The market research salary and compensation survey is based on data gathered from an invite-only online survey sent to pre-qualified marketing research subscribers of Quirk’s and members of ESOMAR.
The survey was fielded from June 6 to June 28, 2018. In total there were 3,483 respondents. We received 966 usable surveys from client-side researchers (corporate market research) and 1,708 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
Marketing manager salary by:
| Industry | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| Advertising/Public Relations | 1 | $128,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $128,000 |
| Agriculture | ||||||
| Automotive | ||||||
| Banking/Financial | 1 | $162,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $165,000 |
| Building Materials/Products | 1 | $102,000 | $6,000 | $0 | $0 | $108,000 |
| Computer Hardware/Software | ||||||
| Construction/Housing | ||||||
| Consulting | ||||||
| Consumer Goods | ||||||
| Education | 1 | $64,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $64,000 |
| Entertainment | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| Food/Beverage | ||||||
| Government | 1 | $109,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $109,000 |
| Health Care/Pharmaceuticals | ||||||
| Hospitality (hotels, etc.) | ||||||
| Insurance | 1 | $140,000 | $6,000 | $0 | $0 | $146,000 |
| Manufacturing | ||||||
| Media/Publishing/Information | ||||||
| Non-Profits | 1 | $74,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $74,000 |
| Retail | ||||||
| Technology/IT/Web | ||||||
| Telecommunications | ||||||
| Transportation | 1 | $125,000 | $19,000 | $10,000 | $2,000 | $156,000 |
| Travel | ||||||
| Utilities/Energy | 1 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $20,000 |
| Other | ||||||
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Region in which located | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| North East (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) | ||||||
| Mid Atlantic (NJ, NY, PA) | 1 | $102,000 | $6,000 | $0 | $0 | $108,000 |
| East North Central (IL, IN, MI, OH, WI) | 2 | $132,500 | $12,500 | $5,000 | $1,000 | $151,000 |
| West N. Central (IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD) | ||||||
| S. Atlantic (DC, DE, FL, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) | 2 | $118,500 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $118,500 |
| East South Central (AL, KY, MS, TN) | 1 | $74,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $74,000 |
| West South Central (AR, LA, OK, TX) | 1 | $162,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $165,000 |
| Mountain (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NM, NV, UT, WY) | 1 | $64,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $64,000 |
| Pacific Coast (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA) | ||||||
| Canada | ||||||
| Mexico | ||||||
| Central and South America | 1 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $20,000 |
| Eastern Europe | ||||||
| Western Europe | ||||||
| Asia | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| Middle East | ||||||
| Africa | ||||||
| Australia/New Zealand | ||||||
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Annual revenue/sales of organization | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| < $1 Million US dollars | ||||||
| $1M - $3M | 1 | $64,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $64,000 |
| $3M - $6M | ||||||
| $6M - $10M | ||||||
| $10M - $50M | 1 | $109,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $109,000 |
| $50M - $100M | 1 | $128,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $128,000 |
| $100M - $300M | ||||||
| $300M - $500M | ||||||
| $500M - $1 Billion | 3 | $93,000 | $8,000 | $3,333 | $2,000 | $106,333 |
| >$1 Billion US dollars | 4 | $102,250 | $6,250 | $1,250 | $0 | $109,750 |
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Number of full-time equivalent market researchers on staff | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| 0 | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| 1 - 2 | 3 | $120,667 | $6,333 | $3,333 | $667 | $131,000 |
| 3 - 5 | 3 | $80,000 | $2,000 | $0 | $0 | $82,000 |
| 6 - 10 | 1 | $140,000 | $6,000 | $0 | $0 | $146,000 |
| 11 - 15 | ||||||
| 16 - 25 | 1 | $162,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $165,000 |
| >25 | 1 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $20,000 |
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Number of years of experience in marketing research | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| < 1 year | 1 | $140,000 | $6,000 | $0 | $0 | $146,000 |
| 1 - 2 | 1 | $128,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $128,000 |
| 3 - 5 | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| 6 - 10 | ||||||
| 11 - 15 | 3 | $100,333 | $8,333 | $3,333 | $667 | $112,667 |
| 16 - 25 | 3 | $77,000 | $4,333 | $1,667 | $0 | $83,000 |
| >25 | 1 | $109,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $109,000 |
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Years at current job | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| < 1 year | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| 1 - 2 | 1 | $162,000 | $3,000 | $0 | $0 | $165,000 |
| 3 - 5 | 5 | $113,800 | $6,200 | $2,000 | $400 | $122,400 |
| 6 - 10 | 2 | $57,000 | $5,000 | $2,500 | $0 | $64,500 |
| 11 - 15 | 1 | $64,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $64,000 |
| 16 - 25 | ||||||
| >25 | ||||||
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Number of employees supervised | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| 0 (None) | 1 | $80,000 | $5,000 | $0 | $4,000 | $89,000 |
| 1 - 2 | 4 | $116,500 | $2,250 | $0 | $0 | $118,750 |
| 3 - 5 | 2 | $86,500 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $86,500 |
| 6 - 10 | 1 | $125,000 | $19,000 | $10,000 | $2,000 | $156,000 |
| > 10 | 2 | $72,500 | $8,000 | $2,500 | $0 | $83,000 |
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Highest degree achieved | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| High-school graduate | ||||||
| College graduate | 4 | $118,250 | $7,500 | $2,500 | $1,500 | $129,750 |
| Masters program graduate | 6 | $86,000 | $3,167 | $833 | $0 | $90,000 |
| Ph.D. graduate | ||||||
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Gender | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| Male | 6 | $93,500 | $7,667 | $2,500 | $1,000 | $104,667 |
| Female | 4 | $107,000 | $750 | $0 | $0 | $107,750 |
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
| Age | ||||||
| Count | Base | Bonus | Div.* | Other* | Total | |
| < 25 | ||||||
| 25 - 30 | ||||||
| 31 - 35 | 2 | $77,000 | $2,500 | $0 | $2,000 | $81,500 |
| 36 - 45 | 5 | $84,800 | $7,000 | $3,000 | $400 | $95,200 |
| 46 - 55 | 2 | $151,000 | $4,500 | $0 | $0 | $155,500 |
| 56 - 65 | 1 | $109,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $109,000 |
| 66+ | ||||||
| Mean | 10 | $98,900 | $4,900 | $1,500 | $600 | $105,900 |
*Bonus was defined as bonus or commission for 2017 in US dollars.
*Dividends were defined as compensation in the form of dividends, stock options or profit sharing in US dollars for 2017.
*Other was defined as annual value of other compensation (company car, health club membership, mobile phone etc.) in US dollars.