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
635Business Administration and Management, General$37,97567%78%
2University of Mississippi
University, MS Public · 3 feeder programs
461Finance, General$52,55072%97%
3University of Southern Mississippi
Hattiesburg, MS Public · 3 feeder programs
437Business Administration and Management, General$38,75749%99%
4Belhaven University
Jackson, MS Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
314Business Administration and Management, General$51,54649%$22,47650%
5Northwest Mississippi Community College
Senatobia, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
188Business Administration and Management, General$29,99745%
6Delta State University
Cleveland, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
120Business Administration and Management, General48%100%
7Jackson State University
Jackson, MS Public · 2 feeder programs
118Business Administration and Management, General$28,91151%93%
8Mississippi University for Women
Columbus, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
96Business Administration and Management, General$35,31047%90%
9Mississippi Christian University
Clinton, MS Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
88Business Administration and Management, General$43,29959%$21,09629%
10Copiah - Lincoln Community College
Wesson, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
83Business Administration and Management, General50%
11Alcorn State University
Alcorn State, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
47Business Administration and Management, General$29,48257%45%
12Millsaps College
Jackson, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
43Business Administration and Management, General$39,76557%$25,24943%
13William Carey University
Hattiesburg, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
36Business Administration and Management, General$40,59860%$17,20560%
14Mississippi Valley State University
Itta Bena, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
34Business Administration and Management, General27%92%
15Hinds Community College
Raymond, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
32Business Administration and Management, General43%
16Northeast Mississippi Community College
Booneville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
32Business Administration and Management, General34%
17Blue Mountain Christian University
Blue Mountain, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
27Business Administration and Management, General$42,39455%$18,11789%
18Pearl River Community College
Poplarville, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
26Business Administration and Management, General$19,31237%
19Southeastern Baptist College
Laurel, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
24Business Administration and Management, General80%$6,808100%
20Strayer University - Mississippi
Jackson, MS Private for-profit · 2 feeder programs
15Business Administration and Management, General0%
21Holmes Community College
Goodman, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
11Business Administration and Management, General39%
22Mississippi Delta Community College
Moorhead, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
11Business Administration and Management, General31%
23East Central Community College
Decatur, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
9Business Administration and Management, General36%
24Rust College
Holly Springs, MS Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
9Business Administration and Management, General12%$8,71149%
25Coahoma Community College
Clarksdale, MS Public · 1 feeder programs
3Business Administration and Management, General41%

All 26 schools in Mississippi

Every school in Mississippi 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 Mississippi that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Mississippi State UniversityMississippi StatePublic6352
University of MississippiUniversityPublic4613
University of Southern MississippiHattiesburgPublic4373
Belhaven UniversityJacksonPrivate not-for-profit3143
Northwest Mississippi Community CollegeSenatobiaPublic1881
Delta State UniversityClevelandPublic1202
Jackson State UniversityJacksonPublic1182
Mississippi University for WomenColumbusPublic961
Mississippi Christian UniversityClintonPrivate not-for-profit882
Copiah - Lincoln Community CollegeWessonPublic831
Alcorn State UniversityAlcorn StatePublic471
Millsaps CollegeJacksonPrivate not-for-profit431
William Carey UniversityHattiesburgPrivate not-for-profit361
Mississippi Valley State UniversityItta BenaPublic341
Hinds Community CollegeRaymondPublic321

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

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

Median annual in Mississippi
$51,670
Mean annual
$59,490
Jobs in state
370
What the range looks like
10th pct$36,840Median$51,67090th pct$83,920
Versus the national median
-33.9%

U.S. median $78,210. Mississippi pays below the national figure.

Job concentration
0.44×

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

Metro areas in Mississippi

Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
$58,430median
40 jobs
Jackson, MS
$49,490median
210 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 Mississippi

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 Mississippi.

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 2,405 degrees in Mississippi in 2024-25, 82.9% 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 4 programs to this occupation. The largest are Business Administration, Finance and Financial Management Services, Human Resources Management and Services, Insurance. Together they graduate about 2,900 people a year in Mississippi.

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

The median is $51,670 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 33.9% below 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 Mississippi?+

26 institutions in Mississippi reported graduates from at least one of the 4 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

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