Occupational Employment Statistics

DETAILED OCCUPATION DATA

19-4061 Social Science Research Assistants

Occupational Description:
Assist social scientists in laboratory, survey, and other social science research. May help prepare findings for publication and assist in laboratory analysis, quality control, or data management. Excludes “Graduate Teaching Assistants" (25-1191).

Occupational Employment Statistics(OES) Wage Data
First Quarter 2026

Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Percentiles
Geography	Employment	Emp SE*	Mean	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th
Minnesota	300	14	$23.93/hr	$18.82/hr	$20.11/hr	$22.20/hr	$23.91/hr	$33.65/hr

Leading Industries for Social Science Research Assistants

Industry	OES Employment (Statewide)	OES Median Wage (Statewide)
Professional and Business Services	90	$23.89/hr
Education and Health Services	N/A	N/A
Other Services	N/A	N/A
Public Administration	N/A	N/A

Other Regional Data for Social Science Research Assistants

Geography	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2024-2034
Northwest Minnesota	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southeast Minnesota	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southwest Minnesota	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northeast Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A
Fargo ND-MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Grand Forks ND-MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Southeast Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mankato-North Mankato MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Rochester MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
St Cloud MN MSA	N/A	N/A	N/A
Central Minnesota	N/A	N/A	N/A
Northwest Balance of State	N/A	N/A	N/A
Duluth MN-WI MSA	10	$18.82/hr	N/A
Northeast Minnesota	10	$18.82/hr	N/A
Seven County Mpls-St Paul, MN	260	$22.62/hr	4.7%
Minneapolis-St Paul-Bloomington MN-WI MSA	260	$22.62/hr	N/A
Minnesota	300	$22.20/hr	4.4%

Related Occupations

Occupations	Employment	Median Wage	Projections % Change 2024-2034
Data Scientists	4,020	$63.65/hr	29.5%
Statistical Assistants	N/A	$28.84/hr	N/A
Natural Sciences Managers	1,530	$66.70/hr	2.6%
Survey Researchers	340	$51.51/hr	N/A

Task for Social Science Research Assistants

Collect specimens such as blood samples, as required by research projects.
Allocate and manage laboratory space and resources.
Obtain informed consent of research subjects or their guardians.
Administer standardized tests to research subjects, or interview them to collect research data.
Perform data entry and other clerical work as required for project completion.
Track research participants, and perform any necessary follow-up tasks.
Supervise the work of survey interviewers.
Screen potential subjects to determine their suitability as study participants.
Conduct internet-based and library research.
Supervise the work of survey interviewers.