Market research analysts and marketing specialists: pay, outlook and skills
Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets. Gather information to determine potential sales of a product or service, or plan a marketing or advertising campaign. May gather information on competitors, prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. May employ search marketing tactics, analyze web metrics, and develop recommendations to increase search engine ranking and visibility to target markets.
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
| Pay point | United States | Selected area |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $43,390 | - |
| 25th percentile | $58,350 | - |
| Median | $78,760 | - |
| 75th percentile | $108,310 | - |
| 90th percentile | $155,480 | - |
| People employed | 899,580 | - |
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
Confidence
- At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Read Methodology v1.0Skills, software, and day-to-day work
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets. Gather information to determine potential sales of a product or service, or plan a marketing or advertising campaign. May gather information on competitors, prices, sales, and methods of marketing and distribution. May employ search marketing tactics, analyze web metrics, and develop recommendations to increase search engine ranking and visibility to target markets.
Most important skills
- Active Listening4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Writing4.0 / 5
- Speaking3.9 / 5
- Active Learning3.8 / 5
- Complex Problem Solving3.8 / 5
- Judgment and Decision Making3.8 / 5
- Mathematics3.1 / 5
- Monitoring3.1 / 5
- Persuasion3.1 / 5
- Social Perceptiveness3.1 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
- Customer relationship management CRM softwareSalesforce software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Act!, Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge, Galilee Enterprise TargetPro, Insightful Corporation Confirmit, Oracle Eloqua
- Video creation and editing softwareTikTok (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Adobe After Effects (hot technology), Apple Final Cut Pro, Loom, WeVideo, YouTube
- Graphics or photo imaging softwareAdobe Creative Cloud software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Canva (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Adobe Illustrator (hot technology), Adobe Photoshop (hot technology), SmugMug Flickr, Thomson Dialog
- Data mining softwareGoogle Analytics (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Cytel Software XLMiner, IBM Intelligent Miner, NCR Teradata Warehouse Miner, Oracle Darwin
- Presentation softwareMicrosoft PowerPoint (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apple Keynote, Google Slides
- Electronic mail softwareMicrosoft Outlook (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), IBM Notes
- Spreadsheet softwareMicrosoft Excel (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Office suite softwareMicrosoft Office software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
- Analytical or scientific softwareIBM SPSS Statistics (hot technology), SAS (hot technology), The MathWorks MATLAB (hot technology), AcaStat Software, Adaptive conjoint analysis ACA software, AndersonBell Abstat
- Data base user interface and query softwareAmazon Redshift (hot technology), Microsoft Access (hot technology), Microsoft SQL Server (hot technology), MySQL (hot technology), Structured query language SQL (hot technology), Airtable
- Information retrieval or search softwareFactiva, FedBizOps, LexisNexis, Medstat/INFORUM, Mintel Reports, Neoforma Healthcare Products Information Services HPIS Market Intelligence
- Enterprise resource planning ERP softwareOracle PeopleSoft (hot technology), SAP software (hot technology), Aprimo Marketing, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite ERP, Oracle Hyperion
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
Typical tasks
- Prepare reports of findings, illustrating data graphically and translating complex findings into written text.
- Seek and provide information to help companies determine their position in the marketplace.
- Conduct research on consumer opinions and marketing strategies, collaborating with marketing professionals, statisticians, pollsters, and other professionals.
- Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.
- Devise and evaluate methods and procedures for collecting data, such as surveys, opinion polls, or questionnaires, or arrange to obtain existing data.
- Gather data on competitors and analyze their prices, sales, and method of marketing and distribution.
- Measure and assess customer and employee satisfaction.
- Monitor industry statistics and follow trends in trade literature.
- Direct trained survey interviewers.
- Measure the effectiveness of marketing, advertising, and communications programs and strategies.
Also advertised as: Business Development Specialist, Communications Consultant, Communications Specialist, Content Strategist, Market Analyst, Market Research Analyst, Market Research Consultant, Market Research Specialist.
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Scan my resume freeSource: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Guides for applying to this work
Sources and how to read this page
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
- Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
- Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
- Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
- O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
- Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.