# Operations Research Analysts

US SOC code 15-2031. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/15-2031

Also called: Decision scientist, Optimization analyst, Supply chain analyst, Management scientist, Network analyst.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **108,510** US operations research analysts, with median pay of **$88,940** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2003, the highest was **117,880**, in May 2023. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.informs.org/IOL-Home/ORMS-Today/Archived-Issues/2002/orms-10-02/History-in-the-Making) of **2,000** from 1952, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for operations research analysts: Python ML stack + cloud compute, 2015 to 2022.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 11.9% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=15-2031&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **62.9%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend. In May 2021 BLS changed how it estimates these counts (a model-based method using three years of survey data) and moved fully to the 2018 occupation codes, so part of a change across 2021 can come from the method rather than the work.

## Operations Research Analysts employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1937
- Latest US employment: 108,510 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $88,940 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [8]
- Outlook: +11.9% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [21]

### All 29 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1952 | 2,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., INFORMS [1] |
| 1960 | n/a | $8,500 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [6] |
| 1970 | 25,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., INFORMS History of O.R [2] |
| 1985 | n/a | $34,000 (estimate) | Est., University of Missouri Libraries [7] |
| 1990 | 57,000 | n/a | BLS CPS 2019 [3] |
| 2000 | 59,820 | n/a | BLS OEWS 2000 [4] |
| 2003 | 58,080 | $58,300 | BLS OEWS May 2003 [5] |
| 2004 | 55,030 | $60,190 | BLS OEWS May 2004 [5] |
| 2005 | 52,530 | $62,180 | BLS OEWS May 2005 [5] |
| 2006 | 56,170 | $64,650 | BLS OEWS May 2006 [5] |
| 2007 | 58,750 | $66,950 | BLS OEWS May 2007 [5] |
| 2008 | 60,860 | $69,000 | BLS OEWS May 2008 [5] |
| 2009 | 60,960 | $70,070 | BLS OEWS May 2009 [5] |
| 2010 | 62,210 | $70,960 | BLS OEWS May 2010 [5] |
| 2011 | 65,030 | $71,950 | BLS OEWS May 2011 [5] |
| 2012 | 69,180 | $72,100 | BLS OEWS May 2012 [5] |
| 2013 | 72,680 | $74,630 | BLS OEWS May 2013 [5] |
| 2014 | 86,950 | $76,660 | BLS OEWS May 2014 [5] |
| 2015 | 95,860 | $78,630 | BLS OEWS May 2015 [5] |
| 2016 | 109,150 | $79,200 | BLS OEWS May 2016 [5] |
| 2017 | 106,050 | $81,390 | BLS OEWS May 2017 [5] |
| 2018 | 104,200 | $83,390 | BLS OEWS May 2018 [5] |
| 2019 | 99,680 | $84,810 | BLS OEWS May 2019 [5] |
| 2020 | 96,220 | $86,200 | BLS OEWS May 2020 [5] |
| 2021 | 98,700 | $82,360 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 105,080 | $85,720 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 117,880 | $83,640 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 107,760 | $91,290 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 108,510 | $88,940 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (83)

### Employment series

1. [INFORMS — "History in the Making: ORSA founding, 1952" (ORMS Today, 2002)](https://www.informs.org/IOL-Home/ORMS-Today/Archived-Issues/2002/orms-10-02/History-in-the-Making), INFORMS
2. [INFORMS History of O.R. — "History Lesson: The Evolution of INFORMS" (ORMS Today, 2017)](https://www.informs.org/ORMS-Today/Public-Articles/February-Volume-44-Number-1/History-Lesson-The-evolution-of-INFORMS), INFORMS
3. [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook 70-year retrospective — MLR 2019 (OOH history and early occupation series)](https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/article/70-years-of-the-occupational-outlook-handbook.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
4. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1960-1969 (BLS professional/technical salary benchmarks)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1960-1969), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
7. [University of Missouri Libraries — Prices and Wages by Decade: 1980-1989 (BLS professional/technical salary survey data)](https://libraryguides.missouri.edu/pricesandwages/1980-1989), University of Missouri Libraries / BLS historical sources
8. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2003](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm03nat.zip), [2004](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm04nat.zip), [2005](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm05nat.zip), [2006](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm06nat.zip), [2007](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm07nat.zip), [2008](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm08nat.zip), [2009](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm09nat.zip), [2010](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm10nat.zip), [2011](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm11nat.zip), [2012](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm12nat.zip), [2013](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm13nat.zip), [2014](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm14nat.zip), [2015](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm15nat.zip), [2016](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm16nat.zip), [2017](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm17nat.zip), [2018](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm18nat.zip), [2019](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm19nat.zip), [2020](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm20nat.zip), [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
9. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

