How To Become A Survey Statistician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a survey statistician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kedai Cheng Ph.D.

A survey statistician is an individual who collects and reviews specific survey data and then generates reports based on these findings. These professionals typically work with marketing or research groups to develop surveys and develop techniques or statistical models that interpret the data, outline trends and generate predictions. A survey statistician is responsible for collecting and reviewing survey data, creating reports based on the data, and presenting these reports to clients or upper management.

Most survey statisticians have an associate's or bachelor's degree in marketing, statistics, or a comparable field. They also should be familiar with the development of statistical models and be adept at using statistical analysis software programs such as SPSS (a software package used for interactive or batched statistical analysis).

If you have a head for numbers and enjoy statistics, a career as a survey statistician may be just right for you. Many survey statisticians can make up to $70,261 a year, and the field is expected to grow by a whopping 30% by 2028.

What general advice would you give to a survey statistician?

Kedai Cheng Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Asheville

For academic jobs, as a professor, we start off our day with a coffee. Thanks to the luxury of academic jobs, I spend most of my day reading and studying, and doing research. Research is totally different from learning. Learning is comparatively easy because everything is written in the book. If I do not under, I can always go over it again and again. It is a matter of time investment. Unlike learning, we do not have a certain answer for research. It is possible that we spend 1 year reviewing all existing literature and do our own experiment, and it turns out nothing worked out. It is a very strongly self-motivated job. And we need to be able to enjoy the loneliness. To other people, it may seem like our jobs are boring and lonely. However, to me, it is different. I rarely get bored, because I want to know what is going on. We can always dig a little deeper on what we have.

ScoreSurvey StatisticianUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $59,294

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.3

Growth rate 31%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.22%

Asian 22.75%

Black or African American 5.06%

Hispanic or Latino 7.59%

Unknown 4.95%

White 59.43%

Gender

female 43.75%

male 56.25%

Age - 35

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 35

Stress level

4.3

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.4

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a survey statistician

Explore survey statistician education requirements

Most common survey statistician degrees

Bachelor's

68.8 %

Master's

21.5 %

Doctorate

4.9 %

Start to develop specific survey statistician skills

Skills	Percentages
Statistical Techniques	21.62%
Statistical Data	12.90%
Statistical Analysis	8.20%
Data Analysis	8.14%
Statistical Software	7.80%

Complete relevant survey statistician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New survey statisticians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a survey statistician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real survey statistician resumes.

Research survey statistician duties and responsibilities

Perform time series and regression analyses of trends in respondents' report finances.
Adapt SAS programs to streamline the process of reviewing publish detailed health insurance tables.
Publish online user documentation that explain how to use and interpret invidual SAS data sets.
Translate complicated results into knowledge accessible for the public using descriptive statistics, as well as linear and logistic regression.

Apply for survey statistician jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a survey statistician job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams