You’re in New York and need some extra money? Good news! New Yorkers, there are loads of ways you can earn extra money doing paid surveys, focus groups, and market research studies. 

Market research firms work with businesses that need feedback from consumers. Brands want the opinions of people of all backgrounds and locations to take paid online surveys and that means New York City too. 

It makes sense. Before a business launches a multi-million dollar campaign, they want to first feel out their idea with potential customers. 

To test out a new concept, businesses will work with survey websites and market research firms. These survey sites and firms find consumers, like you, who are willing to share their opinions in exchange for some compensation.  

In New York, survey takers can make a couple of dollars to a couple of hundred dollars for participating in paid survey opportunities. Online, most paid surveys will pay fifty cents to five dollars. With just a few surveys a day, that can add up to a couple of hundred dollars a month or more. 

Rewards for surveys are usually PayPal cash or Amazon gift cards. Common compensation can also include other store gift cards, prepaid Visa or Mastercards, or free products. 

And even though New York City is a vast hub for business and marketing, through online surveys anyone anywhere can make money online by sharing their opinions. From the East Side to Long Island to upstate New York and beyond, anyone anywhere in the United States can earn money online by doing surveys.  You just need Internet access and an Internet connecting device. 

Get Paid for Surveys in New York City

Taking online surveys for free gift cards and cash is a great way to earn money in New York City without having to step outside your apartment. In fact, you don’t even have to roll out of bed (although this is highly encouraged from a mental floss perspective).

Some New Yorkers do surveys as a side hustle stack, doing surveys on top of dog-walking and nannying. It’s easy to do surveys while you’re doing other gigs. 

The potential payout for doing online surveys is $500 to $2,500 per year. If you’re already wasting time on your phone anyway, cash in on it. 

Popular survey website Swagbucks has paid over $800 million dollars in free cash and gift cards to its members since 2008. 

Realistically, anyone could earn a few dollars a day (which equates to $1,000 a year). There are some ultra-dedicated Swagbucks users, called Swaggernauts, who have over $20,000 in lifetime earnings using Swagbucks. 

Paid Surveys New York City: How Do They Work?

It’s straightforward and easy to start doing paid surveys. Here’s how it works. 

  1. Join a survey site you trust (more on that below). It is free for you to join and the sign-up typically takes less than 60 seconds. 
  2. Afterward, visit the surveys section of the website. Take a look at the different online surveys available. 
  3. Fill out the paid online survey. Survey takers will first have to answer a short pre-screening survey to see if they qualify. To qualify, you need to meet certain basic requirements for the survey like parent status, eating habits, or zip code. 

The compensation you earn from answering online surveys comes from market research firms. They work with brands that have a budget for consumer research. 

After answering an online survey, the research firm pays the survey website like Swagbucks. Then the survey website will share a portion of the compensation with you. As a rule of thumb, the longer the survey the greater the pay. 

The survey website will only get paid when you get paid, and they want to show you as many paying survey opportunities as possible. They’re highly incentivized to help you be successful. 

Top Paid Online Survey Sites for New York City

These are the best online survey sites and free survey apps that NY residents can try.

Swagbucks

Swagbucks is on a mission to puts cash in your wallet - for taking online surveys and dozens of other fun activiites.

Swagbucks is the largest and best-known online survey program. Users can take paid surveys on the Swagbucks.com website or with the Swagbucks app. 

Based out of California, Swagbucks is a trusted name for millions of US residents in the surveys and rewards space. In addition to taking paid online surveys for rewards, there are many other ways to earn free gift cards and cash. Other paid activities include cash back shopping (cashback rebates for online purchases), trying free samples, scanning receipts, playing games, trying new apps, searching the web, and live trivia. 

Many Swagbucks can lead to other related market research work. Like doing a taste test or focus group that’s related to an online survey you just completed. This in-person market research can pay quite well, usually offering a cash stipend, free product, or both. 

