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How many levels do business analysis ladders have?

Data collected on

We read 22 business analysis ladders that public employers and companies publish for their own staff and counted their levels. The median is 3 levels for business analysts who do not manage people, and 3 is the most common count. Every source is linked below, and the data is free to download.

Key findings

  • Ladders run from 1 to 6 levels. The median is 3, and 9 of the 22 ladders use exactly 3.
  • 7 of the 22 ladders have a Senior level. Its median position is step 3 from the bottom.
  • 13 ladders publish a separate track for managers. The 10 that say where it starts put it between step 2 and step 5, and the median is step 4.
  • In 3 of 4 ladders that have both a Senior level and a placed manager track, management starts at the Senior level or later.

How many levels business analysis ladders have

Each bar is the number of ladders with that many levels for business analysts who do not manage people.

  • 1 level1 ladder
  • 2 levels2 ladders
  • 3 levels9 ladders
  • 4 levels5 ladders
  • 5 levels3 ladders
  • 6 levels2 ladders

Which titles the ladders use

The bars cover the 22 ladders whose levels are job titles. One ladder can use several of these words.

  • Associate or Junior3 of 22
  • Senior7 of 22
  • Lead3 of 22
  • Principal2 of 22

Senior counts a level titled Senior or Sr., not Senior Staff or Senior Principal.

Where the manager track starts

This chart shows the step, counted from the bottom of each ladder, where the first people-manager role sits. It covers the 10 ladders that say where it starts. Of the rest, 3 have a manager track but do not say where it starts and 9 do not say whether they have one.

  • Step 22 ladders
  • Step 32 ladders
  • Step 44 ladders
  • Step 52 ladders

Download the data

One row per ladder: its name, who publishes it, the source link, the number of levels, the level names, the manager track and the step it starts at.

