Behavior Analyst

Work out why a behavior happens, then change the conditions around it. Six to eight years of school, mostly working with children.

Typical pay: $110,840a year
Time to qualify: 6 to 8 yearsafter high school
Demand: Limited
License needed: Dependsneeded in 41 states

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Quick answers

How much does a behavior analyst make in the United States?

The median pay is about $110,840 a year. Across everyone in the job it runs from about $54,990 at the lower end to about $168,520 at the upper end. The source is listed under Sources at the end of this page.

How long does it take to become a behavior analyst in the United States?

6 to 8 years after high school, on the usual route.

What does it cost to become a behavior analyst?

$48,000 to $99,000 all in for tuition, fees, exams and kit. Living costs are not counted.

Do you need a license to work as a behavior analyst in the United States?

It depends where you work. You need a license, certificate or registration in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Elsewhere there is none to hold, though many employers still ask for training or a certificate.

What is the job outlook for a behavior analyst in the United States?

Limited demand nationally, from government outlook data. Demand varies by region, so check your area.

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Behavior Analyst salary in the United States

What you earn and what it costs to get there.

What the wage survey shows

Group median

$110,840

Bottom tenth

$54,990

Top tenth

$168,520

Read this one carefully. The federal wage survey has no line for behavior analysts, so they are counted inside a broad group called psychologists, all other, which mostly covers other kinds of psychologists. In the 2025 survey that group's median is $110,840 a year, the bottom tenth earn $54,990 or less and the top tenth $168,520 or more. The survey does not show where behavior analysts fall inside that range.

The middle half of the group

$68,850 to $147,240

What the middle half of psychologists, all other, earn, 2025

The survey does not say where behavior analysts sit inside it, so treat this as the group's spread, not a target for a master's level analyst. Registered Behavior Technicians, the entry job, have no wage line at all: check postings near you.

What it costs to get there

Bachelor's degree, 4 years: Roughly $10,000 to $12,000 a year at in-state public tuition
Master's degree in behavior analysis, 2 years: $20,000 to $50,000 in total
Supervised fieldwork: 1,500 or 2,000 hours, usually inside a paid job
Board exam and application: Several hundred dollars, plus an annual certification fee

Roughly, all in

$48,000 to $99,000

Tuition, fees, exams and kit. Not rent, food or travel

The low end is two years at a community college, transferring to an in state public university to finish the bachelor's degree, then the cheapest accredited master's in behavior analysis, plus the board exam and application fees. The high end is four years of in state public tuition followed by a $50,000 master's. Most people work as a registered behavior technician all the way through the master's, which pays part of the bill and counts toward the supervised fieldwork hours at the same time. File the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) every year, including for the graduate years.

Fill in the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Most people work as a Registered Behavior Technician through the master's, which pays part of the cost and counts toward the fieldwork hours at the same time.

What the job usually comes with

Health insurance and paid time off
Standard at clinics, school districts and hospitals.
Paid supervision hours
Good employers pay for the supervision you need to certify and to stay certified.
Mileage
Home and school based analysts drive a great deal, and it is usually reimbursed.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness
Work for a school district, a public hospital or a qualifying nonprofit and the rest of your federal loan balance can be forgiven after 120 qualifying payments.

How to become a behavior analyst in the United States

The exact path from high school to qualified.

The path to becoming a behavior analyst, step by step

A master's degree, a set list of courses, supervised hours, then an exam and, in most states, a state license.

1
High school
Grades 11 and 12
Psychology if your school offers it, plus biology, statistics and English. Volunteer with children or adults with disabilities; it matters more than you think.
2
Bachelor's degree
4 years
Psychology, education or human development are the usual majors, but any degree works if you take the required behavior analysis courses later.
3
Registered Behavior Technician job
Weeks to start
A 40 hour training, a competency assessment and an exam let you work directly with clients under supervision, usually while you study.
4
Master's degree with the right coursework
2 years
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board requires a graduate degree plus a specific sequence of behavior analysis courses. Programs accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International are the safe choice.
5
Fieldwork, exam, license
1 to 2 years
1,500 supervised hours on the concentrated track or 2,000 on the standard track, then the Board Certified Behavior Analyst exam, then a state license where your state has one.

High school courses that help you become a behavior analyst

Psychology
The vocabulary of the field, even though this branch of it looks different from what you expect.
Statistics or math
This job runs on data you collect and graph yourself.
Biology
Development, genetics and the medical side of disability.
English
You write assessments and reports that insurers and schools have to act on.

