The top salaries remain the same, but database professionals have seen some improvement in their pay, according to the latest salary survey from Crandall Associates Inc., New York.

Database directors with seven or more years' experience are earning between $138,800 and $161,000. That's up from the $137,400-$158,800 range cited in the prior report last May.

And novices, those with up to three years in the role, have also enjoyed a slight uptick — from a high end of $125,000 in 2003 to $127,500. Managers with four to seven years on the job are pulling down between $81,400 and $99,700.

What do database managers do? They oversee the development and implementation of database marketing systems. As was the case last year, their top salary is $210,000.

Database managers, described by Crandall as “the toast of all marketers,” also have done better in the 10 months since May. Those with seven-plus years in the business are collecting $96,400 to $119,400, compared with up to $117,700 last year.

And directors with four to seven years are averaging between $81,400 and $99,700, also reflecting an increase. Those with one to three years' experience are earning from $107,800 to $127,500. Directors design and/or enhance databases. Their top salary is $145,000.

Last in the database hierarchy are database analysts, who interpret results. Their salaries have jumped to a high of $97,900 for those with seven years' experience, compared with $95,100 last year. Analysts with one to three years jumped from a top of $63,800 to $65,100.

Data processing managers, who supervise processing operations and personnel, saw their salaries grow to a high of $89,800, up from $88,300. Their low range is $65,800 to $75,100 and the middle range $72,900 to $88,000. The very highest salary remained steady at $120,000.

Meanwhile, corporate list managers — those responsible for recommending lists in-house and for pricing and marketing of their house files for outside rentals — top out at $98,000. The highest range, for managers with seven or more years in the slot, is from $57,300 to $66,800. Last year's range was $56,700 to $65,500.

Managers with four to seven years receive $50,400 to $60,500, and those with one to three years get $46,000 to $58,000. All of these ranges have gone up.

In general, direct marketing salaries have risen “very little,” said Wendy Crandall Weber, president of Crandall Associates. However, Crandall, a headhunting firm, has seen a “sustained uptick in job orders” since mid-December 2003. Salaries tend to rise more quickly in the database arena than they do other fields, Crandall added.

The study, which covers a variety of direct marketing positions, is based on interviews with clients, job candidates and other contacts.