---
title: "Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist"
description: "Research conditions in local, regional, national, or online markets. Gather information to determine potential sales of a product or service, or plan a…"
canonical: "https://nuecareer.com/careers/market-research-analyst-and-marketing-specialist"
last-updated: "2026-08-23T15:56:39.581Z"
---

# Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist

**Category:** Business and Financial Operations · **SOC code:** 13-1161 · **O\*NET-SOC code:** 13-1161.00

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.

Also advertised as: Business Development Specialist; Communications Specialist; Demographic Analyst; Market Analyst; Market Research Analyst; Market Research Consultant; Market Research Specialist; Market Researcher.

## At a glance

- **Median annual wage:** $78,760 (BLS OEWS, May 2025)
- **Median hourly wage:** $37.87/hr
- **Wage range (10th–90th percentile):** $43,390 to $155,480, with the middle half between $58,350 and $108,310
- **Total US employment:** 899,580
- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's
- **Preparation required:** Medium preparation — O\*NET rates this "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed"
- **Projected growth:** +6.7% over 2024–2034 (BLS EP, 2024–2034)
- **Annual job openings:** 87,200 openings a year
- **AI-resilience score:** 13/100 — a NueCareer heuristic over O\*NET work activities and context, not a BLS or O\*NET figure

## Pay

National wage distribution, BLS OEWS, May 2025, across 899,580 US jobs.

| Percentile | Annual wage |
| --- | --- |
| 10th | $43,390 |
| 25th | $58,350 |
| 50th (median) | $78,760 |
| 75th | $108,310 |
| 90th | $155,480 |
| Mean (average) | $89,490 |

### Pay by state

The 15 highest-paying states, by median annual wage. The cost-of-living-adjusted column divides the state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, so the columns answer different questions: the first is what the job pays there, the second is what that pay buys there.

| State | Median annual wage | Cost-of-living adjusted | Employment |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| MA | $101,810 | $96,268 | 39,710 |
| DE | $101,270 | $101,465 | 3,570 |
| NY | $98,580 | $91,345 | 80,500 |
| DC | $98,090 | $89,253 | 6,340 |
| WA | $95,120 | $88,886 | 24,460 |
| CA | $94,700 | $85,531 | 119,070 |
| CO | $93,050 | $90,294 | 27,880 |
| NJ | $88,190 | $81,053 | 22,990 |
| MN | $87,510 | $88,734 | 21,280 |
| RI | $86,240 | $84,318 | 3,210 |
| OR | $79,150 | $76,576 | 11,310 |
| IL | $79,120 | $79,153 | 40,560 |
| NC | $78,410 | $83,127 | 30,700 |
| CT | $77,740 | $75,031 | 9,930 |
| VA | $76,980 | $76,139 | 25,610 |

39 more states with published wage data are omitted here. The full table for all 54 states is at https://nuecareer.com/careers/market-research-analyst-and-marketing-specialist/salary-by-state, or as JSON at https://nuecareer.com/api/v1/careers/market-research-analyst-and-marketing-specialist.

## Outlook

BLS projects employment to move from 941,700 in the 2024–2034 base year to 1,004,700 by the end of the cycle — a gain of 63,000 jobs, or +6.7%. Much faster than average: 6.7% against 3.1% projected for all occupations over the same cycle. About 87,200 openings a year are expected on average, counting openings from growth as well as from workers leaving the occupation permanently. Source: BLS EP, 2024–2034.

## How to get in

- **Typical entry education:** Bachelor's degree (BLS Employment Projections).
- **Preparation level:** Medium preparation — O\*NET's preparation band for this occupation is "Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed".
- **Related work experience typically required:** None.
- **Typical on-the-job training:** None.