Just the online surveys are an easy and lucrative gig though. Most surveys take fewer than 20 minutes to complete and can pay fifty-cents to ten dollars. 

Redeem your earnings for prizes from $1 to $500. Amazon has a $1 gift card that you can redeem your earnings for. 

Sign up for Swagbucks now!

Inbox Dollars

Get a free $5 sign up bonus when you join InboxDollars.

InboxDollars is another ultra-trusted name in the survey sites game. This Minnesota-based survey and rewards program has paid over $70 million in free gift cards, PayPal, and other cash rewards. 

Get paid for taking online surveys, answering daily polls, reading emails, exploring new web content, searching the web, using grocery coupons, playing games, and more. 

Rewards are earned in dollars and cents, not points or other virtual currency. You’ll always know exactly where you’re at with earnings banked. You can even earn a reward just for joining InboxDollars and creating your free account. It takes about 60 seconds and you’ll get a free $5 bonus. 

Join InboxDollars today!

MyPoints

MyPoints pays you to have opinions. Make points for answering fun online surveys that you cash in for cash and gift cards.

MyPoints is known for being a cashback rewards site. You can earn points for shopping online at featured stores, then redeem the points for free PayPal or gift cards. 

It’s not just cashback shopping on MyPoints though. MyPoints offers users lots of different ways to make money on the MyPoints website or in the app. 

Earn points for scanning grocery receipts, trying new products, and taking consumer surveys on a range of different topics. Most online surveys will take 25 minutes or less and pay the rewards equivalent of 50-cents to 5-dollars. 

 Join MyPoints now!

Branded Surveys

Do paid surveys on Branded Surveys and get paid for your opinion.

Branded Surveys is an online survey website that pays participants for taking online surveys on a range of trending topics. You get paid in points for each survey you complete, and points can be redeemed for a charitable donation, prepaid Visa card, PayPal deposit, or digital Amazon gift card. 

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is a market research site that rewards people like you for taking surveys and sharing their feedback.

Survey site Opinion Outpost is another popular point-based setup. Participants earn points for answering paid surveys about a host of topics. Trade in your points for a gift card to Amazon or PayPal deposit. 

Opinion Outpost has a singular focus on surveys. There are no other activities or cash to make money online. Just surveys can get awfully tedious. Still, Opinion Outpost is a legit survey site if you’re looking to kick the wheels on online surveys. 

LifePoints

LifePoints is a survey website and app that rewards with you points for taking online paid surveys. Use your points for your favorite gift card.

LifePoints pays you points for taking online surveys. Cash in your points for PayPal or an eGift card. Similar to Opinion Outpost, LifePoints only has surveys. There’s no variety or other earning activities. 

If you want to do only one survey rewards site, LifePoints might not have enough surveys for you. Available surveys change frequently, and some days there may not be any surveys you qualify for. But if you’re looking to join multiple survey sites, I think LifePoints could be a good backup site. If you don’t see activities you like on one survey site, you can see what’s happening with LifePoints and bounce between the two. 

Tedium aside, joining multiple survey rewards sites is a good way to max out your earnings. Many survey takers belong to multiple survey websites simply to earn the most money possible. 

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie gives survey takers virtual points for taking surveys about all different consumer topics.

Survey Junkie is a paid survey website that pays users virtual points for taking surveys. Answer surveys on the Survey Junkie website or in its app, get paid in points and then cash in your points for popular gift cards. 

Like LifePoints and Opinion Outpost, Survey Junkie only has surveys and that can get a bit monotonous. But as far as survey sites go, Survey Junkie is a legitimate site that does pay. 

Can I Do In-Person Focus Groups and Studies in New York?

Absolutely! You can do in-person focus groups and consumer studies in New York – in NYC and beyond. 

