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Job outlook for marketing research consultants in the United States
Marketing research consultant job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected marketing research consultant job growth rate is 19% from 2018-2028.
About 150,300 new jobs for marketing research consultants are projected over the next decade.
Marketing research consultant salaries have increased 5% for marketing research consultants in the last 5 years.
There are over 13,938 marketing research consultants currently employed in the United States.
There are 128,257 active marketing research consultant job openings in the US.
The average marketing research consultant salary is $76,639.
Are marketing research consultant jobs in demand?
Marketing research consultant job and salary trends over time
Marketing research consultant jobs over time
Marketing research consultant job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 13,938 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 13,221 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 12,998 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 12,226 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 11,426 | 0.00% |
Average marketing research consultant salary over time
Marketing research consultant salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $76,639 | $36.85 | +3.2% |
| 2025 | $74,287 | $35.71 | +1.1% |
| 2024 | $73,507 | $35.34 | --0.2% |
| 2023 | $73,635 | $35.40 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | $72,855 | $35.03 | +0.7% |
Marketing research consultant jobs by state
Most common states for marketing research consultants
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 375 | 43% |
| 2 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 425 | 32% |
| 3 | Vermont | 623,657 | 174 | 28% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,521 | 27% |
| 5 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 179 | 26% |
| 6 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 148 | 26% |
| 7 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 251 | 24% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 1,281 | 23% |
| 9 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 172 | 23% |
| 10 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,895 | 22% |
| 11 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 425 | 22% |
| 12 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2,681 | 21% |
| 13 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 745 | 21% |
| 14 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 282 | 21% |
| 15 | Oklahoma | 3,930,864 | 803 | 20% |
| 16 | Delaware | 961,939 | 194 | 20% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 1,909 | 19% |
| 18 | Alabama | 4,874,747 | 942 | 19% |
| 19 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 784 | 19% |
| 20 | Mississippi | 2,984,100 | 540 | 18% |
Most common cities for marketing research consultants
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ann Arbor | 1 | 1% | $64,280 |
| 2 | Detroit | 1 | 0% | $65,054 |
| 3 | San Antonio | 1 | 0% | $63,225 |
Marketing Research Consultant job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of marketing research consultant experts
College of New Jersey, The
University of Nebraska - Omaha
Lafayette College
Furman University
University of Cincinnati
Pepperdine University
Xavier University
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Texas A&M International University
University of North Georgia
Webster University
University of Central Oklahoma
Southeast Missouri State University
Southern Connecticut State University
Boston University
Texas Tech University
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Grove City College
Humboldt State University
Chrissy Daeschner OTD, MS, OTR/L
Capstone CoordinatorWhat Marketing Research Consultant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Chrissy Daeschner OTD, MS, OTR/L: Research skills will be extremely important as the use of evidence-based research in practice and value-based services are imperative. Leadership and entrepreneurship skills will also be important as we promote programming and services in community-based settings.
What Marketing Research Consultant 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 will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
Dr. Piper Williams PhD: As the chair of African American Studies (AAS) at TCNJ, I know that an AAS major combines the strengths of the traditional liberal arts major with the community engagement, cultural, and social awareness that is at the heart of the African American scholarly tradition. Students graduating with a degree in African American Studies will have the intellectual and practical tools to pursue any number of careers requiring analytical ability, cultural competence, and creative problem-solving skills.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Consultant?
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 Marketing Research Consultant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
John Lyden: You should realize that your degree can lead to many careers, and that you can even change your career direction easily. Your degree has given you important skills in communication, critical thinking, analysis, and problem solving. Employers will see that you are good at adapting to new tasks and learning new skills that go well beyond the content you have studied.
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
John Lyden: Convey to potential employers the range of skills you possess and the ways you have used them. If you had an internship, describe the skills you used and explain how they can apply to various jobs. Emphasize and demonstrate your communication and research skills. Give examples from the courses you took and explain the connections between them that have allowed you to utilize higher order thinking of analysis and synthesis. Your degree in Religion can also be combined with a complementary minor or double major and may lead you to graduate school in almost any field you choose to pursue.
