Financial risk manager salary: US and UK data

In May 2025, financial risk specialists in the US earned a median of US$117,330 a year. Risk managers count as financial managers there, a broader group with a median of US$166,570. In the UK, full-time risk analysts sit in an occupation group with a median of £56,203 and risk managers in one with £63,046 for the year to April 2026. All are figures for occupations from government surveys, not the effect of the FRM® certification or any other qualification. (BLS, OEWS May 2025) (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Managers) (ONS, ASHE 2026 provisional, Table 14)

If you are weighing the FRM® Exam or a move into a risk team, it is fair to ask what the work pays. The honest answer is a range, and for risk it needs one extra step: finding where risk jobs sit in each country’s statistics. This page takes that step in the open, with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), and says where the fit is loose.

How much do financial risk specialists earn in the US?

The BLS describes financial risk specialists, also called financial risk analysts, as people who assess and measure exposure to credit and market risk. (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook) In its survey of employers, the middle half earned between US$83,980 and US$158,250 a year; one in ten earned less than US$64,820 and one in ten more than US$196,110. (BLS, OEWS May 2025)

Read the figures with what the survey counts. BLS wages are straight-time gross pay: commissions and production bonuses are included, year-end and other non-production bonuses are not, and annual figures assume a full-time year of 2,080 hours. (BLS, OEWS questions and answers) In banks and trading firms, where year-end bonuses are common, total pay can be well above the table. BLS data are in the public domain.

What do risk managers earn in the US?

The BLS has no separate occupation for risk managers. Its handbook lists them as one type of financial manager – people who use strategies to limit or offset an organisation’s chance of financial loss – next to controllers, treasurers, credit managers, cash managers and insurance managers. (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Managers) The pay of the whole group is therefore a rough guide for a head of market or credit risk, not a measure of that job.

The handbook says financial managers typically need a bachelor’s degree and five years or more of experience in a related occupation, such as financial analyst. It calls professional certification not required, but a sign of competence for those who hold one. (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Managers)

Where do risk jobs sit in UK statistics?

The ONS sorts jobs with the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC 2020), and it has no group called “risk”. Its coding index – the list that assigns job titles to groups – puts each risk title into a broader group. We looked up the common titles in the version of 27 August 2026: (ONS, SOC 2020 coding index)

A UK figure for “risk managers” is therefore a figure for a group in which risk managers are one title among many: group 2440 is named after business and financial project management, group 2431 after management consultants and business analysts. Read the next table as the neighbourhood risk jobs live in, not as risk pay itself.

How much do risk analysts and risk managers earn in the UK?

The figures are annual gross pay of full-time employees who have been in the same job for more than a year, for the tax year ending 5 April 2026. They are provisional; the ONS revises them a year later. Both medians are precise by the ONS’s own measure (coefficients of variation of 3.0% and 2.2%). The 90th percentile of group 2431 has a coefficient of 17%, which the ONS rates only as acceptable, so treat it with care. (ONS, ASHE 2026 provisional, Table 14) Credit risk analysts are coded with finance and investment analysts and advisers (2422), whose median in the same table is £53,940. Source: Office for National Statistics, under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Why is there no salary figure for holders of the FRM® certification?

Occupation data, not the effect of a qualification. Neither the BLS nor the ONS records which qualifications employees hold, so neither can say what the FRM® certification adds to pay. A survey that compares holders with everyone else mixes in experience, employer, city and role – people who finish two exams and two years of risk work are already further into a risk career. That is why we give no “premium” in per cent. If you see one elsewhere, ask who answered the survey and whether people with similar experience were compared.

How does pay change from risk analyst to head of risk?

• Analyst or specialist. In the US the median for financial risk specialists is US$117,330; in the UK, risk analysts sit in a group with a median of £56,203. (BLS, OEWS May 2025) (ONS, ASHE 2026 provisional, Table 14)
• Manager. US financial managers, the group that includes risk managers, typically have five years or more of experience behind them; their median is US$166,570. (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Managers) In the UK, risk managers and chief risk officers are both coded to group 2440, median £63,046, so the UK data cannot separate the two levels. (ONS, SOC 2020 coding index)
• Demand. The BLS projects employment of financial risk specialists to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, from about 66,000 to 70,800 jobs, and of financial managers 10%. (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook) (BLS, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Financial Managers)

What does this mean for you?

• Compare an offer with the percentiles, not the mean. A few very high earners pull the mean up; the median is the middle job. The finance salary explorer shows where a salary sits.
• Treat the UK groups as a neighbourhood. They include many jobs that are not in risk, so a risk offer can sit well above or below them.
• Ask about the bonus. The US figures leave out year-end bonuses; compare base salary with base salary.
• Count the experience, not only the exams. In both countries the step to manager comes with years of work; the certification itself needs two years of risk experience too – see the FRM® certification path.
• Check the payback before you pay. Set the cost of the exams against a realistic change in your pay in is the FRM® certification worth it?

What are the common mistakes with risk salary data?

• Reading the median of an occupation as the pay of a new graduate: the surveys cover every stage of a career.
• Quoting a UK “risk manager salary” without saying which occupation group it comes from.
• Converting US dollars into pounds and comparing: tax, cost of living and what each survey counts as pay differ.
• Taking a figure from a recruiter’s or a training provider’s survey as typical without knowing who answered it.
• Treating occupation pay as the pay rise a qualification brings.

For investment roles, see what investment analysts earn; to weigh risk against investment work, see the CFA® Program or FRM® Exam comparison.

High Performer Certs is an independent study platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by CFA Institute or the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP). We are not a CFA Institute Prep Provider and not a GARP Exam Preparation Provider. CFA Institute does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy or quality of our products and services. GARP does not endorse, promote, review or warrant the accuracy of our products or services. All questions and explanations are our own original material and contain no CFA Institute or GARP exam, curriculum or practice questions. CFA®, Chartered Financial Analyst®, CIPM® and GIPS® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute. FRM® and GARP® are trademarks owned by the Global Association of Risk Professionals.