Budget analysts job market in Washington

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Budget analysts in Washington.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Budget analysts earn in Washington

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$96,640Washington
Middle 50% of published wages
$79,740 – $129,480
U.S. median annual wage
$91,640
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Washington

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Budget analysts, compared with the Washington median of $96,640.

Washington median$96,640
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA$104,090+7.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$79,740 – $132,030Published employment910
Kennewick-Richland, WA$98,750+2.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$61,240 – $122,190Published employment30
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA$96,430−0.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$82,110 – $113,350Published employment520
Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA$91,060−5.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$80,450 – $109,510Published employment290
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA$88,810−8.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$70,830 – $103,920Published employment60

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Washington median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Washington’s weighted industry mix.

-1.4%Industry employmentWashington industry employmentU.S. -1.9%vs. -1.9% U.S.
+0.2%Establishments in weighted industriesWashington establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +1.7%vs. +1.7% U.S.
+5.9%Avg. weekly industry wageWashington avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +4.5% · not occupation payvs. +4.5% U.S. · not occupation pay
+0.5 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 91,174 represented establishments, 87.9% of the published industry mix.

Latest interpretation

What stands out for budget analysts in Washington

The clearest signals from the latest validated state industry context and occupation-pay data.

Washington leads the U.S. on weighted-industry employment

Employment across the industries associated with Budget analysts changed -1.4% year over year in Washington, 0.5 percentage points above the national change of -1.9%. This is weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment.

BLS QCEW weighted industry context

Published occupation pay is above the U.S. median

The published median annual wage for Budget analysts in Washington is $96,640, 5.5% above the U.S. median of $91,640.

BLS OEWS occupation pay

Employment and industry wages moved in opposite directions

Weighted-industry employment changed -1.4% while average weekly industry wages changed +5.9%. Industry wage growth is not occupation pay and does not explain the employment change.

BLS QCEW weighted industry context

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score.

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Washington · 2026 Q1-1.4%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-1.9%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Washington industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterWashingtonCoverage
2024 Q2+2.2%100%
2024 Q3+2.0%100%
2024 Q4+1.6%100%
2025 Q1+1.4%100%
2025 Q2+0.6%100%
2025 Q3-0.3%100%
2025 Q4-1.1%100%
2026 Q1-1.4%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Washington’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
-1.9%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Budget analysts Work

The occupation mix determines which Washington industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Washington Budget analysts context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Federal25.8%-7.9%1,322$2,323
State and local24.8%+1.0%3,891$1,662
Private education and health services19.4%+2.6%29,031$1,398
Professional and business services17.2%-0.2%56,930$2,959
Manufacturing3.6%-1.0%8,081$2,301
Financial activities2.8%+0.4%19,017$2,865

Which industries are growing?

3 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Washington employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+2.6%
  • State and local+1.0%
  • Financial activities+0.4%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Washington context

Current Washington Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Washington. They are not Budget analysts demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Washington

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

76.8Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
-23.2%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+0.1%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 202675.55
Jul 31, 202675.03
Aug 7, 202674.78
Aug 14, 202674.80
Aug 21, 202674.71
Aug 28, 202675.17
Sep 4, 202675.89
Sep 11, 202676.86
Sep 18, 202676.80
Sep 25, 202676.72
Oct 2, 202676.55
Oct 9, 202676.65
Oct 16, 202676.41
Oct 23, 202676.78

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide layoff-notice filings

Washington statewide

62 notices in this source

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in Washington’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. Washington’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.

Washington Employment Security Department About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Budget analysts in Washington FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Budget analysts in Washington?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Washington industries weighted to Budget analysts changed -1.4% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -1.9% nationwide.

Are wages for Budget analysts rising in Washington?

QCEW does not publish pay for Budget analysts in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +5.9% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Washington industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Budget analysts openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Budget analysts
SOC code
13-2031
State
Washington
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
-1.4%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
-1.9%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+0.5 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+0.2%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+5.9%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/budget-analysts/washington#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Budget analysts in other states