Financial Analyst Salary in Ohio: Pay by Experience, City & Take-Home

A financial analyst in Ohio earns a median of $94,280 a year, or about $45.33 an hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2025). Most of the field lands between roughly $57,870 at the 10th percentile and $142,420 at the 90th, so where you sit depends heavily on experience, your metro, and the kind of firm signing your checks.

How Ohio pay compares to the national number

The national median for financial analysts is $102,740, per the BLS (2025). Ohio’s median of $94,280 sits about $8,460 below that line, roughly 8 percent under the U.S. figure. That gap is real, but it tells only half the story. The national median is pulled upward by a handful of very high-cost coastal markets, New York, San Francisco, Boston, where housing and everyday costs eat the extra pay quickly. Ohio’s lower headline number comes attached to some of the most affordable major-metro living in the country.

The state mean, or average, is $100,560. When the mean runs higher than the median like this, it signals a cluster of high earners at the top stretching the average up while the typical analyst earns closer to the median. That fits the percentile spread below: the jump from the 75th percentile ($114,010) to the 90th ($142,420) is steep, which is where senior corporate analysts, FP&A leads, and finance staff at large headquarters companies live. Ohio happens to host several Fortune 500 head offices, which is part of why the top end holds up well even with a sub-national median.

Financial analyst salary in Ohio by experience

Experience is the single biggest lever on your pay. The BLS percentile bands are the cleanest way to see the arc, because they map closely to career stage: the 10th percentile is roughly where new analysts start, the median is a solid mid-career number, and the 75th and 90th percentiles are where experienced and senior professionals land.

The shape of that table is worth sitting with. Moving from entry level to the median is a jump of about $36,410, and most analysts cover that ground in the first five to eight years as they move from supporting roles into owning models, forecasts, and stakeholder relationships. The climb from the median to senior is another $48,140, and that one is less automatic. It usually takes a title change into senior or lead FP&A, a move into a higher-paying industry, or a credential like the CFA. Plenty of analysts plateau near the 75th percentile because the next step requires people management or specialization rather than just more years.

The bottom of the range deserves a note too. At $57,870, the 10th percentile in Ohio is a genuine entry-level number, the kind of offer a new graduate or a career-changer might see in their first analyst seat. The step from there to the 25th percentile of $72,370 is worth about $14,500, and it tends to come fast, usually within the first two or three years as you prove you can own deliverables without hand-holding. If you’re sitting near the bottom of the band after four or five years, that’s a signal to either push for a title change internally or test the market, because the early-career raises in this field are typically the steepest of your whole arc. The first job rarely sets your ceiling, but staying too long at entry pay can slow the whole climb.

Financial analyst salary in Ohio by metro

Where you work inside Ohio matters more than people expect. The five largest metros for this role span a range of more than $16,000 at the median. Columbus and Cleveland lead, both anchored by large corporate finance functions, while Dayton sits at the bottom of the in-state spread. Here’s how the BLS (2025) metro medians line up.

Cleveland posts the highest metro median at $98,320, edging out Columbus by $400. Both clear the statewide median of $94,280, which tells you the bigger corporate markets pay a premium over the Ohio average. Columbus also carries the deepest job market for the role, with 2,870 analysts employed, the most of any metro in the state, which matters if you want options and the freedom to switch employers without relocating.

Cincinnati is interesting. It’s the second-largest employer of analysts at 2,670 jobs, but its median of $86,040 runs about $8,000 below Columbus and Cleveland. That’s a wide volume-of-jobs versus pay-per-job tradeoff worth weighing. Akron ($85,340) and Dayton ($82,000) round out the bottom, both smaller markets where the typical analyst earns several thousand less than the state median. If your target salary is the state median or higher and you’re geographically flexible, Cleveland and Columbus are the clear plays.

The full spread between the top and bottom metro is $16,320, comparing Cleveland’s $98,320 against Dayton’s $82,000. That’s a meaningful gap for the same job title inside one state, and it’s larger than the raise many analysts get for several years of tenure. Cost of living swings part of that, since Columbus and Cleveland are pricier than Dayton or Akron, but not all of it. The bigger driver is the type of employer: the larger metros host more corporate headquarters, regional banks, and insurers that staff deep finance teams and pay competitive corporate rates. Smaller metros lean more on mid-size firms and back-office roles, which sets a lower median. One practical takeaway from the employment column: Columbus and Cincinnati together hold more than 5,500 of the state’s 9,760 analyst jobs, so if you want the densest market with the most room to job-hop, central and southwest Ohio are where the volume sits.

Take-home pay after tax in Ohio

Gross salary is the headline. Take-home is the number that actually hits your account. Ohio levies a state income tax, so an analyst here keeps less of each dollar than someone in a no-income-tax state. The table below breaks down estimated annual deductions and net pay at four career points, using 2026 tax assumptions for a single filer taking the standard deduction.

At the Ohio median of $94,280, an analyst nets about $72,836 a year, or roughly $6,070 a month, after federal tax, FICA, and state tax. The effective tax rate at that level is around 22.7 percent. Notice how the effective rate climbs with income: entry-level pay is taxed at about 17.6 percent, while the senior figure runs near 26.6 percent. That’s the federal brackets at work, and it’s why raises feel a little smaller after tax than the gross number suggests.

