How to Calculate a Survey Response Rate

Survey Response Rate Calculator

Emails that did not reach the recipient.

function calculateSurveyRate() { // Get inputs by ID var sentInput = document.getElementById('totalSent'); var responsesInput = document.getElementById('totalResponses'); var bouncesInput = document.getElementById('bouncedEmails'); var resultBox = document.getElementById('resultDisplay'); var errorBox = document.getElementById('errorDisplay'); var standardRateDisplay = document.getElementById('standardRate'); var adjustedRateDisplay = document.getElementById('adjustedRate'); var respondersDisplay = document.getElementById('respondersPer100'); // Parse values var sent = parseFloat(sentInput.value); var responses = parseFloat(responsesInput.value); var bounces = parseFloat(bouncedEmails.value); // Reset error errorBox.style.display = 'none'; resultBox.style.display = 'none'; // Validation if (isNaN(sent) || sent <= 0) { errorBox.innerHTML = "Please enter a valid number of Total Surveys Sent (must be greater than 0)."; errorBox.style.display = 'block'; return; } if (isNaN(responses) || responses < 0) { errorBox.innerHTML = "Please enter a valid number of Responses."; errorBox.style.display = 'block'; return; } if (isNaN(bounces) || bounces sent) { errorBox.innerHTML = "Error: Responses cannot exceed the number of surveys sent."; errorBox.style.display = 'block'; return; } if (bounces >= sent) { errorBox.innerHTML = "Error: Bounced emails cannot equal or exceed total sent."; errorBox.style.display = 'block'; return; } if ((responses + bounces) > sent) { errorBox.innerHTML = "Error: Responses + Bounces cannot exceed total sent."; errorBox.style.display = 'block'; return; } // Calculations // Standard Rate = (Responses / Sent) * 100 var standardRate = (responses / sent) * 100; // Adjusted Rate = (Responses / (Sent – Bounces)) * 100 var validSent = sent – bounces; var adjustedRate = (responses / validSent) * 100; // Display Results standardRateDisplay.innerHTML = standardRate.toFixed(2) + "%"; adjustedRateDisplay.innerHTML = adjustedRate.toFixed(2) + "%"; respondersDisplay.innerHTML = Math.round(adjustedRate); resultBox.style.display = 'block'; }

How to Calculate Survey Response Rate

Understanding your survey response rate is crucial for determining the validity and reliability of your data. Whether you are conducting market research, employee engagement surveys, or customer satisfaction polls (CSAT), knowing how many people actually participated compared to how many were invited gives you insight into the effectiveness of your outreach.

The Core Formula

The standard formula for calculating a survey response rate is straightforward:

(Number of Completed Responses / Total Number of Surveys Sent) × 100

For example, if you sent out 1,000 email invitations and received 150 completed surveys, your response rate would be:

(150 ÷ 1,000) × 100 = 15%

Adjusted vs. Standard Response Rate

Our calculator above provides two metrics: the Standard Rate and the Adjusted (Effective) Rate.

• Standard Rate: Uses the total number of attempts, regardless of whether the recipient actually received the invitation.
• Adjusted Rate: Removes "bounces" or undeliverable invitations from the equation. This is a fairer metric of your survey's appeal because it only counts people who actually had the opportunity to respond.

Adjusted Rate = [Responses / (Total Sent – Bounces)] × 100

What is a Good Survey Response Rate?

Response rates vary wildly depending on the channel (email, pop-up, SMS), the audience (internal vs. external), and the industry. While there is no single "magic number," here are general benchmarks to guide your expectations:

Survey Type	Average Response Rate	Good Response Rate
Internal Employee Surveys	30% – 40%	70% – 85%
Customer Satisfaction (B2B)	20% – 30%	35% – 50%
Customer Satisfaction (B2C)	10% – 15%	20% – 30%
Cold Email / Market Research	1% – 3%	5% – 10%

Factors That Influence Your Rates

If your calculator results are lower than the benchmarks above, consider these factors:

1. Survey Length: Data shows that abandonment rates spike with surveys that take longer than 10 minutes to complete.
2. Relevance: Are you asking the right questions to the right audience? Highly targeted surveys always perform better than generic blasts.
3. Incentives: Offering a small discount, gift card entry, or access to the results can boost participation by 5-20%.
4. Timing: Tuesday through Thursday mornings are generally considered the best times to send B2B surveys, while weekends may work better for certain B2C demographics.

How to Use This Calculator

Simply enter the total count of invitations you distributed in the "Total Surveys Sent" field. Enter the count of fully completed questionnaires in the "Completed Responses" field. If you have access to your email marketing analytics, input the number of bounced emails to see your true effective response rate.