Best States for Management Analysts in 2026: California Leads on Scale, Massachusetts on Pay

Across the top 10 states, the data shows that salary, employment size, and CareerGPS Geography Scores do not move in lockstep. Massachusetts has the highest median salary among the top 10 but ranks below California overall. California has the highest Geography Score and the largest management-analyst employment count in this group, but several other states exceed it on median pay. The 8.8% projected national growth rate for management-analyst employment provides context for these state comparisons, but CareerGPS Pro does not supply any state‑level growth projections for this occupation.

Before comparing states, it helps to anchor the analysis in the national picture for management analysts. Nationally, management analysts have a reported median annual salary of $101,860, with 898,280 people employed in the occupation. The national projected employment growth rate for management analysts is 8.8%, and this figure applies to the occupation across the United States as a whole rather than to individual states. The state results that follow should be interpreted with this national backdrop in mind: national salary and employment show how large and well‑paid the occupation is overall, while state rankings and Geography Scores describe how specific locations compare within the CareerGPS Pro framework.

California holds the #1 spot in the CareerGPS Pro state rankings for management analysts, with a Geography Score of 69.66. Its median annual salary for management analysts is $101,460. California’s median salary of $101,460 is slightly below the national median of $101,860. However, California has an employment count of 137,280 management analysts, which is the largest among the listed top 10 states and matches the supplied value for the largest employment market across the geographies available. This combination of a top Geography Score and the largest reported state employment count makes California numerically distinctive within the 2026 management‑analyst state rankings, even though several other states in the top 10 report higher median salaries.

Massachusetts ranks #2 overall with a Geography Score of 62.95 and has a median salary of $134,720 for management analysts. This is higher than the national median of $101,860 and higher than California’s median of $101,460. Massachusetts reports 30,060 employed management analysts. Maryland, ranked #5 with a Geography Score of 51.46, has a median salary of $121,680, which is also above both the national median of $101,860 and California’s $101,460. Maryland’s employment count is 19,170. Virginia and New York also stand out in this group on pay. Virginia (rank #4, Geography Score 57.17) reports a median salary of $117,580 and employment of 59,620, while New York (rank #3, Geography Score 59.43) reports a median salary of $112,250 and employment of 69,150. In each case, the median salary exceeds both the national median and California’s median for management analysts.

Several states in the top 10 have management‑analyst median salaries close to the national median of $101,860. Texas, ranked #6 with a Geography Score of 47.73, reports a median salary of $101,400, which is slightly below the national median and also below California’s median of $101,460. Texas has 50,990 employed management analysts. Illinois and New Jersey both sit modestly above the national median. Illinois (rank #9, Geography Score 45.36) has a median salary of $104,270 and an employment count of 45,820. New Jersey (rank #10, Geography Score 44.42) has a median salary of $105,820 and employment of 22,080. Both states therefore show higher median pay for management analysts than the national figure of $101,860 and California’s $101,460 median, within the context of somewhat lower Geography Scores than the top‑ranked states.

North Dakota and Washington illustrate different profiles within the same top‑10 cohort. North Dakota ranks #7 with a Geography Score of 46.58 and a median salary of $90,220 for management analysts. This median salary is below both the national median of $101,860 and California’s median of $101,460. Employment for management analysts in North Dakota is not supplied in this dataset, so no comparison can be made on that metric. Washington, ranked #8 with a Geography Score of 46.47, has a median salary of $109,170 and an employment count of 24,760. Its median salary is higher than the national median of $101,860 and higher than California’s $101,460 median. Washington’s Geography Score is slightly lower than North Dakota’s 46.58, even though Washington’s median salary is higher than North Dakota’s, underscoring that the CareerGPS Geography Score reflects more than a single metric such as pay.

CareerGPS Pro builds these rankings from authoritative labor‑market sources combined with its proprietary CareerGPS Geography Score. For each occupation, CareerGPS Pro compiles key measures such as median annual salary, employment counts, and national projected employment growth. Geography Scores and rankings summarize how each state compares within this framework, but the detailed scoring weights are not published here. These rankings should complement, not replace, individual priorities. Management analysts considering relocation or remote‑friendly roles should weigh CareerGPS Pro’s salary, employment, and Geography Score data alongside factors such as personal circumstances, employer preferences, and other non‑labor‑market considerations not captured in this dataset.