Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists salary

SOC 13-1161 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$78,760

per year, nationally

Middle half

$58,350–$108,310

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

899,580

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+6.7%

87,200 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$43,390$155,480

10th: $43,390
25th: $58,350
Median: $78,760
75th: $108,310
90th: $155,480

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where market research analysts and marketing specialists earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Massachusetts	$101,810	105.8	39,710	1.89×
2	Delaware	$101,270	99.8	3,570	1.27×
3	New York	$98,580	107.9	80,500	1.44×
4	District of Columbia	$98,090	109.9	6,340	1.56×
5	Washington	$95,120	107.0	24,460	1.19×
6	California	$94,700	110.7	119,070	1.13×
7	Colorado	$93,050	103.1	27,880	1.68×
8	New Jersey	$88,190	108.8	22,990	0.93×
9	Minnesota	$87,510	98.6	21,280	1.25×
10	Rhode Island	$86,240	102.3	3,210	1.11×
11	Oregon	$79,150	103.4	11,310	0.99×
12	Illinois	$79,120	100.0	40,560	1.15×
13	North Carolina	$78,410	94.3	30,700	1.07×
14	Connecticut	$77,740	103.6	9,930	1.01×
15	Virginia	$76,980	101.1	25,610	1.08×
16	Maryland	$76,370	105.0	13,570	0.85×
17	Georgia	$75,850	96.3	27,810	0.98×
18	Florida	$75,450	103.4	60,770	1.06×
19	Vermont	$74,880	98.0	860	0.49×
20	Ohio	$72,790	92.8	27,370	0.85×
21	Texas	$72,520	97.1	63,350	0.78×
22	Maine	$71,980	97.0	2,390	0.64×
23	Arizona	$71,940	100.7	15,850	0.85×
24	Nevada	$71,840	100.0	5,780	0.64×
25	Kansas	$70,430	90.1	8,090	0.97×
26	Missouri	$70,140	90.8	14,890	0.88×
27	Tennessee	$69,790	91.9	13,040	0.69×
28	South Carolina	$69,440	93.7	11,920	0.89×
29	Pennsylvania	$68,760	97.6	31,040	0.88×
30	Montana	$68,080	94.6	1,460	0.49×
31	Michigan	$66,780	96.2	24,220	0.95×
32	Alaska	$66,710	102.4	570	0.31×
33	Iowa	$66,390	87.8	8,880	0.98×
34	Arkansas	$65,430	86.9	6,250	0.83×
35	Wisconsin	$64,800	94.1	15,600	0.92×
36	New Hampshire	$64,570	104.2	4,200	1.06×
37	Indiana	$63,700	93.3	14,400	0.78×
38	South Dakota	$63,490	88.6	1,530	0.58×
39	Utah	$62,630	98.9	14,510	1.44×
40	New Mexico	$61,950	92.2	1,610	0.32×
41	Oklahoma	$61,940	87.8	6,620	0.67×
42	North Dakota	$61,580	89.0	1,550	0.62×
43	Kentucky	$61,480	90.2	6,290	0.54×
44	Wyoming	$60,990	92.7	850	0.52×
45	Idaho	$60,970	95.5	3,780	0.76×
46	Nebraska	$60,000	90.1	3,780	0.64×
47	Louisiana	$59,690	88.2	5,360	0.48×
48	Alabama	$59,530	88.8	8,390	0.69×
49	Hawaii	$59,390	110.0	1,610	0.44×
50	Mississippi	$56,640	87.0	2,620	0.39×
51	West Virginia	$52,340	89.5	1,650	0.41×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where market research analysts and marketing specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for market research analysts and marketing specialists

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$141,960	110.4	12,710	1.94×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$123,250	115.6	24,120	1.76×
3	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$102,390	108.3	32,310	2.07×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$102,170	111.1	18,030	1.49×
5	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$100,520	112.6	79,290	1.44×
6	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$99,040	105.8	17,000	1.83×
7	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$97,910	104.8	16,760	1.48×
8	Boulder, CO	$97,600	105.2	3,130	2.81×
9	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$93,110	97.6	2,740	1.38×
10	Worcester, MA	$90,300	102.5	2,030	1.00×
11	Colorado Springs, CO	$90,210	100.7	2,680	1.46×
12	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$87,160	108.9	21,090	1.16×
13	Springfield, MA	$85,970	96.1	1,050	0.90×
14	Greeley, CO	$85,830	100.2	780	1.13×
15	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$85,350	105.4	8,130	1.16×
16	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$83,960	101.8	4,080	0.99×
17	Rochester, MN	$83,030	90.8	320	0.45×
18	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$83,000	91.4	2,590	1.63×
19	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$82,990	113.6	39,390	1.09×
20	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$82,930	97.3	9,500	1.21×
21	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$82,110	103.2	1,140	0.82×
22	Richmond, VA	$81,660	97.9	4,550	1.19×
23	Napa, CA	$81,440	112.6	390	0.87×
24	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$81,030	106.9	3,460	1.48×
25	Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX	$80,460	98.1	8,270	1.11×
26	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$80,400	103.6	30,970	1.19×
27	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$80,100	110.5	1,570	0.84×
28	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$79,910	103.7	620	0.83×
29	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$79,710	108.8	960	0.82×
30	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$79,440	111.9	—	—
31	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$79,420	102.6	17,600	1.05×
32	Barnstable Town, MA	$79,150	98.4	440	0.80×
33	Dalton, GA	$79,040	89.8	260	0.69×
34	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$79,030	100.1	19,920	1.19×
35	Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	$78,990	114.2	—	—
36	Raleigh-Cary, NC	$78,980	98.2	6,470	1.50×
37	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$78,880	109.9	440	0.77×
38	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$78,810	107.8	960	0.81×
39	Ithaca, NY	$78,810	103.3	240	0.86×
40	Peoria, IL	$78,700	91.2	1,080	1.13×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where market research analysts and marketing specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Business Operations Specialists, All Other$83,050
Project Management Specialists$102,320
Human Resources Specialists$75,940
Management Analysts$101,860
Buyers and Purchasing Agents$77,710
Training and Development Specialists$69,280
Compliance Officers$80,730
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators$78,000

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where market research analysts and marketing specialists earn the most

Best paying metro areas for market research analysts and marketing specialists

Similar occupations

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