Demographic survey question guide: Tips, examples, & best practices

Summary:

You can ask demographic questions about age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, marital status or occupation. In this article we'll discuss 13 example questions and potential answer options, use cases for your demographic data, and some best practices around how to collect this data.

Demographic information can help you understand and segment your audience by characteristics like age, income level, education, and geographical location. You can use this data to personalize your messaging, create unique customer experiences, and design more customer-aligned products.

In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn what demographic information is, why it’s important to capture, and how to craft demographic questions. 

Demographics are characteristics used to categorize a group of people based on specific criteria, such as age, gender, income level, education, ethnicity, marital status, and employment.

Demographic information helps researchers identify trends and patterns within a population. Businesses can use this information to make more informed decisions about everything from marketing strategies to product roadmaps.

SurveyMonkey also has many expert-designed survey templates you can use or reference to build your own customized questionnaire.

You can use certified questions from the Question Bank to add a few demographic questions to a survey. This is a common practice and a good option for including specific questions in a larger survey.

Here are a few examples to get you started.

One of the most commonly asked demographic questions is about age range. Age is sometimes a necessary piece of information in market research segmentation, medical research, customer identification, and more.

Age-related demographic questions let you segment your audience so you can craft personalized strategies for each age group. Audience segments also help predict future trends in your customers’ needs.

Question: What is your age?

There are many ways to list age group ranges for surveys. Some researchers organize data into five or ten-year periods. Others group data by generation, such as Baby Boomers, Millennials, Gen X, and Gen Z. The range you use is up to you and what will work best with your survey goals.

Because age can be a sensitive issue, follow these tips for asking your survey respondents age-related questions:

Asking about ethnicity in surveys can provide valuable insights into your audience's diverse cultural backgrounds, preferences, and needs. This information can also help you identify strategy gaps and create more inclusive strategies and products.

Question: How would you describe your ethnicity? 

Pro tip: For demographic questions like the last one, it’s a good idea to add an “Other (please specify)” answer option. This type of answer option gives respondents a text box to self-identify.

Gender questions in surveys can help you understand the diverse perspectives and experiences of different genders within your target audience. After all, products and services that women like may not appeal to men or non-binary people and vice versa.

Question: What is your gender?

Note that the last question requires a text box for the respondent to self-identify.

Researchers ask about marital status to learn about people's needs and preferences based on their life stage and social situation. It can help researchers tailor services and products to better meet people's needs.

For example, a travel company might offer different package deals to singles, couples, and families, recognizing that their ideal vacations will be very different. Similarly, financial service providers can create targeted offerings that cater to the unique financial planning needs of singles, married couples, or individuals going through divorce.

Question: Are you married, widowed, divorced, separated, or never married?

Asking about education level in demographic surveys can provide valuable insights into the knowledge base, skills, and potentially the earning power of your audience.

Question: What is the highest level of school you have completed or the highest degree you have received?

Employment status can give you insight into the economic situation of your audience, which can significantly influence their purchasing behavior, needs, and priorities. However, this can be a sensitive question. Give respondents the option to skip the question if needed. 

Here’s an example of an employment demographic question:

Question: Which of the following categories best describes your employment status?

Household income combines the earnings of everyone living in the same home. Collecting this data helps you understand your customers' purchasing power. Ask for this sensitive information using income ranges and include an option for respondents to skip the question.

Question: What was your combined household income in the last year?

Living situation describes whether a customer owns their home, rents a property, or has another living arrangement. Understanding a customer's living situation helps you gauge the stability of their current location.

Question: Which of the following describes your current living situation?

Asking about language in demographic surveys helps identify the primary language a respondent speaks at home. This can give you insight into your audience’s communication preferences, so you can ensure your messages are accessible. Language data can also help you define your marketing localization and translation strategy to ensure your communications are culturally relevant and appropriately targeted. 

Question: What language do you mainly speak at home?

Family and dependent questions tell you the number of children under 18 living in your customer’s household. This can give you insights into your customer’s priorities and challenges. 

For example, you learn that most of your customers have several young children. You can use this information to tailor your offerings and messaging to appeal directly to the challenges and priorities of parenting and family life.

Question: How many children are you parent or guardian for that live in your household (aged 17 or younger only)?

Media consumption preferences can help you understand where your audience gets information. This question can help you understand the type of content your audience consumes and on what platforms. In turn, you can place ads and content strategically.

Question: Where do you currently get your news about politics?

Asking about religion in demographic surveys helps understand the diverse belief systems and spiritual backgrounds within your audience. Understanding this data can help you customize your content or product to meet specific religious traditions of your target audience.

Just remember, with personal questions like this, be respectful and let respondents opt out if they're not comfortable sharing.

Question: Do you identify with any of the following religions? (Select all that apply.)

Understanding your customer’s political affiliations can give you insight into their values and priorities. It can also help you create messaging and product offerings that resonate with their worldviews. 

In addition, knowing your customer’s political affiliations can help you avoid messaging that could alienate your audience. Again, when asking about sensitive topics, be thoughtful and give people the option to not answer if they don't want to share.

Question: How would you describe your political viewpoints? 

You can use demographic information for a variety of use cases, from marketing to business development and product planning. Demographic data increases the likelihood of your messages and products resonating with your target audience.

