Occupation salary profile

Survey Researchers

SOC 19-3022 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Plan, develop, or conduct surveys. May analyze and interpret the meaning of survey data, determine survey objectives, or suggest or test question wording. Includes social scientists who primarily design questionnaires or supervise survey teams. Excludes “Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists” (13-1161) and “Statisticians” (15-2041).

National median · BLS
$69,460
▲ +9.59% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$66,500
▼ -24.28% YoY · 110 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$79,580
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
8,290
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Survey Researchers

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 110 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$39,260$48,458
25th$51,270$56,220
Median (50th)$69,460$66,500
75th$99,760$114,754
90th — top pay$130,860$176,130
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $66,500 for Survey Researchers — 4.3% below the BLS national median of $69,460.

Hourly ⇄ annual pay

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Survey Researchers

BLS projects employment of survey researchers to decline 4.8% from 2025 to 2035, while employment across all occupations grows 3.5%. About 600 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
9,800 → 9,300
-500 jobs
Projected change
-4.8%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
600
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Master's degree
No related experience required
Self-employed
9.6% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 5)
Extensive Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Fastest-declining jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a master's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $66,500
Change vs prior year -24.28%
After inflation (CPI-U) -26.58%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 46 41.8% $48,500 $56,280 $61,377
Level II 24 21.8% $62,884 $66,769 $92,351
Level III 19 17.3% $84,720 $98,000 $188,500
Level IV 12 10.9% $117,018 $122,693 $208,674
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Survey Researchers

The 1 most-filed job titles inside SOC 19-3022, from 110 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Survey Researcher 10 9.09% $48,402 $48,402 $49,540 -3.2%

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Survey Researchers

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.3
  • Critical Thinking4.3
  • Reading Comprehension4.3
  • Speaking4.3
  • Writing4.3
  • Mathematics4.0
  • Active Learning3.9
  • Complex Problem Solving3.9
  • Judgment and Decision Making3.8
  • Coordination3.4
Top knowledge areas
  • English Language4.6
  • Sociology and Anthropology3.9
  • Mathematics3.7
  • Computers and Electronics3.6
  • Administration and Management3.5
  • Customer and Personal Service3.5
  • Psychology3.5
  • Administrative3.1
Software and technology used
IBM SPSS StatisticsMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft PowerPointPythonRSASQualtrics InsightREDCap Research Electronic Data CaptureStataCorp StataC++Extensible markup language XMLJavaScriptMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft Active Server Pages ASPMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft TeamsMicrosoft Word

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What survey researchers do

  • Conduct surveys and collect data, using methods such as interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, market analysis surveys, public opinion polls, literature reviews, and file reviews.
  • Prepare and present summaries and analyses of survey data, including tables, graphs, and fact sheets that describe survey techniques and results.
  • Consult with clients to identify survey needs and specific requirements, such as special samples.
  • Determine and specify details of survey projects, including sources of information, procedures to be used, and the design of survey instruments and materials.
  • Support, plan, and coordinate operations for single or multiple surveys.
  • Monitor and evaluate survey progress and performance, using sample disposition reports and response rate calculations.
  • Collaborate with other researchers in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of surveys.
  • Conduct research to gather information about survey topics.
Also called
Research AssociateResearch ScientistSurvey MethodologistSurvey ResearcherData AnalystMarket Survey RepresentativeResearch FellowResearch InterviewerSurvey StatisticianTelephone Interviewer
More job titles for this occupation (24)
Analytic MethodologistBilingual Field InterviewerData Collection SpecialistData CollectorEvaluation AnalystField CollectorField Data CollectorField InterviewerField RepresentativeInterviewerPollsterProctorResearch CoordinatorResearch SpecialistResearcherRetail Data CollectorScreening Field InterviewerSurvey AnalystSurvey AssociateSurvey InterviewerSurvey Questionnaire DesignerSurvey Research AnalystSurvey Research AssociateTelephone Survey Interviewer

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.