What general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Consultant?
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 general advice would you give to a Marketing Research Consultant?
Dr. Claire Gilliland PhD: 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.
What Marketing Research Consultant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Dr. Claire Gilliland PhD: I've only worked in academia, so I don't have a good sense about salary potential or where the field is heading. Someone in career services would know more about what job ads are looking for in current graduates.
What will help Marketing Research Consultants 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 Marketing Research Consultant 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!
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
Dr. Jennifer Caplan PhD: My biggest advice would be to use the skills you have spent 4 years developing to your best advantage! The transition from being a senior who knows a lot to a new member of a field can be rough, so just remember that you have killer reading comprehension, excellent writing skills, and an ability to synthesize information that far outstrips colleagues who came through less interdisciplinary majors, so use those to learn quickly and nail your new workload!
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
Anna Penner: Methodological skills are important. Knowing how to construct a good survey or conduct an interview to get rich data is critical. But I think just as important as being able to analyze qualitative or statistical data, is finding ways to communicate results in clear and compelling ways so that stakeholders know what action to take is equally important. Some of the gaps we are seeing between science and the general public today could be ameliorated by someone explaining findings in concise and applicable ways that show why we should care about this information. You could be the bridge from expertise to the general public.
KATHERINE (KATE) Katherine Loveland Ph.D.
Chair & Associate ProfessorXavier University
Marketing
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
KATHERINE (KATE) Katherine Loveland Ph.D.: I would probably give this advice to any graduate, but it is particularly important in marketing: work on building your personal connections. By this, I don't just mean building your online professional network, although this is important, I mean put in the actual face time. Pick up the phone, walk down the hall, go into the office, schedule the lunch (or coffee or drink), attend the networking event and then follow-up. We are social beings and I hear from managers all the time that the new hires who stand out are those who take the time to build relationships. Also, marketing is fundamentally about building connections between customer needs and organizational offerings. The best way to spot opportunities is to be actively engaged with a broad spectrum of people both within and outside the organization.
Purvi Shah
Associate Professor of Marketing, The Business School at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Marketing
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
Purvi Shah: The need for Chemical Engineers is, and has been since its inception as a discipline, significant, impactful, and lucrative. There are countless challenges in society that are rooted in chemical processing. Four years ago, we were faced with the global Covid-19 pandemic. Biologists and biochemists and chemical engineers developed the core technology to make an mRNA vaccine and chemical engineers developed the process to make the vaccine on a commercial scale. We are faced with global crises in energy, climate, clean water, sufficient food supply. The list is extensive. Chemical Engineers have the unique skill set to develop solutions for these challenges. We help design and make the chemicals that society needs and uses, from everyday items such as consumer goods, to the chemicals used to make semiconductors. Regardless of the need, we are there to help solve the challenge.
Angelique Blackburn Ph.D.
Assistant ProfessorTexas A&M International University
Department of Psychology & Communication
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Consultants 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 hard/technical skills are most important for Marketing Research Consultants?
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 hard/technical skills are most important for Marketing Research Consultants?
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
Sung Eun Park
Assistant Professor, Advertising and Marketing CommunicationsWebster University
Communications & Journalism
What hard/technical skills are most important for Marketing Research Consultants?
Sung Eun Park: It depends on the type of work the company does but usually marketing department will benefit from having someone with excellent data analysis skills. Understanding where and how to get the data, analyzing the given data, and understanding the significance of the findings will be crucial in marketing. For example, spotting outliers from data and how the outliers should be interpreted regarding the market situation could play a role for the consultant. Any certificates demonstrating their skills in data and trend analysis would help.
What skills will help Marketing Research Consultants earn the most?
Sung Eun Park: Although marketing is often viewed as a discipline with hard data, those successful in the field get most of their success by being creative and strategic thinkers. Even with the help of data available, your marketing plan may not generate great success. Often you need to have different and novel perspectives to make things more niche. Those who have a good understanding of data analysis with a creative and strategic approach to the problem will make the most of their career in marketing.
