IAIntelligence Analyst
IA
Career

Intelligence Analyst

By the numbers
Typical pay
$93,790 / yr
Education to start
High school diploma or equivalent
Future demand
-0.7% by 2034
People in this job
114K
Figures shown for ·closest of 3 O*NET occupations
The work
A day, hour by hour
07:00
Morning scan

Sweep overnight feeds — news, signals, databases — for anything that broke.

07:45
Team sync

Quick roundtable: who owns what, any overnight flags that need immediate action.

08:15
Source triage

New report in — decide if the source is credible or potentially planted.

09:00
Deep analysis

Two hours cross-checking raw data to separate real threat from background noise.

11:00
Profile update

Add fresh intel to a tracked threat actor's file; spot one new connection.

12:30
Write the report

Translate messy findings into a tight, clear brief decision-makers can actually use.

14:00
Briefing

Walk leadership through the threat picture; field hard questions under pressure.

15:00
Partner coordination

Call with a partner agency to fill gaps — share only what clearance allows.

16:00
End-of-day flag call

One anomaly still unresolved — escalate now or wait for more evidence?

Things you do
  • Dig through mountains of raw data to spot hidden patterns and threats.
  • Write clear, concise reports that help leaders make high-stakes decisions.
  • Brief commanders, executives, or policymakers on what the intelligence means.
  • Cross-check information from multiple sources to figure out what's actually true.
  • Monitor news, signals, and databases daily for signs of emerging danger.
Decisions you’ll make
  • Is this source credible enough to act on, or could it be planted?
  • Do I have enough evidence to call this a real threat, or am I seeing patterns that aren't there?
  • Should I flag this now and risk crying wolf, or wait until I'm more certain?
  • How much of what I know can I actually share with this team?
  • Is this a new threat emerging, or just noise I should filter out?
Education Pathways · how you get there
100 in 100 went the college route · 0 in 100 found another way in Less than 5 years, typically
Education mapped from O*NET:
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