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Job outlook for marketing research assistants in the United States
Marketing research assistant job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected marketing research assistant job growth rate is 19% from 2018-2028.
About 150,300 new jobs for marketing research assistants are projected over the next decade.
Marketing research assistant salaries have increased 5% for marketing research assistants in the last 5 years.
There are over 66,200 marketing research assistants currently employed in the United States.
There are 117,668 active marketing research assistant job openings in the US.
The average marketing research assistant salary is $40,858.
Are marketing research assistant jobs in demand?
Marketing research assistant job and salary trends over time
Marketing research assistant jobs over time
Marketing research assistant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 66,200 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 62,799 | 0.02% |
| 2019 | 61,738 | 0.02% |
| 2018 | 58,071 | 0.02% |
| 2017 | 54,272 | 0.02% |
Average marketing research assistant salary over time
Marketing research assistant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $40,858 | $19.64 | +3.2% |
| 2024 | $39,604 | $19.04 | +1.1% |
| 2023 | $39,188 | $18.84 | --0.2% |
| 2022 | $39,257 | $18.87 | +1.1% |
| 2021 | $38,841 | $18.67 | +0.7% |
Marketing research assistant jobs by state
Most common states for marketing research assistants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vermont | 623,657 | 241 | 39% |
| 2 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 335 | 32% |
| 3 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 805 | 26% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 350 | 26% |
| 5 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 180 | 26% |
| 6 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 1,335 | 24% |
| 7 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 136 | 23% |
| 8 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,318 | 22% |
| 9 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,221 | 22% |
| 10 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 230 | 22% |
| 11 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 186 | 21% |
| 12 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 702 | 20% |
| 13 | Delaware | 961,939 | 197 | 20% |
| 14 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 149 | 20% |
| 15 | Alaska | 739,795 | 145 | 20% |
| 16 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,713 | 19% |
| 17 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,622 | 19% |
| 18 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,428 | 19% |
| 19 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 371 | 19% |
| 20 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 255 | 19% |
Marketing Research Assistant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of marketing research assistant experts
College of New Jersey, The
Salem State University
University of San Francisco
Donnelly College
California State University - Chico
University of Nebraska - Omaha
Middlebury College
Lafayette College
University of Texas at Austin
Furman University
University of Cincinnati
Texas A&M International University
University of North Georgia
Webster University
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Dr. Piper Williams PhD: Students who major in AAS bring additional expertise and qualifications to any application - so a clear articulation of these could help to maximize salary potential. They will have: skills that will enable them to contribute to innovation in the workplace, a demonstrated capacity to think critically, communicate clearly, and solve complex problems, demonstrate ethical judgment and integrity; intercultural skills; and the capacity for continued new learning, critical thinking, complex problem-solving, written and oral communication, and applied knowledge in real-world settings.
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Piper Williams PhD: I would advise a graduate to reflect on what they've learned about the contributions, experiences, history and present reality of people of African descent in the New World. In addition, thinking about the skills they developed related to the major in African American Studies, including but not limited to: Research and Analysis, Writing, Public Speaking, Project Development and Completion, Ethical Reasoning, Listening, Teamwork and Collaboration, Perspective-Taking, Awareness of Context and what they call 'Cultural Competence. Use this education, to make the case that in addition to all the skills you can bring, the education offered by AAS will allow you to distinguish yourself as a candidate who can meet the needs the current moment demands. Black Americans encounter implicit racism in all walks of life: medicine and healthcare, law, politics and gov't, business and industry, performing arts and entertainment, sports, education, news media and social, community and humanitarian services. With this degree, you can enter almost any field and be more equitable to everyone you meet. (And by the way, in the list above, there are a number of people with a degree in African American Studies.)
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Dr. Héctor Lozada Ph.D.: First, define and build your personal brand. Know your strengths and weaknesses and identify opportunities to develop your strengths further and overcome or at least minimize your weaknesses. Answer the question, “What is your unique value proposition?” This means identifying what sets you apart and is based on your analysis of your strengths and weaknesses. Do your analytical skills set you apart? Is it your domain knowledge or your creativity? Make sure that your strengths are stated effectively in your resume and that you can have a conversation that supports them. Establishing a robust online presence is also helpful in solidifying your unique value proposition. Showcase your expertise, projects, and insights on platforms like LinkedIn. Did you work on class projects that demonstrate your expertise? Network with market research professionals and share your passion for market research (or your career of choice). Embrace change and stay curious about emerging trends, technologies, and methodologies. In my experience, adaptability is key.
