Survey researchers
Salary, job outlook, AI risk & career information
Survey researchers in the United States earn a median salary of $69,460 per year — about $33 per hour, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Roughly 9K people work in this occupation nationwide, with projected employment growth of -5%.
AI & Automation Risk
Survey research is a fundamentally digital knowledge occupation involving background research, survey design, statistical analysis, and report generation—all areas where LLMs and specialized AI tools excel. The BLS already projects a decline in employment due to data mining and big data efficiencies, and the rapid advancement of AI in synthesizing qualitative data and automating complex statistical workflows makes this role highly susceptible to significant restructuring and labor reduction.
Salary by City — What You Actually Take Home
Real purchasing power = salary adjusted for cost of living. Higher = more money in your pocket.
| City | Local Salary | Cost of Living | Real Purchasing Power |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Arbor, MIBEST VALUE | $103,140 | Average (100.9) | $102,240 |
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | $109,350 | Above avg (110.4) | $99,028 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | $110,540 | Above avg (115.6) | $95,612 |
| Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC | $92,160 | Average (97.3) | $94,671 |
| New Haven, CT | $98,570 | Above avg (104.6) | $94,272 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | $97,780 | Above avg (108.9) | $89,802 |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | $86,890 | Average (99.6) | $87,269 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI | $87,570 | Above avg (104.8) | $83,542 |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI | $83,190 | Average (100.3) | $82,943 |
| New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ | $87,620 | Above avg (112.6) | $77,841 |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT | $78,560 | Average (102.7) | $76,460 |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | $69,100 | Below avg (92.5) | $74,668 |
| Charlottesville, VA | $74,010 | Average (99.1) | $74,647 |
| Richmond, VA | $72,610 | Average (97.9) | $74,199 |
| Omaha, NE-IA | $67,780 | Below avg (91.9) | $73,745 |