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

Best Survey Researcher programs in Maryland, 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.

16 schools in Maryland run programs that feed this job, graduating 1,428 people a year. The job pays a median of $84,030 in Maryland across about 390 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledSurvey ResearcherResearch AssociateResearch ScientistSurvey MethodologistProctorPollsterResearcherInterviewer
Graduates / yr
1,428
in Maryland
Median pay · Maryland
$84,030
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
390
people employed
Schools
16
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
59%
across those schools
Median net price
$23,136
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Maryland that lead to this job

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

6 programs in Maryland that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Maryland (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 Maryland page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
CIP 52.1302In Maryland
969
67.9%
4$62,069$23,500
2
CIP 27.0501In Maryland
206
14.4%
4$59,718$20,150
3
CIP 45.0601In Maryland
181
12.7%
11$51,725$22,907
4
CIP 27.0601In Maryland
49
3.4%
1
5
CIP 52.0601In Maryland
20
1.4%
1$53,269$21,962
6
CIP 45.0102In Maryland
3
0.2%
2$35,590$24,095

Top 16 schools in Maryland

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 5 of the 16 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 4 feeder programs
881Business Statistics94%$11,8886%
2University of Maryland - College Park
College Park, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
236Business Statistics$72,30489%45%
3University of Maryland Global Campus
Adelphi, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
89Business Statistics33%
4Frostburg State University
Frostburg, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
85Economics, General50%89%
5Towson University
Towson, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
36Economics, General$50,91069%82%
6Loyola University Maryland
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 3 feeder programs
33Business/Managerial Economics79%$26,58575%
7University of Maryland - Baltimore County
Baltimore, MD Public · 2 feeder programs
18Statistics, General70%72%
8St. Mary's College of Maryland
St. Mary's City, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
14Economics, General$51,48370%69%
9Goucher College
Baltimore, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Economics, General$46,77457%$22,66778%
10Washington College
Chestertown, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
11Economics, General$50,83565%$24,97357%
11Mount St. Mary's University
Emmitsburg, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
4Economics, General65%$23,13674%
12Morgan State University
Baltimore, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
3Economics, General41%82%
13Hood College
Frederick, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Economics, General57%$23,24478%
14McDaniel College
Westminster, MD Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
2Economics, General63%$18,98878%
15Prince George's Community College
Largo, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
2Economics, General18%
16Anne Arundel Community College
Arnold, MD Public · 1 feeder programs
1Business Statistics31%

All 16 schools in Maryland

Every school in Maryland 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 Maryland that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
Johns Hopkins UniversityBaltimorePrivate not-for-profit8814
University of Maryland - College ParkCollege ParkPublic2362
University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphiPublic891
Frostburg State UniversityFrostburgPublic851
Towson UniversityTowsonPublic361
Loyola University MarylandBaltimorePrivate not-for-profit333
University of Maryland - Baltimore CountyBaltimorePublic182
St. Mary's College of MarylandSt. Mary's CityPublic141
Goucher CollegeBaltimorePrivate not-for-profit111
Washington CollegeChestertownPrivate not-for-profit111
Mount St. Mary's UniversityEmmitsburgPrivate not-for-profit41
Morgan State UniversityBaltimorePublic31
Hood CollegeFrederickPrivate not-for-profit21
McDaniel CollegeWestminsterPrivate not-for-profit21
Prince George's Community CollegeLargoPublic21

What survey researchers earn in Maryland

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

Median annual in Maryland
$84,030
Mean annual
$92,410
Jobs in state
390
What the range looks like
10th pct$44,730Median$84,03090th pct$135,520
Versus the national median
+21.0%

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

Job concentration
2.64×

Concentrated here: Maryland employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

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 Maryland

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 Maryland.

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 Business Statistics, which awarded 969 degrees in Maryland in 2024-25, 67.9% 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 6 programs to this occupation. The largest are Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods, Statistics, Economics, Applied Statistics, plus 2 more. Together they graduate about 1,428 people a year in Maryland.

How much do survey researchers earn in Maryland?+

The median is $84,030 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 21.0% 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 Maryland?+

16 institutions in Maryland reported graduates from at least one of the 6 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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