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

Best Compensation programs in Wisconsin, ranked by enrollment

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

50 schools in Wisconsin run programs that feed this job, graduating 5,333 people a year. The job pays a median of $72,130 in Wisconsin across about 1,840 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledBenefits AnalystBenefits SpecialistCompensation AnalystCompensation SpecialistJob AnalystWage AnalystWage AdjusterWage Conciliator
Graduates / yr
5,333
in Wisconsin
Median pay · Wisconsin
$72,130
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
1,840
people employed
Schools
50
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
53%
across those schools
Median net price
$20,965
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Wisconsin that lead to this job

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

4 programs in Wisconsin that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Wisconsin (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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin
3,439
64.5%
48$43,506$25,000
2
CIP 52.0801In Wisconsin
1,382
25.9%
23$53,572$23,672
3
CIP 52.1001In Wisconsin
435
8.2%
25$49,084$26,536
4
CIP 52.1701In Wisconsin
77
1.4%
3$56,988$22,500

Top 25 schools in Wisconsin

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 41 of the 50 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 Wisconsin - Madison
Madison, WI Public · 4 feeder programs
485Finance, General$68,68190%45%
2University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire
Eau Claire, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
423Business Administration and Management, General$46,25464%82%
3Chippewa Valley Technical College
Eau Claire, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
339Business Administration and Management, General$39,34450%
4University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
Whitewater, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
322Finance, General$55,87459%86%
5University of Wisconsin - Parkside
Kenosha, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
314Business Administration and Management, General40%75%
6University of Wisconsin - La Crosse
La Crosse, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
305Finance, General$55,96571%76%
7Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
255Business Administration and Management, General$43,43725%
8Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
221Business Administration and Management, General$63,28583%$25,37681%
9University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Green Bay, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
202Business Administration and Management, General$48,70948%89%
10Fox Valley Technical College
Appleton, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
185Business Administration and Management, General$39,33765%
11University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point
Stevens Point, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
183Business Administration and Management, General$47,45451%92%
12University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh
Oshkosh, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
154Business Administration and Management, General$57,80946%87%
13Madison Area Technical College
Madison, WI Public · 4 feeder programs
151Business Administration and Management, General$43,08529%
14University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
148Finance, General$52,74449%91%
15Concordia University - Wisconsin
Mequon, WI Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
145Business Administration and Management, General$56,34768%$24,40978%
16University of Wisconsin - River Falls
River Falls, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
126Business Administration and Management, General$48,57057%82%
17University of Wisconsin - Stout
Menomonie, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
98Business Administration and Management, General$54,82655%88%
18Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
Green Bay, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
97Business Administration and Management, General$40,09151%
19Waukesha County Technical College
Pewaukee, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
96Business Administration and Management, General$44,01644%
20Mid - State Technical College
Wisconsin Rapids, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
86Business Administration and Management, General$47,26852%
21University of Wisconsin - Platteville
Platteville, WI Public · 3 feeder programs
84Business Administration and Management, General$51,29056%89%
22Gateway Technical College
Kenosha, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
80Business Administration and Management, General$40,42651%
23Carthage College
Kenosha, WI Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
73Business Administration and Management, General$53,55564%$22,84487%
24Moraine Park Technical College
Fond du Lac, WI Public · 2 feeder programs
69Human Resources Management/Personnel Administration, General$36,88658%
25University of Wisconsin - Superior
Superior, WI Public · 1 feeder programs
64Business Administration and Management, General$45,99942%93%

All 50 schools in Wisconsin

Every school in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Wisconsin - MadisonMadisonPublic4854
University of Wisconsin - Eau ClaireEau ClairePublic4233
Chippewa Valley Technical CollegeEau ClairePublic3392
University of Wisconsin - WhitewaterWhitewaterPublic3223
University of Wisconsin - ParksideKenoshaPublic3141
University of Wisconsin - La CrosseLa CrossePublic3052
Milwaukee Area Technical CollegeMilwaukeePublic2552
Marquette UniversityMilwaukeePrivate not-for-profit2213
University of Wisconsin - Green BayGreen BayPublic2023
Fox Valley Technical CollegeAppletonPublic1852
University of Wisconsin - Stevens PointStevens PointPublic1832
University of Wisconsin - OshkoshOshkoshPublic1543
Madison Area Technical CollegeMadisonPublic1514
University of Wisconsin - MilwaukeeMilwaukeePublic1481
Concordia University - WisconsinMequonPrivate not-for-profit1453

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

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

Median annual in Wisconsin
$72,130
Mean annual
$76,610
Jobs in state
1,840
What the range looks like
10th pct$52,810Median$72,13090th pct$103,500
Versus the national median
-7.8%

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

Job concentration
0.87×

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

Metro areas in Wisconsin

Kenosha, WI
$80,490median
30 jobs
Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
$77,860median
520 jobs
Green Bay, WI
$74,530median
110 jobs
Appleton, WI
$67,950median
50 jobs
Oshkosh-Neenah, WI
$70,830median
70 jobs
Eau Claire, WI
$71,030median
40 jobs
Wausau, WI
$74,210median
30 jobs
Madison, WI
$69,010median
510 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 Wisconsin

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 Wisconsin.

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 3,439 degrees in Wisconsin in 2024-25, 64.5% 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 5,333 people a year in Wisconsin.

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

The median is $72,130 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 7.8% 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 Wisconsin?+

50 institutions in Wisconsin 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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