Download the CSV

All 22 ladders

Levels for business analysts who do not manage people, lowest first, as each publisher names them.
LadderLevelsLevel namesManager track
Boise State UniversityPublic employer3
  1. Enterprise Business Analyst 1
  2. Enterprise Business Analyst 2
  3. Enterprise Business Analyst 3
Separate; start not stated
Butte County, CaliforniaPublic employer3
  1. Business Systems Analyst I
  2. Business Systems Analyst II
  3. Business Systems Analyst III
Separate; start not stated
California State UniversityPublic employer4
  1. Business Systems Analyst I
  2. Business Systems Analyst II
  3. Business Systems Analyst III
  4. Business Systems Analyst IV
Not stated
City of PortlandPublic employer3
  1. Business Systems Analyst I
  2. Business Systems Analyst II
  3. Business Systems Analyst III
Not stated
City of TacomaPublic employer3
  1. Business Analyst I
  2. Business Analyst II
  3. Business Analyst III
Not stated
Commonwealth of PennsylvaniaPublic employer2
  1. Business Analyst 1
  2. Business Analyst 2
Separate, above the top level (step 3)
County of Orange, CaliforniaPublic employer3
  1. Information Technology Business Analyst I
  2. Information Technology Business Analyst II
  3. Senior Information Technology Business Analyst
Separate, above the top level (step 4)
County of San Luis Obispo, CaliforniaPublic employer3
  1. Business Systems Analyst I
  2. Business Systems Analyst II
  3. Business Systems Analyst III
Not stated
County of Santa Clara, CaliforniaPublic employer2
  1. Associate IT Business Analyst
  2. IT Business Analyst
Not stated
GitLab6
  1. Business Systems Specialist
  2. Business Systems Analyst
  3. Senior Business Systems Analyst
  4. Staff Business Systems Analyst
  5. Principal Business Systems Analyst
  6. Distinguished Business Systems Architect
Not stated
Made Tech3
  1. Business Analyst
  2. Senior Business Analyst
  3. Lead Business Analyst
Separate, above the top level (step 4)
New York StatePublic employer1
  1. Business Systems Analyst 1
Separate, above the top level (step 2)
North Dakota Court SystemPublic employer(read from the Internet Archive copy)3
  1. Business Analyst I
  2. Business Analyst II
  3. Business Analyst III
Not stated
Penn State UniversityPublic employer4
  1. Business Analyst – Intermediate Professional
  2. Business Analyst – Advanced Professional
  3. Business Analyst – Senior Professional
  4. Business Analyst – Principal Professional
Separate, from step 2 (level with Business Analyst – Advanced Professional)
State of ColoradoPublic employer(read from the Internet Archive copy)6
  1. IT Business Analyst I
  2. IT Business Analyst II
  3. IT Business Analyst III
  4. IT Business Analyst IV
  5. IT Business Analyst V
  6. IT Business Analyst VI
Separate, from step 5 (level with IT Business Analyst V)
State of GeorgiaPublic employer4
  1. IT Business Analyst 1
  2. IT Business Analyst 2
  3. IT Business Analyst 3
  4. IT Business Analyst 4
Separate, above the top level (step 5)
State of NevadaPublic employer(read from the Internet Archive copy)3
  1. Business Process Analyst I
  2. Business Process Analyst II
  3. Business Process Analyst III
Separate, from step 3 (level with Business Process Analyst III)
State of TexasPublic employer(read from the Internet Archive copy)5
  1. IT Business Analyst I
  2. IT Business Analyst II
  3. IT Business Analyst III
  4. IT Business Analyst IV
  5. IT Business Analyst V
Not stated
State of WashingtonPublic employer4
  1. IT BUSINESS ANALYST - ENTRY
  2. IT BUSINESS ANALYST - JOURNEY
  3. IT BUSINESS ANALYST - SENIOR/SPECIALIST
  4. IT BUSINESS ANALYST - EXPERT
Separate, from step 4 (level with IT BUSINESS ANALYST - EXPERT)
UC San FranciscoPublic employer(read from the Internet Archive copy)5
  1. Business Systems Analyst 1
  2. Business Systems Analyst 2
  3. Business Systems Analyst 3
  4. Business Systems Analyst 4
  5. Business Systems Analyst 5
Separate, from step 4 (level with Business Systems Analyst 4)
UK Government Digital and Data ProfessionPublic employer4
  1. Junior business analyst
  2. Business analyst
  3. Senior business analyst
  4. Lead business analyst
Not stated
University of MichiganPublic employer5
  1. Business Systems Analyst Associate
  2. Business Systems Analyst Intermediate
  3. Business Systems Analyst Senior
  4. Business Systems Analyst Lead
  5. Business Systems Analyst Staff Specialist
Separate; start not stated

How we did it

We read 22 business analysis ladders that their publishers use for their own staff: 2 from companies and 20 from public employers, on their own sites or in documents they publish. We kept only those whose levels we could read as text. We left out templates written by individuals, professional bodies’ standards and ladders only for data analysts, product managers or project managers.

Levels are the steps a business analyst can climb without managing people, lowest first. Interns and trainees are left out. When a ladder splits one title into numbered steps, each with its own expectations (like “IT Business Analyst I” and “II”), each step counts. Pay bands inside one level do not. A level above both tracks that the ladder does not open to individual contributors is not counted.

The manager track starts where the ladder puts its first people-manager role: the same band or level number, the same row of its table, or the step where it says the tracks split. When that role sits above the top level, it counts as the next step up. When a ladder has a manager track but does not place it, we do not guess.

Title shares only count ladders whose levels are job titles. A level counts as Senior when its title says Senior or Sr., but not Senior Staff or Senior Principal. Associate or Junior counts a title that says either word. Lead and Principal count only as whole words.

This is a sample of the ladders people chose to publish, mostly from US state and local governments and public universities, and some are several years old. It shows what public ladders look like, not what every employer does. Where a live page was gone or blocked automated reading, we read the Internet Archive copy, and the table says so.

We store only public facts: how many levels a ladder has, what the levels are called and where the manager track starts. Each ladder belongs to its publisher, so follow the links for the full text. None of them has reviewed or endorsed this study, and Competrace is not affiliated with them.

Spotted a mistake, or a public ladder we missed? Email support@competrace.com with the link, and we will update the data.

See levels with their skills

The study counts levels. To see what each level needs, browse our business analysis career path with the skills each level expects, or read what a career ladder is.

Other levels studies