Here’s the cross-state comparison that the headline number hides. Take the same Ohio median earner and drop them in Texas, a state with no personal income tax. In Texas, that $94,280 salary nets about $74,712 a year because there’s no state income tax line at all. In Ohio, the same gross nets $72,836. The difference is $1,876 a year, the exact amount Ohio takes in state income tax at this salary. That’s the price of the state tax, and over a decade it adds up to nearly $19,000 in present-day’s dollars.

Before you book a U-Haul to Dallas, run the full math. Net pay minus local housing is the number that actually matters, and that’s where Ohio claws the gap back and then some. Median home prices and rents across Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Akron, and Dayton sit well under what comparable space costs in most Texas or coastal metros. A $1,876 annual tax bill is easily offset by a few hundred dollars a month in lower rent or a smaller mortgage. The honest takeaway: Ohio’s state income tax is modest at these salary levels, and the affordable housing usually wins the overall affordability contest.

It’s worth looking at how the deductions scale across the whole table, because the pattern explains a lot about real cash flow. FICA, which covers Social Security and Medicare, is the one deduction that stays a flat percentage of earnings, climbing from $4,427 at entry to $10,895 at the senior level in lockstep with gross pay. Federal income tax is where the progressivity bites: it more than quadruples from $4,906 to $23,428 across the same span. Ohio’s state tax line stays comparatively light at every stage, $875 at entry and $3,518 at the top, which is why the state’s overall tax burden on professional salaries lands on the lower end nationally. For the median earner, that $6,070 monthly net is the figure to budget around, and for the experienced 75th-percentile analyst, the $7,172 a month is what a mortgage lender will actually work with. Whatever stage you’re at, build your budget on the net monthly column, not the gross headline, because that’s the money that clears.

To see your own number with your real filing status, deductions, and county, run it through the Ohio paycheck calculator. When tax season comes, tools like TurboTax handle the Ohio state return alongside your federal filing in one pass.

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How to earn more as a financial analyst in Ohio

The percentile spread shows there’s real room to grow inside the same job title. Moving from the median to the 90th percentile means another $48,140 of gross pay. Here’s where that increase actually comes from in this market.

• Earn the CFA charter. The Chartered Financial Analyst designation is the gold-standard credential for this field and is consistently the clearest signal that separates 75th- and 90th-percentile analysts from the median. It’s a multi-year commitment across three exam levels, but in Ohio’s corporate-finance-heavy markets it’s frequently the difference-maker for senior FP&A and investment roles.
• Target Cleveland or Columbus. Both metros pay above the state median, and Columbus offers the deepest pool of openings at 2,870 jobs. If you’re in Dayton or Akron and can relocate or work hybrid for a Columbus or Cleveland employer, you’re looking at a median bump of roughly $12,000 to $16,000 over Dayton’s $82,000.
• Move toward FP&A and corporate finance leadership. The steep climb from the 75th to the 90th percentile is mostly title-driven. Senior analyst, lead analyst, and finance manager roles at large headquarters employers are where the top-end pay concentrates.
• Build technical depth. Advanced Excel modeling, SQL, Python for finance, and BI tools like Power BI and Tableau separate analysts who run reports from those who build the forecasting infrastructure. Targeted courses on platforms like Coursera can close specific skill gaps before you negotiate or job-hunt.
• Switch industries strategically. Within the same metro, analysts at banks, insurers, and large public companies typically out-earn those at smaller firms and nonprofits. Ohio’s concentration of large insurers and Fortune 500 head offices makes industry switching a viable in-state path to higher pay without leaving the region.
• Specialize. Niche areas like risk, treasury, M&A support, and capital planning carry pay premiums because the talent pool is thinner. Pairing a specialization with the CFA is a common route into the top decile.

Job outlook for financial analysts in Ohio

Ohio employs 9,760 financial analysts statewide, per the BLS (2025), a sizable base spread across corporate finance, banking, insurance, and consulting. The two largest metros, Columbus (2,870) and Cincinnati (2,670), together account for more than half of those jobs, with Cleveland adding another 1,600. That concentration is good news for job seekers: switching employers without relocating is realistic in the big three metros, which gives you bargaining power at the negotiating table.

Financial analysis is a durable, well-established function in any large organization, and Ohio’s mix of headquarters companies, regional banks, and insurers keeps demand steady. When you’re ready to test the market, listing aggregators like ZipRecruiter are a quick way to see what Ohio employers are paying right now and how postings stack up against the BLS medians above.

Related and higher-paying roles in Ohio

If you’re weighing adjacent finance careers in Ohio, it helps to see how their pay stacks against the financial analyst median of $94,280. Here’s the comparison using BLS (2025) Ohio medians.

Both of these common alternatives pay less than a financial analyst in Ohio at the median. A personal financial advisor earns about $3,290 less ($90,990 versus $94,280), though advisor pay has a much wider commission-driven spread, so the top performers can far exceed the analyst median. An accountant earns about $14,960 less ($79,320 versus $94,280), reflecting the more transactional nature of much accounting work. If your goal is to maximize base pay, the financial analyst track holds up well against both, and the CFA-and-FP&A path discussed above extends that lead further.

Frequently asked questions

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) 2025; ThePayGuide 2026 tax estimates for a single filer. Last updated 2026. See our methodology.