What SSRS does

SSRS is a full-service survey and market research firm founded in 1983 and headquartered in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. The company designs, fields, manages, and analyzes custom survey research for government agencies (e.g., HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement, Minnesota and Massachusetts state health departments), academic institutions (Pew Research Center, Marquette University Law School, NORC), major media organizations (CNN, NPR), and nonprofit clients (Commonwealth Fund, Pew Charitable Trusts, Combined Jewish Philanthropies). Its core technology infrastructure is the SSRS Opinion Panel, a probability-based panel of nearly 50,000 U.S. adults recruited via address-based sampling (ABS) and random digit dial (RDD), supported by proprietary methodologies including Encipher Hybrid for probability/nonprobability sample calibration using random forest propensity adjustment, and SSRS ABS Innovations for reaching underrepresented populations.

SSRS generates revenue through a hybrid model combining professional services (project-based custom research and multi-year government contracts) with recurring/subscription revenue streams from syndicated proprietary products. Recurring products include the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus (a twice-monthly multi-client survey), Sports Poll (30+ years of continuous tracking, 24,000+ respondents annually), Edison Podcast Metrics, Share of Ear, The Infinite Dial (since 1998), and AI User Metrics. Edison Research operates as an integrated subsidiary providing audio and media measurement. Distribution occurs primarily through direct enterprise sales, government contracting processes, academic partnerships (notably managing the Pew Research Center American Trends Panel), and earned-media coverage from CNN, NPR, and SiriusXM Media partnerships. The firm maintains technology partnerships with Marketing Systems Group (sample sourcing), Cetra (translation services across 20 languages), and Miravoice (voice AI agents for survey administration).

Name

SSRS

Legal name

SSRS

Website

https://ssrs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

SSRS is a U.S.-based, full-service survey and market research firm operating a probability-based Opinion Panel of ~50,000 U.S. adults, serving government agencies, media outlets (CNN, NPR), academic institutions (Pew Research Center), and nonprofits with custom research, syndicated products, and Edison Research audio measurement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (541910), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (541720)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE), National TV & Cross-Platform Audience Measurement Panels (MPABAOAA)

Keywords

• Survey research services
• Market research
• Public opinion polling
• Probability-based sampling
• Panel research

Headquarters

HQ city

Glen Mills

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Custom Survey Research Projects: SSRS designs, fields, manages and analyzes custom surveys on behalf of government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofit organizations, and private sector clients. Projects range from one-time polls to multi-year longitudinal studies.
2. SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus: Multi-client probability-based survey that fields twice monthly, allowing multiple clients to share space on a single survey. Delivers nationally representative samples of 1,000 U.S. adults.
3. Government Contracts: Long-term government contracts including the Annual Survey of Refugees (ORR), state health surveys (Minnesota, Massachusetts), and election polling.
4. Proprietary Research Products: Proprietary syndicated research products including Sports Poll, Edison Podcast Metrics, Share of Ear, The Infinite Dial, and AI User Metrics sold to media companies, advertisers, and market researchers.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SSRS is a full-service survey and market research firm that designs, fields, manages, and analyzes custom surveys and probability-based panel research for government agencies, academic institutions, media organizations, nonprofits, and private sector clients. The company maintains the SSRS Opinion Panel of nearly 50,000 U.S. adults and operates a portfolio of syndicated research products (Sports Poll, Edison Podcast Metrics, Share of Ear, The Infinite Dial, AI User Metrics) alongside custom research services using address-based sampling, multimodal data collection, and proprietary hybrid calibration methodologies.

Product overview

SSRS is a full-service survey and market research firm providing a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is the SSRS Opinion Panel, a nationally representative probability-based panel of U.S. adults for custom research. Supporting modules include the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus (twice-monthly multi-client survey), SSRS Text Message Panel, SSRS Opinion Panel Qualibus (qualitative companion), and SSRS Virtual Insights (virtual qualitative research). The Edison Research at SSRS division offers audio/media measurement through Edison Podcast Metrics™, Share of Ear®, The Infinite Dial®, and Edison Download Metrics. Political and election research solutions include The Voter Poll by SSRS and International Election Research. Sports research is provided through Sports Poll, Custom Sports Offerings, and AI User Metrics. Advanced methodology offerings include Encipher® (hybrid probability/nonprobability calibration) and SSRS ABS Innovations. The company also maintains specialized panels including Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel and SSRS Proprietary Panels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Edison Podcast Metrics: Podcast measurement service providing weekly reach data for podcast networks
• Share of Ear
• The Infinite Dial
• SSRS Opinion Panel
• Encipher Hybrid
• Sports Poll
• AI User Metrics