New York City Paid Focus Groups to Check Out

  • Adience (Brooklyn) 
  • Advanced Focus – The Loft (Manhattan) 
  • Alltake Market Research (Lower Manhattan) 
  • AutoCruitment (Manhattan) 
  • Best Option (11377)
  • C&C Market Research (Long Island) 
  • Ebony Systems (Bronx) 
  • Firefish USA (Brooklyn) 
  • Focus Plus, Inc. (Manhattan) 
  • Focus Pointe Global (Manhattan) 
  • Focus Quota (Manhattan) 
  • Focus Room on Fifth, LLC (Manhattan) 
  • Focus Suites (Manhattan)
  • I.C. International (Long Island)
  • MBC Research Center (Manhattan) 
  • New York Consumer Center (Manhattan)
  • Probe Research Inc (Manhattan) 
  • Quantilope (Manhattan) 
  • Recruit & Field (Manhattan)
  • Recruiting Resources Unlimited (Manhattan)
  • Schlesinger Associates NYC (Manhattan) 
  • Seaport Surveys (Manhattan) 
  • Shapiro + Raj (Manhattan)
  • SIS International Research, Inc. (Manhattan) 
  • SOHO Research Centre (Manhattan) 

Greater New York Paid Focus Groups to Check Out

  • Adelman Research Group (Buffalo, NY)
  • Advanced Focus (Tarrytown, NY) 
  • Beta Research Corp. (Woodbury, NY)
  • C&C Market Research (West Nyack, NY)
  • CRG Test America (Yorktown Heights, NY) 
  • Dixon Schwabl (Victor, NY) 
  • Fieldwork New York at Westchester (Elmsford, NY) 
  • Focus Room (Harrison, NY) 
  • Insight Loft (New Rochelle, NY)
  • Insight Rabbit (Westbury, NY) 
  • KS&R’s Institute (Syracuse, NY)
  • Lieberman Research (Great Neck, NY) 
  • Markette Research, Inc. (Clifton Park, NY) 
  • MarketView Westchester (Tarrytown, NY)  
  • Opinions, Ltd. (Rochester, NY) 
  • P&K Research (White Plains, NY) 
  • Quick Test / Heakin (Massapequa, NY) 
  • Reckner (White Plains, NY)
  • Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (Baldwinsville, NY)
  • Ruth Diamond Market Research (North Tonawanda, NY) 
  • SurveyService – Division of Adelman Research Group (Buffalo, NY) 

The stipend for you to live focus groups is quite a bit more than the payout offered for you to complete a paid survey online. 

But with commuting, traffic, and other logistics, it can be quite challenging to reach the various on-site research locations in New York. Additionally, it’s usually more difficult to qualify for in-person market research studies than an online survey. And there’s less anonymity. You need to register your name and other details and answer questions before a live panel. You may be video-recorded. 

More is asked of you which is why you do get paid more for in-person interviews and research. Keep in mind that additional pay might not cover the cost of commuting, parking, and taking time off from your job. A new potato chip taste test study might sound cool and interesting. But are you willing to spend 3 hours total on the subway and sacrifice 6 hours of PTO in order to get a case of crisps and a $100 Visa gift card? And if you consider daycare or after-school pickup and childcare in the mix, it can get to be a lot. 

Some paid, in-person studies can be worth it. But make sure you evaluate the full cost of the opportunity. It costs the study money to pay you, and it costs you money to be there too. 

Parting Words

Taking paid surveys online is an easy, flexible side hustle to make extra money online. Remember, a reputable survey site will never charge you money to join. It should always be free to sign up and free to answer surveys. 

Over the past 8 years, I’ve made well over $5,000 doing surveys. I try to do 2-3 surveys a day, but there are long periods (months) of time when I kind of lay low. But when I get on a streak, I can really roll with it. 

You could earn $1,000 this year by taking paid online surveys. That sounds like a big figure, but it breaks down to just $2.74 a day. It’s easy to do too, while you’re in front of the TV or just scrolling through your phone.  

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