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
Research associate salary by:
| Region in which located | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| North East (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) | 2 | $54,500 | $4,000 | $0 | $0 | $58,500 | |||||||
| Mid Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) | 1 | $70,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $70,000 | |||||||
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 3 | $48,000 | $0 | $667 | $0 | $48,667 | |||||||
| West N. Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | |||||||||||||
| S. Atlantic (DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 2 | $50,000 | $4,500 | $0 | $2,000 | $56,500 | |||||||
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | |||||||||||||
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | |||||||||||||
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY) | 2 | $57,500 | $1,000 | $0 | $2,500 | $61,000 | |||||||
| Pacific Coast (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | 1 | $90,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $90,000 | |||||||
| Canada | |||||||||||||
| Mexico | |||||||||||||
| Central and South America | |||||||||||||
| Eastern Europe | |||||||||||||
| Western Europe | |||||||||||||
| Asia | |||||||||||||
| Middle East | |||||||||||||
| Africa | 1 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | |||||||
| Australia/New Zealand | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Annual revenue/sales of organization | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < $1 Million US dollars | |||||||||||||
| $1M - $3M | 6 | $52,500 | $1,500 | $0 | $667 | $54,667 | |||||||
| $3M - $6M | |||||||||||||
| $6M - $10M | |||||||||||||
| $10M - $50M | 4 | $55,000 | $2,500 | $500 | $1,250 | $59,250 | |||||||
| $50M - $100M | |||||||||||||
| $100M - $300M | 1 | $46,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $46,000 | |||||||
| $300M - $500M | |||||||||||||
| $500M - $1 Billion | |||||||||||||
| >$1 Billion US dollars | 1 | $47,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $47,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Number of full-time equivalent market researchers on staff | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1 - 2 | |||||||||||||
| 3 - 5 | |||||||||||||
| 6 - 10 | 1 | $44,000 | $4,000 | $0 | $0 | $48,000 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | 2 | $27,500 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $27,500 | |||||||
| 16 - 25 | 1 | $56,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $65,000 | |||||||
| >25 | 8 | $59,125 | $1,250 | $250 | $625 | $61,250 | |||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Number of years of experience in marketing research | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 1 year | 2 | $61,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $61,000 | |||||||
| 1 - 2 | 5 | $38,400 | $1,800 | $400 | $800 | $41,400 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | 2 | $53,000 | $1,000 | $0 | $2,500 | $56,500 | |||||||
| 6 - 10 | 1 | $55,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $55,000 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | |||||||||||||
| 16 - 25 | 2 | $76,500 | $4,000 | $0 | $0 | $80,500 | |||||||
| >25 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Years at current job | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 1 year | 5 | $54,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $54,000 | |||||||
| 1 - 2 | 6 | $49,167 | $1,833 | $333 | $1,500 | $52,833 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | |||||||||||||
| 6 - 10 | 1 | $63,000 | $8,000 | $0 | $0 | $71,000 | |||||||
| 11 - 15 | |||||||||||||
| 16 - 25 | |||||||||||||
| >25 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Number of employees supervised | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| 0 (None) | 10 | $49,300 | $1,900 | $0 | $900 | $52,100 | |||||||
| 1 - 2 | 2 | $67,500 | $0 | $1,000 | $0 | $68,500 | |||||||
| 3 - 5 | |||||||||||||
| 6 - 10 | |||||||||||||
| > 10 | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Highest degree achieved | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| High-school graduate | |||||||||||||
| College graduate | 8 | $43,625 | $750 | $250 | $625 | $45,250 | |||||||
| Masters program graduate | 1 | $63,000 | $8,000 | $0 | $0 | $71,000 | |||||||
| Ph.D. graduate | 3 | $72,000 | $1,667 | $0 | $1,333 | $75,000 | |||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| Male | 5 | $53,600 | $400 | $400 | $1,000 | $55,400 | |||||||
| Female | 7 | $51,429 | $2,429 | $0 | $571 | $54,429 | |||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
| Age | |||||||||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | ||||||||
| < 25 | 1 | $52,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $52,000 | |||||||
| 25 - 30 | 7 | $42,429 | $857 | $286 | $714 | $44,286 | |||||||
| 31 - 35 | 1 | $70,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $70,000 | |||||||
| 36 - 45 | 2 | $59,500 | $6,500 | $0 | $2,000 | $68,000 | |||||||
| 46 - 55 | 1 | $90,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $90,000 | |||||||
| 56 - 65 | |||||||||||||
| 66+ | |||||||||||||
| Mean | 12 | $52,333 | $1,583 | $167 | $750 | $54,833 | |||||||
*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.