The market research salary and compensation survey was conducted online from June 5 to June 23, 2017 among Quirk’s subscribers. In total we received 2,637 responses. We received 858 usable surveys from client-side researchers (corporate market research) and 1,422 usable surveys from provider-side researchers (market research company employees). An interval (margin of error) of 1.9 at the 95 percent confidence level was achieved. (Not all respondents answered all questions.)
For a complete survey results follow the link below:
Market research salaries by job title
Consultant salary by:
| Industry | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| Advertising/Public Relations | |||||||||||||
| Agriculture | |||||||||||||
| Automotive | 1 | 119,000 | 7,000 | 3,000 | 0 | 129,000 | |||||||
| Banking/Financial | 1 | 100,000 | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 106,000 | |||||||
| Building Materials/Products | |||||||||||||
| Computer Hardware/Software | |||||||||||||
| Construction/Housing | |||||||||||||
| Consulting | |||||||||||||
| Consumer Goods | 1 | 80,000 | 7,000 | 3,000 | 0 | 90,000 | |||||||
| Education | |||||||||||||
| Entertainment | |||||||||||||
| Food/Beverage | 1 | 70,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 81,000 | |||||||
| Government | 2 | 95,000 | 1,500 | 0 | 0 | 96,500 | |||||||
| Health Care/Pharmaceuticals | |||||||||||||
| Hospitality (hotels, etc.) | |||||||||||||
| Insurance | 3 | 107,667 | 8,333 | 333 | 1,667 | 118,000 | |||||||
| Manufacturing | |||||||||||||
| Media/Publishing/Information | |||||||||||||
| Non-Profits | |||||||||||||
| Retail | |||||||||||||
| Technology/IT/Web | |||||||||||||
| Telecommunications | |||||||||||||
| Transportation | |||||||||||||
| Travel | |||||||||||||
| Utilities/Energy | |||||||||||||
| Other | 1 | 91,000 | 7,000 | 0 | 0 | 98,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 10 | 97,300 | 5,900 | 700 | 1,200 | 105,100 | |||||||
| Region in which located | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| North East (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) | |||||||||||||
| Mid Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) | 2 | $121,000 | $3,500 | $2,000 | $0 | $126,500 | |||||||
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 1 | $91,000 | $7,000 | $0 | $0 | $98,000 | |||||||
| West N. Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | 1 | $97,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $97,000 | |||||||
| S. Atlantic (DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 3 | $100,000 | $8,333 | $0 | $3,667 | $112,000 | |||||||
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | |||||||||||||
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | |||||||||||||
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY) | |||||||||||||
| Pacific Coast (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | |||||||||||||
| Canada | 2 | $75,000 | $8,500 | $1,500 | $500 | $85,500 | |||||||
| Mexico | |||||||||||||
| Central and South America | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Europe | |||||||||||||
| Western Europe | |||||||||||||
| Asia | |||||||||||||
| Middle East | |||||||||||||
| Africa | |||||||||||||
| Australia/New Zealand | 1 | $93,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $96,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Annual revenue/sales of organization | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < $1 Million US dollars | |||||||||||||
| $1M - $3M | 1 | $80,000 | $7,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $90,000 | |||||||
| $3M - $6M | |||||||||||||
| $6M - $10M | |||||||||||||
| $10M - $50M | |||||||||||||
| $50M - $100M | |||||||||||||
| $100M - $300M | |||||||||||||
| $300M - $500M | |||||||||||||
| $500M - $1 Billion | |||||||||||||
| >$1 Billion US dollars | 7 | $100,714 | $6,429 | $571 | $1,714 | $109,429 | |||||||
| Mean | 8 | $98,125 | $6,500 | $875 | $1,500 | $107,000 | |||||||
| Number of full-time equivalent market researchers on staff | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 - 2 | 1 | $119,000 | $7,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $129,000 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | 4 | $97,750 | $6,250 | $1,000 | $0 | $105,000 | |||||||
| 6 - 10 | 2 | $98,500 | $0 | $0 | $3,000 | $101,500 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | 2 | $87,500 | $10,000 | $0 | $3,000 | $100,500 | |||||||
| 16 - 25 | |||||||||||||
| >25 | 1 | $91,000 | $7,000 | $0 | $0 | $98,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Number of years of experience in marketing research | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 1 year | |||||||||||||
| 1 - 2 | 1 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $6,000 | $106,000 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | 1 | $70,000 | $10,000 | $0 | $1,000 | $81,000 | |||||||
| 6 - 10 | 2 | $87,500 | $11,000 | $1,500 | $0 | $100,000 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | 1 | $93,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $96,000 | |||||||
| 16 - 25 | 5 | $107,000 | $4,800 | $800 | $1,000 | $113,600 | |||||||
| >25 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Years at current job | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 1 year | 2 | $102,500 | $5,000 | $0 | $5,500 | $113,000 | |||||||
| 1 - 2 | |||||||||||||
| 3 - 5 | 3 | $104,333 | $1,000 | $333 | $0 | $105,667 | |||||||
| 6 - 10 | 4 | $96,250 | $9,000 | $1,500 | $0 | $106,750 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | 1 | $70,000 | $10,000 | $0 | $1,000 | $81,000 | |||||||
| 16 - 25 | |||||||||||||
| >25 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Number of employees supervised | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| 0 (None) | 7 | $96,429 | $5,286 | $429 | $1,714 | $103,857 | |||||||
| 1 - 2 | 2 | $87,500 | $11,000 | $1,500 | $0 | $100,000 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | 1 | $123,000 | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $124,000 | |||||||
| 6 - 10 | |||||||||||||
| > 10 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Highest degree achieved | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| High-school graduate | |||||||||||||
| College graduate | 2 | $87,500 | $10,000 | $0 | $3,000 | $100,500 | |||||||
| Masters program graduate | 8 | $99,750 | $4,875 | $875 | $750 | $106,250 | |||||||
| Ph.D. graduate | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| Male | 5 | $96,400 | $9,000 | $600 | $1,200 | $107,200 | |||||||
| Female | 5 | $98,200 | $2,800 | $800 | $1,200 | $103,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
| Age | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 25 | |||||||||||||
| 25 - 30 | 1 | $100,000 | $0 | $0 | $6,000 | $106,000 | |||||||
| 31 - 35 | |||||||||||||
| 36 - 45 | 6 | $92,000 | $7,000 | $667 | $167 | $99,833 | |||||||
| 46 - 55 | 1 | $97,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $97,000 | |||||||
| 56 - 65 | 2 | $112,000 | $8,500 | $1,500 | $2,500 | $124,500 | |||||||
| 66+ | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 10 | $97,300 | $5,900 | $700 | $1,200 | $105,100 | |||||||
*Bonus was defined as bonus or commission for 2016 in US dollars.
*Dividends were defined as compensation in the form of dividends, stock options or profit sharing in US dollars for 2016.
*Other was defined as annual value of other compensation (company car, health club membership, mobile phone etc.) in US dollars.