Skip to: Main Content / Navigation

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Add This
Market Research Jobs > Salary by Job Title > Senior Research Associate 

Senior research associate salary at a market research company

Note: The market research salary and compensation survey was conducted online in May 2011 among Quirk’s subscribers. We received 1,776 usable surveys from provider-side researchers (market research companies) and achieved an interval of 2.2 at the 95 percent confidence level. (Not all respondents answered all questions.) 

For a complete survey results follow the links below:
Client-side (corporate) market research salary survey results
Provider-side (research company) marketing research salary survey results 


Senior research associate salary by:

Region in which employee is located Base Bonus Total
North East (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) $65,000 $3,667 $68,667
Mid Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) $100,000 $5,000 $105,000
East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) $82,250 $2,500 $84,750
West North Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) $150,000 $0 $150,000
South Atlantic (DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV)      
East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN)      
West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) $43,000 $5,000 $48,000
Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY) $60,000 $4,000 $64,000
Pacific Coast (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) $65,000 $667 $65,667
Canada      
Mexico/Central and South America      
Europe $40,000 $5,000 $45,000
Asia $15,000 $2,000 $17,000
Middle East      
Africa      
Australia/New Zealand $70,000 $1,000 $71,000
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
 
   
Annual revenues/sales of organization Base Bonus Total
< $1 Million US dollars $81,000 $3,250 $84,250
$1M - $3M $59,000 $2,500 $61,500
$3M - $6M $42,000 $3,000 $45,000
$6M - $10M $108,000 $6,000 $114,000
$10M - $50M $105,000 $2,000 $107,000
$50M - $100M $80,000 $0 $80,000
$100M - $300M $54,500 $1,000 $55,500
$300M - $500M      
$500M - $1 Billion      
>$1 Billion US dollars      
Average $72,824 $2,625 $75,449
     
Number of full-time equivalent market researchers on staff Base Bonus Total
0      
1 - 2      
3 - 5 $109,500 $3,000 $112,500
6 - 10 $59,000 $2,500 $61,500
11 - 15 $52,500 $3,500 $56,000
16  - 25 $81,750 $4,750 $86,500
>25 $69,800 $1,556 $71,356
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
     
Number of  years of experience in marketing research Base Bonus Total
< 1 year      
1 - 2 $56,667 $3,000 $59,667
3 - 5 $52,571 $2,167 $54,738
6 - 10 $78,750 $2,750 $81,500
11 - 15 $120,000 $5,333 $125,333
16  - 25 $74,500 $0 $74,500
>25 $105,000 $2,000 $107,000
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
   
Amount of work time spent conducting, coordinating and analyzing marketing research Base Bonus Total
0%      
< 15%      
15% - 25% $40,000 $5,000 $45,000
26% - 50% $51,000 $3,000 $54,000
51% - 75% $101,000 $4,333 $105,333
> 75% $64,167 $1,545 $65,712
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
   
Number of employees supervised Base Bonus Total
0 (None) $71,182 $2,100 $73,282
1 - 2 $91,000 $3,250 $94,250
3 - 5 $63,667 $2,333 $66,000
6 - 10 $60,000 $4,000 $64,000
> 10 $69,000 $6,000 $75,000
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
     
Highest degree achieved Base Bonus Total
High-school graduate      
College graduate $65,091 $1,200 $66,291
Masters program graduate $76,250 $3,625 $79,875
Ph.D. graduate $141,000 $10,000 $151,000
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
   
Do you hold a marketing research industry certification? (Riva, Burke, PRC etc.) Base Bonus Total
Yes $88,750 $6,750 $95,500
No $69,500 $1,600 $71,100
Average $73,350 $2,684 $76,034
 
Gender Base Bonus Total
Male $59,286 $2,000 $61,286
Female $75,167 $3,250 $78,417
Average $69,316 $2,833 $72,149
   
Age Base Bonus Total
< 25 $45,000 $0 $45,000
25 - 30 $57,857 $2,833 $60,690
31 - 35 $55,400 $4,400 $59,800
36 - 45 $110,667 $3,333 $114,000
46 - 55 $108,000 $0 $108,000
56 - 65 $105,000 $2,000 $107,000
66+      
Average $69,316 $2,833 $72,149