Public Relations Specialists salary

SOC 27-3031 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$74,750

per year, nationally

Middle half

$56,260–$100,370

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

283,380

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+4.8%

27,600 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.

$44,110$135,150

10th: $44,110
25th: $56,260
Median: $74,750
75th: $100,370
90th: $135,150

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 public relations specialists 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	$102,740	109.9	16,720	13.07×
2	Washington	$87,470	107.0	6,430	0.99×
3	California	$85,030	110.7	32,710	0.99×
4	Connecticut	$84,990	103.6	1,910	0.62×
5	New York	$81,250	107.9	28,250	1.60×
6	Colorado	$80,680	103.1	7,410	1.41×
7	Virginia	$80,380	101.1	9,990	1.33×
8	New Jersey	$80,130	108.8	4,980	0.64×
9	Massachusetts	$79,660	105.8	6,760	1.02×
10	Maryland	$79,560	105.0	4,190	0.83×
11	Rhode Island	$77,540	102.3	1,140	1.24×
12	Illinois	$76,380	100.0	6,200	0.56×
13	Delaware	$76,120	99.8	930	1.05×
14	Oregon	$74,900	103.4	4,510	1.26×
15	Nevada	$73,840	100.0	1,600	0.57×
16	New Hampshire	$73,280	104.2	1,140	0.92×
17	Georgia	$73,200	96.3	6,860	0.77×
18	North Dakota	$70,280	89.0	640	0.82×
19	Alaska	$70,050	102.4	640	1.08×
20	New Mexico	$68,700	92.2	1,130	0.71×
21	Minnesota	$68,620	98.6	8,260	1.54×
22	Wyoming	$67,490	92.7	480	0.93×
23	Wisconsin	$67,240	94.1	4,410	0.82×
24	North Carolina	$67,230	94.3	9,910	1.10×
25	Arizona	$66,710	100.7	5,350	0.91×
26	Vermont	$66,060	98.0	1,260	2.27×
27	Michigan	$65,300	96.2	7,510	0.94×
28	Texas	$65,160	97.1	25,220	0.98×
29	Arkansas	$65,000	86.9	980	0.41×
30	Oklahoma	$64,920	87.8	2,280	0.73×
31	Indiana	$64,900	93.3	3,750	0.64×
32	Kansas	$64,860	90.1	2,340	0.89×
33	Ohio	$64,840	92.8	6,670	0.66×
34	South Dakota	$64,520	88.6	210	0.25×
35	Hawaii	$63,880	110.0	1,800	1.57×
36	Montana	$63,780	94.6	1,760	1.89×
37	Florida	$63,660	103.4	17,820	0.98×
38	Iowa	$62,970	87.8	2,890	1.02×
39	South Carolina	$62,730	93.7	2,950	0.70×
40	Utah	$62,670	98.9	1,800	0.57×
41	Maine	$62,450	97.0	1,400	1.20×
42	Nebraska	$61,780	90.1	1,590	0.85×
43	Alabama	$61,710	88.8	2,410	0.63×
44	Missouri	$61,130	90.8	4,820	0.90×
45	Idaho	$61,110	95.5	1,220	0.78×
46	Tennessee	$60,900	91.9	3,380	0.57×
47	Louisiana	$60,470	88.2	1,710	0.48×
48	Kentucky	$60,150	90.2	2,580	0.71×
49	Mississippi	$59,810	87.0	950	0.45×
50	Pennsylvania	$57,460	97.6	11,180	1.01×
51	West Virginia	$56,730	89.5	350	0.27×

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 public relations specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for public relations specialists

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	$117,620	110.4	2,200	1.06×
2	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$103,030	100.1	200	0.85×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$102,520	115.6	6,290	1.45×
4	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$101,680	108.9	22,810	3.99×
5	Lexington Park, MD	$99,960	100.8	60	0.44×
6	Napa, CA	$98,190	112.6	80	0.58×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$96,000	111.1	3,980	1.05×
8	El Centro, CA	$93,100	95.2	40	0.31×
9	Bloomington, IL	$91,630	93.5	110	0.71×
10	New Haven, CT	$91,530	104.6	420	0.82×
11	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$89,640	106.7	2,620	1.33×
12	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$87,830	102.7	710	0.65×
13	Salem, OR	$87,740	103.6	450	1.31×
14	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$85,650	91.4	370	0.73×
15	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$84,990	106.9	450	0.61×
16	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$84,990	103.2	610	1.39×
17	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$84,470	103.7	630	2.66×
18	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$84,130	112.6	24,820	1.43×
19	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$83,390	105.6	130	0.75×
20	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$83,180	109.9	180	1.01×
21	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$82,930	105.8	4,560	1.56×
22	Yuba City, CA	$81,650	104.2	40	0.40×
23	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$81,440	108.3	5,380	1.09×
24	Rapid City, SD	$81,330	89.2	40	0.30×
25	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$81,240	111.9	2,730	0.97×
26	Boulder, CO	$81,180	105.2	700	1.99×
27	Carson City, NV	$81,000	98.1	50	0.89×
28	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$80,700	107.8	270	0.73×
29	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$80,610	110.5	370	0.63×
30	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$79,860	113.6	11,910	1.04×
31	Vallejo, CA	$79,590	108.5	130	0.50×
32	Salinas, CA	$78,960	109.0	190	0.57×
33	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$78,920	100.1	4,750	0.90×
34	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$78,450	108.8	270	0.74×
35	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$78,380	105.4	3,050	1.39×
36	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$78,110	102.4	50	0.49×
37	Jackson, MI	$77,860	91.8	70	0.72×
38	Stockton-Lodi, CA	$77,710	105.1	210	0.39×
39	Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	$77,570	104.5	1,880	0.76×
40	Fayetteville, NC	$77,500	92.0	170	0.69×

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 public relations specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Editors$77,920
Interpreters and Translators$60,170
Writers and Authors$76,910
Technical Writers$90,390
News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalists$62,200
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc Jockeys$47,340
Media and Communication Workers, All Other$73,620
Court Reporters and Simultaneous Captioners$72,420