Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners salary

SOC 13-1121 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$61,160

per year, nationally

Middle half

$46,970–$78,790

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

142,860

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.8%

15,500 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$36,830$101,700

10th: $36,830
25th: $46,970
Median: $61,160
75th: $78,790
90th: $101,700

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where meeting, convention, and event planners earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$76,970	109.9	2,360	3.66×
2	Massachusetts	$75,740	105.8	4,640	1.39×
3	New York	$74,730	107.9	10,330	1.16×
4	Hawaii	$74,460	110.0	550	0.96×
5	Vermont	$74,310	98.0	430	1.55×
6	New Jersey	$72,780	108.8	2,160	0.55×
7	California	$71,120	110.7	20,650	1.23×
8	Connecticut	$70,010	103.6	1,450	0.93×
9	Washington	$65,530	107.0	3,600	1.10×
10	Maryland	$63,280	105.0	2,570	1.01×
11	New Hampshire	$63,250	104.2	510	0.81×
12	Colorado	$62,050	103.1	4,650	1.76×
13	Arizona	$61,330	100.7	3,440	1.16×
14	Louisiana	$61,150	88.2	610	0.35×
15	Oregon	$61,120	103.4	2,020	1.12×
16	Virginia	$60,930	101.1	4,230	1.12×
17	Florida	$60,270	103.4	10,480	1.15×
18	Rhode Island	$59,910	102.3	890	1.94×
19	Illinois	$59,840	100.0	5,220	0.93×
20	Pennsylvania	$58,170	97.6	3,940	0.71×
21	Maine	$57,900	97.0	490	0.84×
22	Minnesota	$57,710	98.6	3,160	1.17×
23	Nevada	$57,610	100.0	2,060	1.44×
24	Texas	$57,470	97.1	10,730	0.83×
25	Missouri	$56,900	90.8	2,500	0.93×
26	Wyoming	$55,550	92.7	120	0.48×
27	Alaska	$54,990	102.4	150	0.50×
28	North Carolina	$54,990	94.3	4,340	0.96×
29	Kansas	$54,840	90.1	920	0.69×
30	Utah	$54,150	98.9	1,970	1.24×
31	Wisconsin	$53,940	94.1	2,690	1.00×
32	Arkansas	$53,040	86.9	550	0.46×
33	Michigan	$52,780	96.2	3,560	0.88×
34	Nebraska	$52,630	90.1	610	0.65×
35	Alabama	$52,180	88.8	980	0.51×
36	Tennessee	$52,000	91.9	3,260	1.08×
37	South Carolina	$51,830	93.7	1,240	0.58×
38	Iowa	$51,750	87.8	1,120	0.78×
39	North Dakota	$51,700	89.0	300	0.76×
40	New Mexico	$50,820	92.2	350	0.44×
41	Indiana	$50,090	93.3	2,140	0.73×
42	Ohio	$49,900	92.8	4,750	0.93×
43	Kentucky	$49,280	90.2	1,110	0.60×
44	Georgia	$49,250	96.3	5,050	1.12×
45	Delaware	$49,020	99.8	400	0.91×
46	Montana	$49,000	94.6	350	0.75×
47	Oklahoma	$48,990	87.8	1,440	0.92×
48	South Dakota	$47,050	88.6	340	0.81×
49	Mississippi	$44,680	87.0	360	0.34×
50	West Virginia	$35,760	89.5	300	0.47×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where meeting, convention, and event planners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for meeting, convention, and event planners

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$90,560	110.4	1,190	1.14×
2	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$84,640	109.4	130	1.98×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$82,120	115.6	3,490	1.60×
4	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$78,610	112.6	9,050	1.04×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$78,010	108.3	3,650	1.47×
6	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$77,010	103.2	170	0.76×
7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$75,450	108.9	5,140	1.78×
8	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$73,890	106.9	510	1.38×
9	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$71,720	100.9	170	1.58×
10	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$71,100	108.8	330	1.80×
11	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$70,710	106.7	910	0.92×
12	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$69,890	111.1	2,450	1.28×
13	Napa, CA	$68,940	112.6	190	2.70×
14	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$68,850	113.6	7,300	1.27×
15	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$68,710	102.7	460	0.84×
16	New Haven, CT	$68,070	104.6	200	0.76×
17	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$67,550	109.9	110	1.26×
18	Merced, CA	$67,350	98.3	30	0.47×
19	Boulder, CO	$67,200	105.2	360	2.03×
20	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$66,060	111.9	2,430	1.72×
21	Salinas, CA	$65,460	109.0	200	1.14×
22	Sheboygan, WI	$65,290	94.0	30	0.61×
23	Naples-Marco Island, FL	$64,940	103.2	230	1.46×
24	Worcester, MA	$64,910	102.5	300	0.93×
25	Glens Falls, NY	$64,880	94.9	30	0.67×
26	Bellingham, WA	$64,630	103.3	90	1.10×
27	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$64,480	105.4	1,420	1.28×
28	Modesto, CA	$64,470	104.1	100	0.57×
29	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$64,420	109.4	170	0.67×
30	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$64,290	100.2	120	1.98×
31	Urban Honolulu, HI	$64,210	111.0	320	0.77×
32	Ithaca, NY	$64,150	103.3	70	1.65×
33	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$63,850	106.4	1,090	0.69×
34	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$63,760	108.6	140	1.23×
35	Greenville, NC	$63,710	88.4	110	1.50×
36	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$63,710	110.5	270	0.90×
37	Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	$63,490	84.8	40	0.25×
38	Corvallis, OR	$63,170	104.0	50	1.39×
39	New Orleans-Metairie, LA	$63,030	92.6	330	0.81×
40	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$62,960	104.5	1,060	0.85×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where meeting, convention, and event planners wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Business Operations Specialists, All Other$83,050
Project Management Specialists$102,320
Human Resources Specialists$75,940
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$78,760
Management Analysts$101,860
Buyers and Purchasing Agents$77,710
Training and Development Specialists$69,280
Compliance Officers$80,730

Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners salary

What the range looks like

Getting in

Where meeting, convention, and event planners earn the most

Best paying metro areas for meeting, convention, and event planners

Similar occupations

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