Karen Wallach
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Karen Wallach: Hi Alex, Just wanted to circle back on this, do you still want me to put something together?
What will help Marketing Research Assistants increase their earning potential?
Jean-Paul James Ph.D.: I would recommend that while in college, students get as much experience via internships and networking. I always tell my students that getting a job ‘is about what you know as much as WHO you know. Networking can include going to industry conferences and taking advantage of networking with professors. Experience can include marketing class projects. Entry-level jobs are competitive and the marketing graduates with the most experience and the most contacts in their network—in tandem with their degree—will have the best chances of success. I would also recommend that students have an open mind when it comes to where they are starting their careers. The United States is a big country with lots of opportunities as well as global opportunities!
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Gulay Guzel PhD: Maximizing salary potential at the outset of one's marketing career requires strategic considerations. Marketing is inherently interdisciplinary, drawing from fields such as psychology, sociology, anthropology, and data science. Graduates should first identify their specialization within the marketing realm, whether it's in market research, product design, pricing strategy, or another area. Next, they should articulate what sets them apart from other candidates and highlight additional value they bring to the table. Realism is key when setting salary expectations; candidates should conduct thorough industry research to inform negotiations. Additionally, leveraging diverse experiences gained from internships and coursework to bolster their applications can significantly enhance their bargaining power.
Esmat Sangari
University of San Francisco
Business Administration, Management And Operations
What will help Marketing Research Assistants increase their earning potential?
Esmat Sangari: To maximize salary potential when starting a career in the field, it's important to negotiate effectively, demonstrate value to employers, and pursue opportunities for advancement. Developing specialized skills and obtaining relevant certifications can also help increase earning potential.
Dhuha Shareef
Donnelly College
Liberal Arts And Sciences, General Studies And Humanities
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dhuha Shareef: 1. Digital Literacy : As technology continues to advance, proficiency in digital tools and platforms will become increasingly important in many liberal arts careers. This includes skills like data analysis, social media management, and digital marketing. 2. Cultural Competence : With globalization and increasing diversity in workplaces, the ability to work effectively with people from different backgrounds and cultures will be highly valued. 3. Creativity and Innovation: Liberal arts graduates often bring a unique perspective and creative thinking to their work. The ability to innovate and adapt to new challenges will be key in the rapidly changing job market.
What will help Marketing Research Assistants increase their earning potential?
Dr. Stefanie Boyer: To maximize your salary potential, first choose a company that offers opportunities for advancement. Understand what it takes to make more money and talk to your boss early about company priorities and how you can take on more responsibilities if you do your job well. Keep an eye on the company's long-term goals and learn skills that will help you become the perfect candidate for those key positions. Be a self-directed learner who uses a variety of resources to continue learning and developing new skills while establishing strategic relationships within the organization. But don't get too caught up in the future; you must take the necessary steps and perform your duties well. There are no shortcuts to hard work and effort, which develop your character and experience on the job.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Cassandra Faith: New skills all seem to relate to new and advancing technology. Pay attention to trends as they develop especially as it relates to AI and marketing.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
John Lyden: Research skills (ability to find and interpret information), oral and written communication skills (ability to present information clearly), data analysis and interpretation, language interpretation and translation. Computer facility will be highly valued. Employers will include those in higher education, government, non-profits, research institutes, and museums.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Jeffrey Knopf: Some of the most important skills are traditional skills. Good communication skills are still number one. The ability to write well and communicate clearly will always help you. Qualitative research skills also remain important. The ability to learn from history or understand other cultures will always be valuable. Beyond this, I am seeing increasing demand for a variety of hard practical skills, such as data analytics or imagery analysis. Finally, in a world where the problems of misinformation and disinformation keep getting worse, critical thinking skills and the ability to discern what is true and what is fake will only increase in importance.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Brett Hendrickson PhD, MDiv (he/him): Remember that employers in many sectors want and need people with the skill set that Religious Studies teaches you. With a Religious Studies major, you have high levels of cultural competence and cultural empathy. Your critical thinking skills are matched by your ability to communicate your ideas in both oral and written formats. When it comes to problem-solving, you are highly skilled in studying and understanding the historical, political, and ethical contexts that guide people's decision making. You are an expert researcher, able to read and digest large amounts of text in a short amount of time.
