---
title: "What are demographic questions and when should I use them? | PickFu Help Center"
description: "How demographic questions work, what's included for free, pricing for additional questions, and when to use them vs. audience targeting."
---

# Demographic questions vs. audience targeting

Demographic questions are optional data points you collect from respondents in addition to their poll answers. Add them in the final step of the survey builder to segment your results by traits like age, income, education, or shopping behavior — without narrowing your audience upfront.

These are two different ways to work with respondent traits, and the distinction matters:

**Audience targeting** filters who sees your poll. You choose targeting traits _before_ launch — for example, "only show this to U.S. Amazon Prime members aged 25–34." Only people matching those criteria take the poll.

**Demographic questions** collect extra data _from_ whoever takes your poll. You analyze the results _after_ — for example, "how did respondents with household income over $100K answer differently from those under $50K?"

Use targeting when you need a specific audience. Use demographic questions when you want to discover patterns across a broader group.

# How to add demographic questions

In the survey builder, scroll to the final step (after audience selection). Browse the available categories, and select the ones relevant to your research. Your chosen demographic questions appear after your poll question when respondents take the test.

# What's included for free

All plans include two free demographic questions: **age** and **gender identity**.

PickFu Plus plans include three additional free questions: **highest level of education**, **racial or ethnic identity**, and **annual household income** — five free total.

Additional demographic questions beyond the free ones cost **$0.10 per respondent per question**. For example, adding 3 extra questions to a 50-person poll adds $15 to your total.

# When to use them

-   You're polling a general audience and want to discover which segments prefer which option.
    
-   You want richer result segmentation without paying for targeted audience traits upfront.
    
-   You're doing audience discovery — figuring out who your ideal customer is based on how different groups respond.
    

# When to skip them

-   You already targeted a very specific audience and don't need more segmentation.
    
-   You want to keep things simple — fewer questions means faster poll completion.
    

# FAQs

## How do I view demographic breakdowns in my results?

After your poll completes, go to the results page and use the demographic filters to segment responses by any demographic questions you added. You'll see how different groups answered your question.

## What's the difference between demographic questions and reporting traits?

Demographic questions are ones you explicitly add to your poll, and respondents answer them during the test. Reporting traits are data points already associated with respondents in the PickFu panel (like basic demographics). Both can be used to filter results, but demographic questions give you control over exactly what additional data you collect.

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Related Articles

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How do I target a specific audience?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/1984354-how-do-i-target-a-specific-audience)[

How to choose your audience in PickFu

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/2011986-how-to-choose-your-audience-in-pickfu)[

What's the difference between audience targeting and demographic questions?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/2393235-what-s-the-difference-between-audience-targeting-and-demographic-questions)[

How do I poll my own audience instead of PickFu's panel?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/10149684-how-do-i-poll-my-own-audience-instead-of-pickfu-s-panel)[

Does PickFu offer audience pre-screening questions?

](https://help.pickfu.com/en/articles/13556662-does-pickfu-offer-audience-pre-screening-questions)