Budget Analysts vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products: $92K vs $78K Median Pay

Budget Analysts vs Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products: what changes?

Consider Budget Analysts if you want to examine budget estimates for completeness, accuracy, and conformance with procedures and regulations. Consider Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products if you would rather purchase machinery, equipment, tools, parts, supplies, or services necessary for the operation of an establishment. Entry credentials differ: Budget Analysts, bachelor's degree; Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products, specialty requirements need verification.

Try this next: Compare three local entry-level postings for Budget Analysts and Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products. List the duties, credentials, prior experience, and paid training each employer actually asks for. Try a supervised class or sample project from each field before choosing a program.

BLS 2025 wages and 2025–2035 projections. National medians are not starting offers. Occupation size is not a count of vacancies. View the BLS data.

The labor-market benchmark for Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products covers the broader BLS group Buyers and purchasing agents (13-1020). It does not isolate this specialty.

Compare the practical differences

Budget Analysts

National median pay (2025): $91,640
Route into the job: Bachelor's degree
Prior related experience: No prior related occupation is typically required; employer requirements vary.
Training and licensing: BLS does not list a separate on-the-job training requirement. Employers may still provide orientation and role-specific training.
Work to investigate: Analyze monthly department budgeting and accounting reports to maintain expenditure controls.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 2,900

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Budget Analysts brief

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

National median pay (2025): $77,710
Route into the job: specialty-specific preparation that needs verification with programs and employers; the broader BLS occupation's education category is not a verified route for this specialty
Prior related experience: Prior experience requirements need verification for this occupation.
Training and licensing: Verify the specialty's training, licensing, and full preparation time with an accredited program or employer.
Work to investigate: Monitor and follow applicable laws and regulations.
Annual openings (2025–2035): 47,200

Know before you choose

Review the full career brief for day-to-day working conditions.

See the full Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products brief

How the national numbers differ

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products has the edge on annual openings

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products is at 47,200 annual openings, compared with 2,900 annual openings for Budget Analysts.

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products has the edge on projected growth

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products is at 6% projected growth, compared with 1.9% projected growth for Budget Analysts.

Budget Analysts has the edge on median pay

Budget Analysts is at $91,640, compared with $77,710 for Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products.

49.4/ 100

Budget Analysts

70.6/ 100

Purchasing Agents, Except Wholesale, Retail, and Farm Products

Each available metric is ranked from 0 to 100 against the careers on ChooseField. The weighted average uses this profile: pay 30%, growth 25%, openings 30%, preparation level 15%. Missing values are not scored as zero; their weights are redistributed across available metrics. Occupation size has zero weight: employment is not accessible vacancies. Preparation categories do not measure admission difficulty or years without earnings. The score summarizes national measures; local opportunities and personal fit still need separate consideration.

Detailed evidence