Time and money, at a glance

Years after high school: 6 to 8
Total tuition: About $60,000 to $100,000 at in-state public schools
Paid while training?: Yes, as a Registered Behavior Technician
Exam: Board Certified Behavior Analyst exam, plus a state license in most states

Certified nationally, licensed by your state

Two separate things gate this job. First, certification: the Behavior Analyst Certification Board sets the degree, the coursework, the fieldwork hours and the exam nationally, and Board Certified Behavior Analyst is the credential employers and insurers ask for by name. Second, state licensure: 40 states and DC (the District of Columbia) have passed laws to license or regulate behavior analysts, with their own application and fees. California, Florida and Pennsylvania are among the states that have not. Certification alone is not enough to practice where a license exists, and the license normally requires the certification, so you end up doing both.

Who you would work with

Children with autism
In clinics or in family homes.
School districts
Behavior support for students across a whole district, often working through teachers.
Adults with developmental disabilities
Group homes, day programs and supported employment.
Organizations
A smaller branch applies the same science to workplace safety and performance instead of clinical work.

What helps you get ahead as a behavior analyst

Things you don't need, but that help.

Ways to specialize

Early intensive intervention
Working with very young children. The most common and most heavily researched application.
Severe behavior and crisis work
Hospital based teams treating self injury and aggression. Difficult and badly needed.
School consultation
Training teachers and building classroom systems instead of working one to one.
Organizational behavior management
The same principles applied to workplaces, safety and performance, well outside the clinic world.

Nice-to-haves

Time as a Registered Behavior Technician
Doing the direct work before you supervise it makes you a far better supervisor.
Data and spreadsheet skills
You graph every session and decisions are supposed to come from the graph.
A driver's license and a car
Home and school based work means driving between clients all day.
A second language
Families are badly underserved in languages other than English.

The argument inside this field

Applied behavior analysis is the standard insurance funded treatment for autism in the United States, and it is also criticized, including by autistic adults, for older practices that pushed compliance and suppressed harmless behaviors. The field has moved, and good practice now centers consent, the person's own goals and their quality of life. If you go into this work you should know the argument exists and be able to say clearly where you stand in it.

What being a behavior analyst is really like

Day to day, pros and cons, where you'd work.

What a behavior analyst does day to day

Mornings are usually direct sessions or supervision: you watch a technician run a program with a child, take data, and change the plan on the spot when the data tells you to. Then assessments, writing behavior plans, and meetings with parents or teachers who do the hardest part of this work when you are not in the room. Afternoons bring reports and insurance authorizations, which are a much bigger share of the job than anyone expects. School based analysts spend the day moving between classrooms.

The honest pros and cons of being a behavior analyst

The good

You can see the change you make, week by week, in your own data
Jobs in clinics, schools and homes across the country
You earn in the field from your first year of training
A clear credential and a clear ladder above it

The hard parts

The paperwork and insurance authorizations are relentless
Emotionally heavy work, including aggression and self injury
Six to eight years and real tuition before you are certified
Some clinics carry caseloads too big to do the job properly

Work life

Typical hours: 40 a week, with some evening sessions
Remote work: Some supervision and paperwork, but the work itself is in person
Physical demand: Moderate, you are on the floor with children
Unionized: Only in school districts and public agencies

Similar paths

Things nobody tells you about being a behavior analyst

Things people don't tell you.

88,013 certified analysts

As of October 1, 2026 the Behavior Analyst Certification Board counted 88,013 Board Certified Behavior Analysts and 259,577 Registered Behavior Technicians worldwide. Technicians outnumber analysts about three to one.

The field is young

Applied behavior analysis grew out of the work of the psychologist B. F. Skinner and became a named field in the late 1960s. The board that certifies practitioners was only founded in 1998, which is why the job title barely appears in older career books.

Insurance law built the job market

Demand for behavior analysts grew fastest after states began requiring health plans to cover autism treatment. The credential existed for years before there were many jobs attached to it.

How a behavior analyst compares

Every list is built from the same numbers shown above, so you can see where this career sits next to the others.

More health careers in the US

Mental health first, then the rest of the field. See every career in health.

Where these numbers come from

Last checked October 2026. Pay figures are typical full-time annual amounts in United States dollars, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data and published pay scales. They vary by state, employer and experience. Tuition is for in-state students at public schools unless the card says otherwise. How every figure on this site is sourced and checked.