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Lori Bruce MA, MBE, HEC-C: If you only have a Bachelor’s degree in bioethics, your best bet is probably to get a position within research ethics. These positions are in academic institutions or private industry, and you can move up in management. You could work in Human Research Subject Protection, or for an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees. All these positions mean you would review research studies and suggest modifications to ensure they are in line with federal standards. This is important work to safeguard trust in medicine!
What will help Marketing Research Assistants increase their earning potential?
Dr. Anna McAlister Ph.D: It’s very important to be polite but at the same time, not too humble. Showcase your talents! Even if you have not mastered a skill, if you have some level of proficiency you should let people know about it! As an example, I teach a video editing course to undergraduate students. When students leave my class, they are proficient using Camtasia. They may not be experts, but they are certainly proficient. They have a skill that many other entry level employees do not possess. I nag them to put it on their resumés. Many entry level employees looking for marketing jobs do not have experience with video editing. Show off the skill!
Also, show off any extracurricular activities you’ve engaged in. For example, students who take leadership roles in clubs and organizations on campus should put that on their resumes. The nature of the club doesn’t really matter. What matters is that the student can show they’re organized, committed, etc. For example, at Endicott College I advise Charity Craft Club. This club does crafts (knitting, painting, jewelry making) and we sell items to raise money for charity. In the past I’ve had students say to me things like “Should I really put Charity Craft Club on my resumé? It’s not a business club.” I say “absolutely!”. Showing you have a leadership role in that club is a signal that you’re a leader!
Negotiate! The time between getting the job offer and accepting the job is the prime time for negotiating. But don’t be too cocky. It’s a difficult line to walk and so it is essential to seek input from “seasoned” professionals. Talk to people in the industry who are a bit more advanced than you. Talk to internship supervisors, professors, or employees at the company if you are able to connect with them. Also review online resources (eg. Glassdoor, ZipRecruiter, Salary.com). As much as possible, try to know your worth. You don’t want to be too cocky and ask for an outrageous salary. But you also don’t want to accept a lowball offer. Sometimes the salary isn’t very flexible but other benefits or perks might be.
Finally, I would say it’s important to think about bringing solutions. What can you do for the company you hope will hire you? What problems can you solve for them? Again, this speaks to that idea of being a lifelong learner. An entry level employee can offer a fresh perspective and a willingness to explore new options. Current employees may be a little set in their ways. An entry level employee can be ready to learn and adapt and bring new knowledge to the company. Don’t worry about not knowing enough or not having enough experience. Just be ready to hit the ground running. You may be the breath of fresh air the company needs!
Mary Neuburger
Director, Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian StudiesUniversity of Texas at Austin
Slavic, Baltic And Albanian Languages, Literatures, And Linguistics
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Mary Neuburger: Network as much as possible, online (LinkedIn or social media) and at events related to Russian studies or policy. These tend to be open to the public at most large er universities and some smaller. Attend, ask good questions, and introduce yourself to people. Make sure you highlight all of the skills you have gained on your CV-include projects in courses, extracurricular activities, study abroad etc.
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Mary Neuburger: Language skills are always important, as well as research skills, and experience working on team projects. I also think deep interdisciplinary knowledge of Russia and its sphere of influence will continue to be important, as well as teachnical skills and knowledge of the information environment-and especially disinformation. UT Austin has a new Global Disinformation Lab, in which study of Russian disinformation (among other things) is carried out.
What will help Marketing Research Assistants increase their earning potential?
Dr. Claire Gilliland PhD: my general advice is for students to be thoughtful and strategic about how they sell the skills they've gained in sociology to potential employers. The skills we prioritize in sociology (generating research questions, thinking critically, examining social systems, analyzing multiple types of data) are all skills that are well-suited to multiple different careers, but it may require some translation to match the priorities of a particular field. For example, students would describe a class paper where they searched for and read about empirical research as a "literature review," a term that mostly applies to academic work. However, the skills required for a literature review are gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing information from a range of sources, which is a skill many employers would want in a future employee.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Assistant?
Dr. Jennifer Caplan PhD: Technology advances so quickly these days that staying on top of advances will be really important. Luckily, any religion major has spent a ton of time thinking about the way society advances and develops, so you're well-positioned to be an early adopter of new software and tech platforms.