Stacia Wert-Gray Ph.D.
Professor of Marketing, ChairpersonUniversity of Central Oklahoma
Department of Marketing
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Consultants possess?
Stacia Wert-Gray Ph.D.: Communication is important in any job but especially in marketing. These professionals must be able to communicate with customers/clients about product/service benefits and must be able to listen and represent the needs of customers/clients to their own company.
Scott Thorne Ph.D.
InstructorSoutheast Missouri State University
Department of Marketing
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Consultants possess?
Scott Thorne Ph.D.: Team building, leadership, co-operation, salesmanship. I always tell my students to show any leadership positions they had while in school on their resumes as businesses value people who can both take the initiative and work well with others.
Charles Gamble
Adjunct ProfessorSouthern Connecticut State University
Marketing Department
What skills will help Marketing Research Consultants earn the most?
Charles Gamble: -Lead Generation - Customers are the lifeblood of the business. Having the ability to generate leads will make you a valuable team member.
-Writing - Positioning, value proposition, messaging, and effective written communication are foundational to promoting or selling a product or service
-Data Analysis - Almost everything in marketing can be measured now. Data analytics can help to measure, improve and report on the performance of all marketing activities.
-Scalability - Always look to make a greater impact and operate on a larger scale.
-Leadership - As a marketer, you have the opportunity to work with almost every department in the business. Look how you can empower your team, as well as other departments, to be successful.
What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Marketing Research Consultants in the next 3-5 years?
V. Scott Solberg Ph.D.: It is essential to dive in and learn advanced uses for the necessary technologies we use every day, such as Microsoft, Google, and related platforms. Understanding database management systems, statistical packages, and graphic design will enable one to learn how to generate and communicate data. Learning technologies associated with engaging in project management are also a good investment. The key is to continuously keep up with trends in technology to gain an edge in being able to demonstrate the unique skills and qualities you will be adding to an organization and project team.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Marketing Research Consultant job market given the pandemic?
Sean Cunningham Ph.D.: Schools have been incorporating online/virtual components into the learning experience for several years now, but the pandemic has accelerated that process by quite a bit. Graduates entering the market in 2021 and beyond will need to be able to speak to these technological realities. Whether it's in the classroom as a teacher or in some other field, the ability to foster effective communication through non-traditional means will be important.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Marketing Research Consultants?
Sean Cunningham Ph.D.: Graduates in any field should be looking to supplement their degree with additional certifications, though I haven't seen any evidence of a single "most important" certificate or license for history majors. The one possible exception would be for those who want to translate their history degree into a career in national security or public service of some other sort. In those cases, a certificate in Strategic Studies, such as the one we offer at Texas Tech, has been shown to help.
What will help Marketing Research Consultants increase their earning potential?
Heidi Jo Newberg: Students who have a strong command of programming are in heavy demand whether they stay in astronomy or decide to pursue employment in the private sector. Taking programming classes and getting computational experience in research settings will put students in a good position to earn higher salaries.
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Marketing Research Consultants?
Heidi Jo Newberg: The pandemic has certainly had an impact on me that will be hard to forget, as I'm sure it has everyone. I suspect that we will have much more remote interaction in the workplace since everyone is now very familiar with video conferencing! Also, it will be more common to work part of the time from home. But remote working is not a good substitute for visiting observatories, face-to-face meetings, in person classes, or working in the laboratory. Most of astronomy will continue as usual after vaccinations.
What's a day at work look like for a Marketing Research Consultant?
Heidi Jo Newberg: A recent graduate will be expected to search through data (usually using Python), communicate results effectively through lectures and written reports, and carefully assess the significance of findings.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Marketing Research Consultant job market given the pandemic?