Imagine if you knew that most of your audience were wealthy married men, not young single women in college. This knowledge would drastically change your marketing strategies. You would need to tailor your message and product to appeal to this new target demographic. Understanding your audience is crucial for business success. 

Here are a few powerful ways you can use demographic data in your business.

A buyer persona represents your buying audience. A buyer persona helps you understand your ideal customer by breaking down their preferences, dislikes, and shopping behaviors.

Market change is inevitable, but you're not defenseless to it. Demographic questions help you identify market trends and adjust your business to stay ahead of market change.

Using demographic questions helps you target the right buying audience. For instance, you might discover women prefer your product more than men. 

Think about a time you had to fill out a form at the bank or a registration form for an activity. You probably shielded the form from prying eyes or even placed the paperwork upside down after completing. Why? Demographic data is personal, identifying information that you may not want to make public.

With this understanding, it’s vital to use best practices when building a survey that collects demographic information. The following tips will help you drive high completion rates and get high-quality data.

Before launching any survey, it is critical to set clear objectives. Defining what you need to learn from the demographic information will help you tailor your questions. The responses you collect from goal-specific questions will be relevant and actionable.

Explain the purpose of your survey. In a brief introduction, tell your respondents how you’ll use the information. For example: “We want to know more about our customers and what they want. This information will help us put together the right mix of products and services to ensure your satisfaction.”

It can be tempting to ask a lot of demographic questions, but don’t add too many! If your survey is too long, respondents can get survey fatigue. This can lead to lower quality responses. The respondent might also abandon the survey altogether. Instead, master the art of concise surveys to increase completion rates and ensure data quality. 

Be mindful of your audience. Demographic questions deal with personal details about the respondent’s identity like gender, income, living situation, or even religious and political affiliations. Keep your language inclusive. Additionally, consider giving respondents the option to not disclose information if they choose. 

Your survey should be comprehensible. This not only makes sure you’re getting quality data, but it also improves survey completion rates. So keep your questions simple, straightforward, and free of jargon. 

Know when to get personal. Like an in-person conversation, first establish rapport with your respondent, then ask about personal matters. 

Related: How to ask sensitive questions in surveys

Many demographic questions ask respondents to choose a range of numbers that best describes them, like an age range or income bracket. Ensure these numbers don’t overlap. For example, if one age bracket covers 50 to 59 years old, make sure the next one starts at 60, not at 59. This will ensure you get accurate data and avoid confusing your respondents. 

Many people are sensitive about offering their personal information. Demographic information examples where this can ring true, include: income level, employment status, race, and ethnicity. If you are studying general trends, make sure responses are anonymous and inform participants.

Your survey should be easy to complete for anyone—no matter who they are or how they complete the survey. Use survey templates accessible by U.S. Section 508 standards and The European Accessibility Act. Additionally, ensure your survey works on across devices, including phones, tablets, and computers.

Related: Accessibility when using SurveyMonkey

Asking customers personal questions in surveys may seem daunting, but demographic data brings many benefits. Read a few noteworthy demographic data benefits.

One of the primary benefits of demographic survey questions is the ability to personalize your marketing efforts, product development, and customer service strategies. 

Understanding your audience helps you customize your messages and products to meet their specific needs, preferences, and challenges. This way, you can better serve different customer groups. And personalizing your offerings can improve engagement, conversion rates, brand relevance, and customer satisfaction.

Related: Marketing demographics

Demographic insights can help you identify market trends, anticipate changes in consumer behavior, and uncover new opportunities for growth. In turn, you can make data-informed decisions that align with your target audience—whether it's a new product feature, service expansion, or price adjustment.

Adding demographic questions in surveys can help you use your marketing budget more wisely and increase your return on investment (ROI). Knowing your customers' demographics, origins, and preferences can help you create focused marketing strategies for better results.

You have a better chance of reaching and resonating with your intended audience with targeted campaigns. As a result, you can achieve better outcomes with your marketing spend, including higher conversion rates.

Now that you’ve seen what sample demographic questions actually look like, you can check out some ready-to-use demographic survey templates.

The following are templates, that include demographic survey questions, straight from the minds of SurveyMonkey’s expert survey methodologists:

* Please note that some demographics templates are available in English only at this time.

This six-question template asks respondents about gender, age, education, employment, household income, and race. View U.S. demographics, snapshot template.

In addition to the six questions posed in the Snapshot Template, this 11-question template asks about geographic location, housing, marital status, business or farm ownership, and personal income. View U.S. demographics, full template.

With two quick questions, learn about respondents’ employment status and the type of work they do. View employment template.

Discover the makeup of your school community with 16 basic demographic questions about gender, income, race, relationship to student, and more. View education demographics template.

Learn more about the companies on your customer list with this 10-question survey that asks when the company was founded, where it’s headquartered, number of employees and locations, and more. View firmographics template.

These B2B survey templates help your business clients understand their end customers. Demographic questions include age, gender, education level, employment status, annual household income, marital and family status, housing, business, and farm ownership. View target market demographics template and typical customer demographic template.

With this comprehensive guide to demographic questions, you’re ready to survey your audience. Start your own survey now. To create multiple surveys and gain access to various SurveyMonkey tools, choose the plan that’s right for you.