Colorado·Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations·SOC 19-3022

Best Survey Researcher programs in Colorado, ranked by enrollment

Plan, develop, or conduct surveys. May analyze and interpret the meaning of survey data, determine survey objectives, or suggest or test question wording.

17 schools in Colorado run programs that feed this job, graduating 684 people a year. The job pays a median of $89,870 in Colorado across about 110 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSurvey ResearcherResearch AssociateResearch ScientistSurvey MethodologistProctorPollsterResearcherInterviewer
Graduates / yr
684
in Colorado
Median pay · Colorado
$89,870
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
110
people employed
Schools
17
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
51%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,510
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Colorado that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

7 programs in Colorado that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Colorado (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Colorado page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 45.0601In Colorado
343
50.1%
14$51,725$22,907
2
CIP 52.1302In Colorado
162
23.7%
2$62,069$23,500
3
CIP 52.0601In Colorado
70
10.2%
3$53,269$21,962
4
CIP 27.0501In Colorado
68
9.9%
4$59,718$20,150
5
CIP 27.0601In Colorado
31
4.5%
2
6
CIP 45.0102In Colorado
5
0.7%
1$35,590$24,095
7
CIP 45.0602In Colorado
5
0.7%
1$51,725$22,907

Top 17 schools in Colorado

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 6 of the 17 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO Public · 3 feeder programs
307Economics, General$51,52174%78%
2University of Denver
Denver, CO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
111Business Statistics$65,55776%$29,72678%
3Colorado College
Colorado Springs, CO Private not-for-profit · 2 feeder programs
70Business/Managerial Economics88%$23,51018%
4Colorado State University - Fort Collins
Fort Collins, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
64Statistics, General67%89%
5University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
31Economics, General$45,25751%86%
6Metropolitan State University of Denver
Denver, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
20Economics, General32%99%
7Colorado State University Pueblo
Pueblo, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
19Business/Managerial Economics$48,38940%95%
8University of Colorado Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
19Economics, General$46,74847%97%
9Fort Lewis College
Durango, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
12Economics, General36%77%
10Colorado School of Mines
Golden, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
10Economics, General82%61%
11University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical Campus
Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
8Statistics, General46%75%
12Red Rocks Community College
Lakewood, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
4Economics, General32%
13Front Range Community College
Westminster, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
3Economics, General35%
14Western Colorado University
Gunnison, CO Public · 2 feeder programs
3Economics, General$53,40350%100%
15Colorado Christian University
Lakewood, CO Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
1Economics, General64%$23,447
16Community College of Aurora
Aurora, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Economics, General33%
17Community College of Denver
Denver, CO Public · 1 feeder programs
1Economics, General20%

All 17 schools in Colorado

Every school in Colorado with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Colorado that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of Colorado BoulderBoulderPublic3073
University of DenverDenverPrivate not-for-profit1112
Colorado CollegeColorado SpringsPrivate not-for-profit702
Colorado State University - Fort CollinsFort CollinsPublic642
University of Northern ColoradoGreeleyPublic311
Metropolitan State University of DenverDenverPublic202
Colorado State University PuebloPuebloPublic191
University of Colorado Colorado SpringsColorado SpringsPublic192
Fort Lewis CollegeDurangoPublic122
Colorado School of MinesGoldenPublic102
University of Colorado Denver/Anschutz Medical CampusDenverPublic81
Red Rocks Community CollegeLakewoodPublic41
Front Range Community CollegeWestminsterPublic31
Western Colorado UniversityGunnisonPublic32
Colorado Christian UniversityLakewoodPrivate not-for-profit11

What survey researchers earn in Colorado

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median annual in Colorado
$89,870
Mean annual
$93,840
Jobs in state
110
What the range looks like
10th pct$47,600Median$89,87090th pct$145,040
Versus the national median
+29.4%

U.S. median $69,460. Colorado pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
0.71×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Colorado

Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
$77,500median
60 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-5.2%
Decline
Openings per year
700
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-500
8,800 → 8,300
Typical entry education
Master's degree

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Survey Researchers page.

How to become a Survey Researcher

Job zone 5 of 5 · SVP 8.0 and above
Typical entry education
Master's degree

Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).

Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.

Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.

Top skills

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningCritical ThinkingWritingSpeakingMathematics

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Colorado

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 9 majors mapped to Survey Researchers9 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 13.0608Institutional Research
  • 27.0501Statistics, General
  • 27.0601Applied Statistics, General
  • 45.0102Research Methodology and Quantitative Methods
  • 45.0601Economics, General
  • 45.0602Applied Economics
  • 52.0601Business/Managerial Economics
  • 52.1302Business Statistics
  • 52.1402Marketing Research

Common questions

Answers for people weighing survey researchers programs in Colorado.

What degree do you need to become a Survey Researcher?+

Master's degree is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Economics, General, which awarded 343 degrees in Colorado in 2024-25, 50.1% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Survey Researcher?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 7 programs to this occupation. The largest are Economics, Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Business/Managerial Economics, Statistics, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 684 people a year in Colorado.

How much do survey researchers earn in Colorado?+

The median is $89,870 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 29.4% above the U.S. median of $69,460. This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for survey researchers growing?+

BLS projects a -5.2% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 700 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Colorado?+

17 institutions in Colorado reported graduates from at least one of the 7 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do survey researchers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Survey Researcher, Research Associate, Research Scientist, Survey Methodologist among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 19-3022.

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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