DJ Wagner Ph.D.: The long-term effects of the pandemic are still unknown and hard to forecast. The Statistical Research Center of the American Institute of Physics (AIP SRC) provides a lot of information about physics majors in the workforce (www.aip.org/statistics), but they are just starting to collect data for 2020 graduates, so I do not have hard data upon which to base an opinion. Certainly, more jobs are requiring at least some amount of remote collaboration, but that has always been the case for physicists. Multi-national research teams involving hundreds of scientists in both the private and public sectors has been common in physics for quite some time. Due to remote and hybrid learning, our current physics graduates will be more familiar than their predecessors with the various technologies and with the variety of ways in which they can be used to enhance collaboration. The Society of Physics Students (SPS), a national organization supporting undergraduate physics students, provides a host of resources for those seeking careers in physics (https://jobs.spsnational.org/jobseekers/resources/). According to Brad Conrad, the director of SPS, "I can tell you that people are reporting to me that certain sectors are avoiding hiring people while new job opportunities have arisen in surprising ways. The pandemic fundamentally changed how we interact with each other, what skills are valued by potential employers, and how people find employment. Luckily, physics majors are trained to solve problems and the job sector will never run out of those."
As many industries have been negatively impacted by the pandemic, the job market is undoubtedly more competitive than in the recent past. New graduates may have to seek for a first job outside of their preferred specialty. Fortunately, a physics degree equips the graduate with a host of transferrable skills: modeling of complex situations, data analysis, computer programming, problem solving and analysis, and working both collaboratively and independently as needed. Physics majors typically pursue, and succeed in, a host of diverse career paths, so our graduates should be able to adapt to the changing job market and find meaningful employment.
What certifications/licenses/courses can have the biggest impact for Marketing Research Consultants?
DJ Wagner Ph.D.: I would have to say that the biggest impact is due not to the courses a student takes but to what professional opportunities outside of the classroom the student pursues. The employers with which I've spoken suggest that evidence of independent research projects and of the ability to work collaboratively are very important considerations in the hiring process. Networking is also key. At Grove City College, we encourage our physics majors to get involved in research starting their freshman year, and we provide many opportunities for them to network with alumni in the field and by attending conferences. Research builds several critical skills of value to employers: the ability to take ownership of a project and follow it through over a period of time, the ability to work as a team toward a common goal, the ability to operate and trouble-shoot apparatus (for experimental research), the ability to extract meaning from data, etc. Interacting with professionals in the field gives students a wide perspective about possible career paths, connections within those careers, and an understanding of the current state of the field not typically obtained in college courses.
When I have heard professionals speak to students at conferences, they often recommend that physics majors take communication and management courses in addition to their required physics curriculum. The skills and knowledge gained in those courses can help graduates navigate the corporate world successfully.
What soft skills should all Marketing Research Consultants possess?
Dr. Anne Paulet Ph.D.: In terms of soft skills, those probably won't change much, they will simply be practiced differently. Being flexible is important since jobs may switch between home and office and since one may be dealing with someone else working from home and the challenges that can present-what cat owner hasn't had their cat walk in front of the camera or step on the wrong computer key? The ability to work in groups will continue to have importance as well as the ability to manage your own time and meet deadlines. At the same time, the nature of computer camera interaction means that people will have to learn to "read" others differently than they would in an in-person environment. Many recent articles have talked about how it is harder to read facial cues or detect emotional responses on the computer. Again, those presently taking synchronous classes have the opportunity to practice these skills--providing students turn on their cameras rather than relying only on audio. If the past year has demonstrated anything, it is that people need to be more culturally aware and sensitive and also be able to work with people of diverse backgrounds. History classes are a great way for students to better understand what others have gone through and how that might impact interaction today. Additionally, history classes-as well as college in general-should provide students with the skills to help create the kind of changes in institutions and companies that need to be made to make them more inclusive. Perhaps the greatest skill college students have is the ability to learn. I never intended to teach online, yet here I am doing just that. It required learning new ways to approach teaching, reconsideration of the ways students learned in the new environment, and figuring out new online programs to make all this happen. I was forced to do this as a result of the pandemic but most students will find that this sort of adjustment-whether foreseen or not-will be a regular part of their career path. The ability to learn these new skills, to apply new methods and to approach issues in new and innovative ways will help them stand out when it comes to looking for a job.