Annual Salary, Salary Range, and Highest Paying States and Industries
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PR Specialists
PR Specialists promote or create an intended public image for individuals, groups, or organizations. May write or select material for release to various communications media. May specialize in using social media.
Table of contents
- Average salary
- Starting salary
- Salary rank
- Salary range
- Highest paying states
- Highest paying industries
Average salary
Starting salary
Entry-level Public Relations Specialists with little to no experience can expect to make anywhere between $35,350 to $46,630 per year or $17 to $22 per hour. Similar to any other job, their salary will increase as they gain experience.
Salary rank
We wanted to make it easy for our readers to compare the salary of Public Relations Specialists to all the other careers out there. So we created Salary Rank. We compared the salary of all careers then we gave them a rank of A, B, C, or D depending on where their average salary sit in comparison to other careers.
Salary range
| Level | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Highest (Top 10%) | $57 | $118,210 |
| Senior (Top 25%) | $41 | $85,380 |
| Middle (Mid 50%) | $30 | $62,810 |
| Junior (Bottom 25%) | $22 | $46,630 |
| No experience (Bottom 10%) | $17 | $35,350 |
Highest paying states
| State | Hourly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| DC | $52 | $109,140 |
| NJ | $40 | $82,890 |
| WA | $39 | $81,380 |
| CA | $39 | $80,090 |
| MD | $38 | $79,970 |
| NY | $38 | $79,700 |
| VA | $38 | $79,330 |
| MA | $36 | $75,760 |
| RI | $35 | $73,190 |
| CT | $35 | $72,980 |
Another simple way to increase your salary as a Public Relations Specialist is to move to a higher paying state. However moving to a higher paying state like DC doesn’t guarantee that you will make more because the expenses at DC might be much higher than where you are currently living at right now.
According to BLS, the highest paid PR Specialists are in the states of DC, NJ, WA, CA and MD.
Highest paying industries
| Salary by industry | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing | $114370 | $54.99 |
| Legal Services | $100360 | $48.25 |
| Natural Gas Distribution | $99790 | $47.98 |
| Federal Executive Branch | $99340 | $47.76 |
| Metal Ore Mining | $95930 | $46.12 |
| Semiconductor and Other Electronic Component Manufacturing | $94670 | $45.52 |
| Scientific Research and Development Services | $94000 | $45.19 |
| Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities | $93000 | $44.71 |
| Postal Service (Federal Government) | $91470 | $43.98 |
| Cable and Other Subscription Programming | $91440 | $43.96 |
| Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods | $91370 | $43.93 |
| Software Publishers | $91220 | $43.85 |
| Motor Vehicle and Motor Vehicle Parts and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | $87800 | $42.21 |
| Motor Vehicle Manufacturing | $87550 | $42.09 |
| Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing | $87520 | $42.08 |
| Monetary Authorities-Central Bank | $86960 | $41.81 |
| Audio and Video Equipment Manufacturing | $86130 | $41.41 |
| Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing | $85160 | $40.94 |
| Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers | $84990 | $40.86 |
| Oil and Gas Extraction | $84670 | $40.71 |
| Support Activities for Air Transportation | $83790 | $40.28 |
| Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services | $83200 | $40.00 |
| Rail Transportation | $82090 | $39.46 |
| Commercial and Service Industry Machinery Manufacturing | $81940 | $39.39 |
| Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution | $81880 | $39.37 |
| Telecommunications | $81430 | $39.15 |
| Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers | $80580 | $38.74 |
| Other Information Services | $80060 | $38.49 |
| Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations | $79780 | $38.36 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | $79660 | $38.30 |
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