2024 Research and Insights Salaries

December 10, 2024

2024 has been an interesting year for compensation. With the influx of candidates in the marketplace and the decrease in jobs, research and insights salaries stabilized in 2024 after increasing significantly in 2022 and 2023. This was true for both the research supplier-side and the brand or client-side. Smith Hanley Associates’ Market Research and Insights Executive Recruiters, Lindsey Bartlett, Daniel Wilberschied and Pierson Wofford offer their review of 2024 research and insights salaries.

Major Trends in 2024

For analysts and entry level positions, 2024 research and insights salaries were lower versus what they were in 2022 and 2023. Shockingly base compensation at the analyst and entry-level went from $70k in 2023 to $60k for candidates starting in 2024. There were so many candidates in the market pursuing far fewer jobs in 2024 versus 2022’s immense boom for talent at any cost.

Higher compensation levels did happen in 2024 for senior business development leaders and account executives who specialize in sales. Whether a company was hiring a salesperson to bring needed business into their organization or because they saw an unmet need at their existing client, 2024 was the year the quality senior level sales leader had the upper hand.

Industries with the most competitive compensation continue to be CPG, Private Equity, Technology and Biotechnology.

What These Salary Charts Tell You

2024 Research Supplier
Title	Salary
Analyst (1+ years)	$60-70K
Senior Analyst	$70-90K
Research Manager	$90-115K
Project Manager (individual contributor – operations)	$85-105K
Account Manager (with sales targets)	$90-130K + comm
Client Service/Client Success Manager (no sales targets)	$90-120K
Research Director	$120-160K
Vice President (with sales targets)	$150-200K + comm
SVP/EVP/Managing Director (with sales targets + leadership)	$200-250K + comm


2024 Brand or Client-Side
Title	Salary
Analyst	$70-90K
Senior Analyst	$80-120K
Manager	$110-135K
Senior Manager	$130-180K
Associate Director	$140-190K
Director	$160-250K
Senior Director	$180-270K
VP/SVP/EVP/Head of	$250-300K

Client-side has higher base compensation levels, due to the more intensive requirements and infrequency of their openings.

Some titles have broad compensation levels due to varying organizational structures. Every company will have nuance within the bands, dependent on areas of the business, number of direct reports and overall organizational structure and responsibility.

We’ve created client-service/client-success as a new area, separate from account management. In 2024, we saw a clear differentiation between those who work on managing existing relationships with clients and those who have a revenue goal and need to obtain new business. Higher compensation and commission rates for those who hit sales goals and bring in new clients is to be expected, but clearly keeping existing clients happy was highly valued as well.

Brand or Client-Side versus Supplier-Side Salaries

Supplier side entry level positions tend to offer more training and development and provide a higher variety of work. You will spend the majority of your time learning and developing basic skills within quantitative and qualitative primary research.

Entry level positions on the brand or client-side can be more strategic in nature. You will work on big picture projects and manage vendors to do the heavy lifting on project-based work.

Higher compensation on the brand or client-side in both base and incentives.

Higher compensation on the supplier-side through commission payouts on projects acquired and building and maintaining existing and new client relationships.