10. [Wikipedia — Patrick Blackett (operational research, Coastal Command, Battle of the Atlantic)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Blackett), Wikipedia
11. [INFORMS — Blackett, Patrick M. S. (biographical profile)](https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Blackett-Patrick-M.-S), INFORMS
12. [Wikipedia — George Dantzig (simplex method 1947, RAND history)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig), Wikipedia
13. [INFORMS — RAND Corporation (history of O.R. excellence)](https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Non-Academic-Institutions/RAND-Corporation), INFORMS
14. [INFORMS — History of O.R. Excellence: overview of the discipline's development in computing eras](https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence), INFORMS
15. [Wikipedia — Operations research (history, expansion into civilian industries)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research), Wikipedia
16. [Wikipedia — Gurobi Optimizer (company history, founded 2008)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurobi), Wikipedia
17. [Kinaxis — Introducing the Kinaxis Maestro Platform: the first AI-infused supply chain orchestration platform (June 2024)](https://www.kinaxis.com/en/blog/introducing-kinaxis-maestro-platform), Kinaxis
18. [INFORMS — Distinguishing the Profession of Operations Research in the Age of Analytics, Big Data, Data Science and AI (ORMS Today, 2023)](https://pubsonline.informs.org/do/10.1287/orms.2023.04.06/full/), INFORMS
19. [Gurobi — LLMs and Optimization: Complementary Foundations for a New Decision Frontier (2026)](https://www.gurobi.com/resources/reports/llms-and-optimization-complementary-foundations-for-a-new-decision-frontier/), Gurobi
20. [INFORMS OR/MS Tomorrow — How AI is Transforming Operations Research (2025)](https://www.informs.org/Publications/INFORMS-Journals/OR-MS-Tomorrow/Blog/How-AI-is-Transforming-Operations-Research), INFORMS

### Forecasts and exposure studies

21. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 15-2031 Operations research analysts (2025: 113.1 thousand; 2035: 126.6 thousand; +11.9%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=15-2031&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
22. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 15-2031.00, human-rated β 0.629)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

23. [Wikipedia — Operations research (history: origins at Bawdsey 1937)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operations_research), Wikipedia
24. [INFORMS — George E. Kimball biographical profile (ASWORG deputy director)](https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Kimball-George-E.), INFORMS
25. [Wikipedia — George Dantzig (simplex method history, Project SCOOP)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig), Wikipedia
26. [INFORMS — "History in the Making: ORSA founding 1952" (ORMS Today, 2002)](https://www.informs.org/IOL-Home/ORMS-Today/Archived-Issues/2002/orms-10-02/History-in-the-Making), INFORMS
27. [Wikipedia — Sabre Corporation (SABRE airline reservation system history, founded 1960)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabre_Corporation), Wikipedia
28. [Wikipedia — Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS founding 1995)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institute_for_Operations_Research_and_the_Management_Sciences), Wikipedia
29. [INFORMS — CAP Credential overview (history and purpose)](https://www.informs.org/Certification-Continuing-Ed/Analytics-Certification), INFORMS
30. [Gurobi — LLMs and Optimization: Complementary Foundations for a New Decision Frontier (2026)](https://www.gurobi.com/resources/reports/llms-and-optimization-complementary-foundations-for-a-new-decision-frontier/), Gurobi

### Predecessors & successors

31. [INFORMS — Philip M. Morse biographical profile (ASWORG, US Navy 1942)](https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Morse-Philip-M), INFORMS

### Present-day analysis

- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [O\*NET 30.3 — Operations Research Analysts (15-2031.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/15-2031.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [McKinsey Global Institute — The Economic Potential of Generative AI (2023)](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/tech-and-ai/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Goldman Sachs — The Jobs AI Is Likely to Boost and Those It May Disrupt (2025)](https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/the-jobs-ai-is-likely-to-boost-and-those-it-may-disrupt), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Operations Research Analysts (2024–2034)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/math/operations-research-analysts.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [INFORMS OR/MS Tomorrow — How AI is Transforming Operations Research (2025)](https://www.informs.org/Publications/INFORMS-Journals/OR-MS-Tomorrow/Blog/How-AI-is-Transforming-Operations-Research), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Gurobi — Bridging the Optimization Skills Gap With Generative AI (2025)](https://www.gurobi.com/resources/blog/bridging-the-optimization-skills-gap-with-generative-ai), accessed 2026-06-21
- [Kinaxis — AI in Supply Chain: Maestro Platform](https://www.kinaxis.com/en/ai-supply-chain), accessed 2026-06-21
- [o9 Solutions — AI-Powered Supply Chain Planning Software (2025)](https://o9solutions.com/solutions/supply-chain-planning), accessed 2026-06-21

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.