Our company would like a list of U.S. companies that legitimately pay
for users to take online surveys and the range these companies are
willing to pay for the survey.

Good Luck-- so would half the US population.  

Don't mean to sound so down, but after having tried numerous survey
plans and even a paying one, the results have been very disappointing.

Most sites that claim to pay cash, really only put each participant's
name into a "lottery" and pay the winner.  And those lotteries
typically only run once a week or month.  So the average participant
has as much chance of winning that as of winning a regular lottery.

If anyone DOES know of a real, paying survey site, I think we'd all
like to hear about it.

I'm confused.  Is this the response I paid money for?  A sarcastic
quip?  I'm very disappointed in this response.  Not because you did
not answer my question but the because of the tone of your response. 
I posted a serious question that my company is trying to answer.  We
have access to approximatley 200,000 high demographic customers each
month.  We have heard that certain companies are willing to pay for
survey information.  It's obvious by your response that you spent zero
time actually looking.  If you had, you would have atleast given me a
few names that seem OK with obvious qualifiers.  I have been able to
find a couple of sites that at least appear legit.  I did not ask you
for your opinion on these types of websites - I asked you to get off
your ass and try to find them.

Trackermo-ga is not a Researcher, he/she is just a commenter.
Therefore your question has not been answered and you have not been
charged.

Mr. DennisWhite,

I am sorry if you misunderstood my comment as a response from the
Google Experts.  I thought the option of comments from other users
(who may or may not have valuable insight) had been made clear in the
format and your understanding of this system.

My comments were from an end-user's perspective only.  Please accept
my apology for any misunderstanding this may have caused on your part.

From your further response it is now clear you are interested in the
survey companies in terms of their dealings with companies initiating
surveys.  That is, your company would like to initiate a survey.

Because of that and because of my own conscience I must add, as an
end-user, I did not provide any specific names because I cannot
endorse any of those companies (you can be sure, they were most
numerous) because they all-but exclusively promote themselves as
paying the respondents then, as I said before, actually "pay" using
highly questionable tactics.

To most people, they represent all that is the worst about the
internet.  Scams.  Once you investigate those companies further, if
you should concern yourself with their methods, I think you'll agree.

Whether your company works with those survey companies or not is, of
course, entirely up to you.

However, I would like to point out that those companies tend to
attract one portion of the demographic over most others, so the
legitimacy of their findings may be questioned.  I made a reasonable
attempt to investigate a wide range of them during a convalescent
period and during which I was seriously looking for a way to work
online.  Many promote themselves as such.  No one could live on
whatever they offer.  I never received one, thin dime, though I filled
out countless surveys.  It is for this reason that I did not provide
any names because I will not endorse them in any way.

Their true crime is in raising (what turns out to be) unrealistic
hopes.  I wasted countless hours, believing I would earn some modicom
of an income from my efforts.  I might as well have been playing
solitaire.

And that is another reason these online surveys should not be trusted:
Because the very nature of the internet's anonymity allows the
broadest possible spectrum of responses, from the "sublime to the
ridiculous", as the saying goes.

And, lastly, having finally found reputable work online, I
particularly scorn such "businesses".  Because of their nefarious
activity (and I am sure they would try to cast the blame at the
affiliates-- that they, themselves, encourage), legitimate online
business people must work twice as hard to establish a serious online
presence.

Again, I do apologise for any misunderstanding.  No disrespect was
intended toward you or your company.  I'm sorry if you found my
answers "flippant" or "sarcastic".  They were never intended to be.

Trackermo

I've been doing online surveys for over 8 years and been paid anywhere
from from $5 - $75.  My most recent survey sent me a $50 Visa gift
charge card. However, most surveys send a check.

I meant to type - I've been doing online surveys for over 8 years and
been paid anywhere from $5 - $75.

In addition, I never paid to enter any survey.

There are some surveys listed here:

http://www.surveysam.com/usa/

Personally, I get most surveys from GlobalTestMarket, Greenfield
online, SurveyDirect and SurveySavvy. Sometimes you get nothing -
sometimes only $1-$5, but occasionally you will get $10-$20 for a
survey.

NOTE: This is just a comment, NOT an aswer.

You could simply go to a survey site that already has a large database.
example surveyscout.com

You could then ask for the database or work a deal to purchase it.  

On your own, you could go to the www.bbb.com search business name with
survey, paid survey, research, ect.  That will give you a nice list to
start at.

Last since your the one with the names and the power, have survey
companies look for you.  Set up some advertising lead them to your
database.  You may even be able to charge the companies to be listed
since you hold the cards.