### Education people in this job actually hold

O\*NET surveys incumbents, so this distribution describes who is in the job today and can differ from the BLS entry requirement above.

| Education level | Share of workers |
| --- | --- |
| Bachelor's Degree | 56.5% |
| Master's Degree | 39.1% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate | 4.4% |

## What the work involves

- 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.
- Gather data on competitors and analyze their prices, sales, and method of marketing and distribution.
- Monitor industry statistics and follow trends in trade literature.
- Collect and analyze data on customer demographics, preferences, needs, and buying habits to identify potential markets and factors affecting product demand.
- Conduct research on consumer opinions and marketing strategies, collaborating with marketing professionals, statisticians, pollsters, and other professionals.
- Measure and assess customer and employee satisfaction.
- Devise and evaluate methods and procedures for collecting data, such as surveys, opinion polls, or questionnaires, or arrange to obtain existing data.

## Skills and knowledge

### Essential skills

- Reading Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Writing — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Critical Thinking — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Listening — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Speaking — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Active Learning — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Monitoring — importance 3.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Transferable skills

These are the skills that carry into other occupations, and they drive the related-occupation and career-change rankings on this site.

- Complex Problem Solving — importance 3.9 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Judgment and Decision Making — importance 3.6 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Social Perceptiveness — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Persuasion — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Analysis — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Systems Evaluation — importance 3.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Coordination — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Time Management — importance 3.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Knowledge areas

- English Language — importance 4.3 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Customer and Personal Service — importance 4.2 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Sales and Marketing — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Mathematics — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Administration and Management — importance 3.7 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Communications and Media — importance 3.5 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

### Abilities

- Inductive Reasoning — importance 4.1 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Comprehension — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Oral Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Written Expression — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale
- Fluency of Ideas — importance 4.0 on the O\*NET 1–5 importance scale

## Who it suits

O\*NET rates every occupation on the six Holland (RIASEC) interest areas, on a 1–7 scale. This occupation's strongest areas are Enterprising (E), Conventional (C), Investigative (I).

| Interest area | Score (1–7) |
| --- | --- |
| E — Enterprising | 5.52 |
| C — Conventional | 4.62 |
| I — Investigative | 4.60 |
| A — Artistic | 2.56 |
| S — Social | 2.47 |
| R — Realistic | 1.08 |

### Personality fit

These scores are **derived by NueCareer**, not published by any government agency: they are cosine similarities between a personality type's trait profile and this occupation's O\*NET interest and work-style ratings, expressed 0–100. Treat them as a starting point for exploration, not as evidence that a type belongs in a job.

| Type | Fit score (0–100) |
| --- | --- |
| ENTJ | 74.2 |
| ESTJ | 64.8 |
| INTJ | 61.0 |
| ENFJ | 60.8 |
| ESFJ | 55.6 |

Best-fitting types: ENTJ.

## Related occupations

O\*NET's primary related occupations, in its own ranked order.

- [Marketing Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/marketing-manager) — median $166,790
- [Advertising and Promotions Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advertising-and-promotions-manager) — median $133,660
- [Search Marketing Strategist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/search-marketing-strategist) — median $78,760
- [Business Intelligence Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/business-intelligence-analyst) — median $120,230
- [Management Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/management-analyst) — median $101,860
- [Sales Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/sales-manager) — median $148,270
- [Data Scientist](https://nuecareer.com/careers/data-scientist) — median $120,230
- [Public Relations Manager](https://nuecareer.com/careers/public-relations-manager) — median $146,910
- [Advertising Sales Agent](https://nuecareer.com/careers/advertising-sales-agent) — median $64,820
- [Financial and Investment Analyst](https://nuecareer.com/careers/financial-and-investment-analyst) — median $102,740

## Sources

- **O\*NET** — O\*NET 30.3 Database, May 2026. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS OEWS** — BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS EP** — BLS Employment Projections, Table 1.2, 2024–2034. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **BLS OOH** — BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2024–2034 edition. https://www.bls.gov/ooh/
- **BEA RPP** — BEA Regional Price Parities by State, 2024. https://www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area

---

This bank includes information from the O\*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). O\*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. NueCareer has transformed the data by joining it to BLS wage and projection data and deriving facet, personality-fit and AI-resilience scores. BLS and BEA data are public domain (17 U.S.C. §105).

O\*NET content is used under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). How these figures are sourced and derived: https://nuecareer.com/careers/methodology

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