Products and services

• SSRS Opinion Panel A nationally representative probability-based panel of U.S. adults aged 18+ used for survey research, recruited through address-based sampling (ABS) and random digit dial (RDD) telephone sample. Sold to government, academic, media, and nonprofit clients.
• SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus A multi-client, probability-based survey that fields twice monthly, delivering a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. adults with quick turnaround. Allows multiple clients to share space on a single survey.
• SSRS Text Message Panel Probability-based panel solution using text messaging for quick turnaround polling research.
• Edison Podcast Metrics The only all-inclusive measurement of weekly reach of podcast networks, part of Edison Research at SSRS audio and media solutions.
• Share of Ear The only data set measuring all types of audio consumption since 2014, tracking listening across platforms and formats.
• The Infinite Dial America's longest-running survey of digital media and consumer behavior, providing historical trending data on audio and online consumption. Conducted in partnership with SiriusXM Media.
• Edison Download Metrics Podcast download analytics for publishers of all sizes, part of the Edison Research at SSRS suite.
• The Voter Poll by SSRS Non-partisan political and election-related research providing the most comprehensive snapshot of American voters using mixed methods.
• International Election Research Pre-election polls, exit polling, analysis, and election projections in countries worldwide.
• Sports Poll The first and longest-standing sports and free time intelligence product, tracking sports fandom and behaviors with 24,000+ respondents annually.
• Custom Sports Offerings Tailored research solutions providing greater understanding of specific industry-related sports issues beyond standard Sports Poll.
• AI User Metrics Research product providing the most current view of AI usage in America, tracking adoption and attitudes toward AI platforms.
• SSRS Proprietary Panels Highly scalable, cost-efficient data collection platform tailored to meet specific client research needs.
• Rutgers-Eagleton/SSRS Garden State Panel Measuring public opinion in New Jersey through a specialized regional probability panel.
• SSRS Virtual Insights Full-service solution for conducting virtual qualitative research including online bulletin boards, webcasts, and virtual focus groups.
• SSRS Opinion Panel Qualibus Multi-client qualitative research companion to the SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus, providing focus groups and in-depth interviews.
• Encipher Hybrid calibration methodology combining probability and nonprobability samples to produce more representative estimates, including Encipher Hybrid 2.0 with enhanced subgroup controls.
• Custom Survey Research Services End-to-end custom survey research services including research design, questionnaire development, data collection (web and telephone), project management, and analytics for government agencies, academic institutions, nonprofits, and private sector clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• Sports Poll tracks more than 24,000 Americans annually
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature12 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Benton Institute for Broadband & SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSRS conducted a mixed-method study for the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society to assess the impact of ending the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) on lower-income households. The study included quantitative surveys of 2,525 lower-income U.S. adults and qualitative follow-up interviews.
• Rosov ConsultingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSRS partnered with Rosov Consulting to conduct the 2025 Greater Boston Jewish Community Study on behalf of Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP). The study collected data from more than 5,000 respondents living in Jewish households.
• Marketing Systems Group (MSG)coreTechnology or IntegrationSSRS partners with Marketing Systems Group (MSG) for sample sourcing. MSG provides random sampling through the U.S. Postal Service's Computerized Delivery Sequence File (CDS) for address-based sampling and selects prepaid cell phone RDD samples.
• CetraminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerSSRS partners with Cetra for translation services, managing translations into 20 languages for multilingual surveys ensuring linguistic accuracy and cultural appropriateness.
• State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) at University of MinnesotacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSSRS partners with SHADAC at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health to conduct the Minnesota Health Access Survey biennially, documenting health insurance coverage and access to healthcare.
• Marquette University Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 2021, SSRS has partnered with Marquette University Law School to conduct regular public opinion surveys among registered voters in Wisconsin, implementing hybrid sample methodology including probability-based SSRS Opinion Panel and registration-based sample.
• SiriusXM MediacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSiriusXM Media supports The Infinite Dial study conducted by Edison Research at SSRS, America's longest-running survey of digital media and consumer behavior.
• Pew Research CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Pew Research Center works with SSRS to recruit panelists, manage the panel, and conduct ATP (American Trends Panel) surveys. SSRS provides recruitment, panel management, and survey administration services.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RTI International: Independent nonprofit research institute providing survey research, statistical analysis, and program evaluation to government and commercial clients. Competes directly with SSRS for federal health surveys (e.g., NHIS-style work) and large-scale probability-based research.
• Abt Associates: Research and consulting firm conducting survey research, impact evaluation, and policy analysis for federal agencies and foundations. Directly competes with SSRS for government survey contracts and shares a focus on health, housing, and social policy research.
• Westat: Employee-owned research firm specializing in statistical survey design, data collection, and evaluation research for federal agencies. Directly competes for government health, social, and education survey contracts and shares SSRS's probability-based, multimodal methodology.
• Pew Research Center: Nonpartisan fact tank conducting public opinion polling and social science research using probability-based panels. SSRS recruits and manages the American Trends Panel for Pew, making Pew both a customer and a directly comparable peer in methodology and audience.
• YouGov: Global online survey research firm operating one of the largest proprietary panels, with a heavy emphasis on political polling and consumer research. Competes with SSRS on public opinion polling but uses online non-probability methods rather than probability-based ABS, representing a cost-structure alternative.
• NORC at the University of Chicago: Independent academic research organization conducting probability-based survey research for government, academic, and nonprofit clients. Directly competes with SSRS on federal health surveys, panel management (AmeriSpeak), and academic survey work, and is also referenced as a customer/partner of SSRS.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Global market research firm operating across consumer, public opinion, healthcare, and political research with established panels worldwide. Competes with SSRS on custom survey research, public opinion polling, and syndicated tracking studies, but at significantly larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Gallup: Largest and best-known U.S. polling organization, conducting probability-based surveys across political, economic, and workplace topics. Competitor for political polling, custom survey research, and syndicated products; broader portfolio and larger scale than SSRS.
• Kantar: Global market research and consulting firm with established panels and syndicated brand/media measurement products. Overlaps with SSRS on consumer research, syndicated tracking, and brand/advertising measurement, but operates at much larger scale and across more verticals.

Emerging players

• Morning Consult: Fast-growing technology-enabled research company conducting high-frequency political and consumer polling using its proprietary panel. Competes with SSRS on political polling and brand tracking but with a tech-first, lower-cost methodology approach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ssrs_solutions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/408009
• Instagraminstagram.com/ssrs_survey_research
• Facebookfacebook.com/ssrs.research.refined

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SSRS