Public Relations Specialist Salary

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the median is $69,780 as of May 2024, but honestly that number doesn’t tell you much.

I’ve seen PR specialists making $42,000 and others pulling in $129,000+, and yeah, both are doing basically the same job title. Wild, right?

So What’s the Real Deal?

PayScale puts the average at $57,127 for 2025. Glassdoor says most people fall between $64K and $106K. US News reported $77,720 back in 2023. And you’re probably sitting there thinking “okay which one is it?”

All of them. Kind of. It depends on so many factors that throwing out one number is basically useless.

Here’s what actually matters – if you’re just starting out with less than a year of experience, you’re looking at around $45,932 according to PayScale data from 22 actual salaries they collected. That’s entry level. Not great but not terrible either. Once you hit that 1-4 year mark, the average jumps to $54,129. The climb is real but it’s slow at first.

Location Makes a Massive Difference

San Jose pays PR specialists an average of $116,763. That’s almost double the national average. I’m not making this up – the data from Comparably shows San Jose PR folks make 97% more than the US average. Meanwhile someone doing the exact same work in Atlanta might be making $55,000.

Washington DC is another hot spot – Glassdoor data shows PR specialists there average $89,211, which is about 9% higher than the national average. Makes sense when you think about all the government agencies, nonprofits, and lobbying firms concentrated there.

California broadly pays better – the average is $86,142 according to Salary.com’s September 2025 data. Massachusetts comes in second at $84,994. Alaska somehow made the list at $84,541 which surprised me until I remembered cost of living there is insane.

On the flip end, Arkansas sits at $70,554 and Alabama at $71,749. Still decent money but definitely not California numbers.

The Amazon Factor

So I was looking at tech company salaries because everyone always asks about those. Amazon pays their PR specialists around $85,000-$90,398 on average based on PayScale and Glassdoor data. Some people there reported making up to $151,447 but that’s the 90th percentile – don’t expect that unless you’re really senior or in a specialized role.

What’s interesting is Amazon’s overall median salary across ALL employees was only $28,446 back in 2018 when they had to start reporting it. That includes warehouse workers obviously. But Facebook’s median was $240,000 around the same time, Google’s was $197,000. These companies pay differently and it shows.

For PR specifically at Amazon, the typical range is $69,358 to $119,050 depending on experience and which team you’re on. AWS probably pays more than retail PR but I couldn’t find hard numbers on that.

What Experience Actually Gets You

The experience curve isn’t linear and that annoys people. According to ERI SalaryExpert data, someone with 1-3 years makes about $56,032. At 8+ years you’re at $96,192.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you – jumping between 3 years and 8 years doesn’t automatically give you that $40K bump. You might plateau around year 5 if you stay in the same role at the same company. The biggest raises come from switching employers or moving into management.

Salary.com showed that the median actually decreased slightly from $75,969 in 2023 to $75,825 in 2025. Not a huge drop but it reflects the broader economy and maybe some market saturation in the field. More people getting communications degrees = more competition = slower wage growth.

Industry Matters More Than You Think

Government and public administration jobs pay PR specialists a median of $85,308 according to Glassdoor’s industry breakdown. Information technology is $78,692. Management consulting hits $75,762.

But get this – manufacturing pays $70,996 and telecommunications is $69,134. Same job, same skills, different industry, different paycheck.

I talked to someone who moved from a manufacturing company to a tech startup and her salary jumped $18,000. Same city, same years of experience. The company type matters.

Some Companies Just Pay Better

McMaster-Carr, NVIDIA, and VMware showed up as the top-paying companies for PR specialists on Glassdoor. NVIDIA makes sense – they’re printing money with AI chips right now and probably need good PR people to manage all the attention.

The US Navy and Air Force also pay well for PR specialists, hitting around $85K+ according to the government sector data. City of Seattle made the list too.

What’s crazy is smaller companies often pay 22.19% less than bigger corporations for the same PR specialist role. I guess it’s the old “we can’t compete with big tech salaries but we have a cool culture” thing.

The Weird Stuff Nobody Mentions

Job satisfaction rating for PR specialists is 3.71 out of 5 based on PayScale’s survey of 42 people. Not amazing, not terrible. Pretty middle of the road honestly.

About 62% of PR specialists have a bachelor’s degree. The typical field is Public Relations, Advertising, or Applied Communication. Nobody’s making you get a master’s degree but it might help you break through that ceiling faster.

Also the lowest 10% of earners make less than $40,750 according to BLS data. The highest 10% clear $129,480. That’s a massive spread and it shows this isn’t really one job – it’s like five different tiers of jobs using the same title.

What Actually Helps You Earn More

Switching employers is probably the fastest way to boost your pay. The data consistently shows this even though nobody likes to talk about it. You’ll get a 3% raise staying put or a 15-20% bump by moving. Do the math.

Getting management experience over junior PR specialists increases your earning potential significantly. If you can supervise even 2-3 people, that opens up senior roles that pay $90K+.

Skills that matter according to PayScale: media relations, press releases, social media marketing, corporate communications, project management, Microsoft Word (yes really), event planning, and copywriting. Having multiple of these increases your value.

Geographic mobility helps too obviously. If you’re willing to relocate to San Jose or DC, you can potentially double your salary. But then you’re also paying $3,000/month for a one-bedroom apartment so factor that in.

The 2025 Outlook

Employment is projected to grow 5% from 2024 to 2034 according to BLS. That’s faster than average for all occupations. About 27,600 openings projected each year. Not a dying field by any means.

Salary trends have been pretty flat though. That decrease from $75,969 to $75,825 between 2023 and 2025 isn’t great but it’s not a collapse either. Just reflects the weird economy we’re in.

Digital marketing expertise is becoming more important. Traditional press release stuff still matters but if you can’t run a social campaign or understand SEO, you’re gonna have trouble competing for the better-paying jobs.

Real Talk

If you’re considering this career, $69,780 is probably the most realistic “middle of the road” number to expect after a few years of experience. You’ll start lower, you might eventually get higher, but that’s the median for a reason.

The $100K+ jobs exist but they’re either in expensive cities, at big tech companies, require 8+ years of experience, or involve management responsibilities. Usually some combination of all four.

Entry level at $45K is rough but doable if you’re in a lower cost-of-living area. Don’t take a $45K job in San Francisco though – that’s just financial self-sabotage.

And honestly? If you’re passionate about PR and communications, the money’s decent enough to make a comfortable living in most places. You’re not getting tech engineer money but you’re also not struggling. It’s a solid middle-class career if you play your cards right and don’t get stuck at the same company for 10 years without promotions.

One more thing – all these numbers are pre-tax obviously. And they usually don’t include benefits which can add another 20-30% to your total compensation. Amazon apparently contributes $500 to HSAs and has various health plans. These details matter when you’re comparing offers.

The data’s all out there on PayScale, Glassdoor, BLS, and Salary.com if you want to dig deeper into specific cities or industries. But hopefully this gives you a more realistic picture than just seeing “PR specialist salary: $70K” and calling it a day.