What Marketing Research Assistant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Jennifer Caplan PhD: The great thing about a religion major, of course, is that there IS no one field you're funneled into! Religion majors succeed highly in EVERY field, because you get such well-rounded training. So the best way to maximize your salary potential is to harness the skills you have gained, and to tap into the innate curiosity and interest in the world to throw yourself into your new career and ensure you shine. Religion majors know how to see the big picture of the world around them and how to really analyze the documents or tasks in front of them. Those are talents that are perfect to help you rise to the top!
Angelique Blackburn Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorTexas A&M International University
Department of Psychology & Communication
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Assistants possess?
Angelique Blackburn Ph.D.: Written and oral communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively with others are valuable soft skills. Even before the Pandemic, but especially during, interest and opportunities for remote international collaborations have grown, and the need to work well with a diverse team accompanies these opportunities.
Large-scale collaborations during COVID-19 highlighted the international opportunities afforded by online communications. One of the major limitations in experimental psychology in the past was difficulty in making conclusions that were generalizable to other populations. Now, we can overcome these limitations through large-scale collaborations. We need scientists who can work remotely and flexibly with a diverse set of team members.
What skills stand out on Marketing Research Assistant resumes?
Angelique Blackburn Ph.D.: I am generally attracted to resumes that highlight research experience (even in a volunteer capacity), statistics knowledge, and programming experience. Many psychology positions today involve more coding than students realize.
What hard/technical skills are most important for Marketing Research Assistants?
Angelique Blackburn Ph.D.: The technical skills will be specific to each position, and many will be learned on the job, but knowing statistics, working with spreadsheets, video conferencing, working efficiently through shared documents, and basic coding is a good start.
What skills stand out on Marketing Research Assistant resumes?
Mary Norman: As a Marketing Assistant often provides important support to the broader marketing department staff, the following skills and competencies are desired and often prioritized in the hiring process:
-Strong communication skills - written and verbal
-Strong time management and organization skills to meet deadlines
-Attention to detail
-Multi-tasking
-Problem solving and strong motivation to drive positive results
-Being comfortable in an ever-changing environment/adaptable and flexible
-Understanding of key marketing concepts
-Customer-centric attitude (internal and external)
-Social Media content development and analysis
-Listening
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Assistants possess?
Mary Norman: -Communication - written and verbal
-Teamwork
-Problem solving
-Adaptability
-Creativity
-Positive attitude
-Motivation / Assertiveness
-Honesty
What hard/technical skills are most important for Marketing Research Assistants?
Mary Norman: -Project management skills
-Knowledge of key marketing tools and analytics:
-Social media tools like Hootsuite, Google analytics, etc.
-Design tools like Canva, Photoshop, Illustrator
-Email and Survey tools like Mailchimp and Survey Monkey
-SEO Tools like Google Ads
-Digital/Social Media Marketing Skills in the following areas:
-Email marketing
-Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEM/SEO)
-Email marketing
-Content marketing - ability to create content for social media and additional formats like blogs, etc.
-Social Media marketing through top platforms: i.e., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.
-Data Analysis - mining insights into customer behavior based on website and social media analytics
-Trendwatching / Consumer insights
What skills will help Marketing Research Assistants earn the most?
Mary Norman: While knowledge of the "hard skills" is very important in getting hired and excelling in a marketing career, soft skills (people skills) often support career progression the most. The following skills are important for career success today:
-Decision making
-Communication
-Adaptablility / Time management
-Teamwork
-Project management / Attention to Detail
-Problem Solving
-Analytical Thinking
-Creativity
-Confidence
-Customer knowledge
Sung Eun Park
Assistant Professor, Advertising and Marketing CommunicationsWebster University
Communications & Journalism
What skills stand out on Marketing Research Assistant resumes?
Sung Eun Park: Companies hiring marketing consultants look for someone with strong communication and leadership skills that can translate to great candidates. In addition, a strong background in data analysis will definitely stand out from other candidates. Unlike many beliefs, people who get jobs as marketing consultant comes from various education backgrounds including advertising and English major. It is an indication that companies are open to people with diverse perspectives that can bring fresh eyes to the team. The resumes showcasing a person with various experiences highlighting strong leadership skills (not just strictly marketing) in a team environment will get noticed.