• Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2023

27-3031 Public Relations 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.

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National estimates for Public Relations Specialists
Industry profile for Public Relations Specialists
Geographic profile for Public Relations Specialists

National estimates for Public Relations Specialists:

Employment estimate and mean wage estimates for Public Relations Specialists:

Employment (1)	Employment RSE (3)	Mean hourly wage	Mean annual wage (2)	Wage RSE (3)
275,550	1.5 %	$ 37.37	$ 77,720	0.9 %

Percentile wage estimates for Public Relations Specialists:

Percentile	10%	25%	50% (Median)	75%	90%
Hourly Wage	$ 18.55	$ 24.17	$ 32.09	$ 44.37	$ 60.68
Annual Wage (2)	$ 38,570	$ 50,280	$ 66,750	$ 92,290	$ 126,220

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Industry profile for Public Relations Specialists:

Industries with the highest published employment and wages for Public Relations Specialists are provided. For a list of all industries with employment in Public Relations Specialists, see the Create Customized Tables function.

Industries with the highest levels of employment in Public Relations Specialists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	38,000	7.60	$ 43.46	$ 90,400
Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools	18,520	0.60	$ 32.96	$ 68,550
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	15,360	3.59	$ 37.89	$ 78,820
Management of Companies and Enterprises	14,960	0.54	$ 42.04	$ 87,450
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals (OEWS Designation)	14,480	0.26	$ 35.41	$ 73,650

Industries with the highest concentration of employment in Public Relations Specialists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Advertising, Public Relations, and Related Services	38,000	7.60	$ 43.46	$ 90,400
Social Advocacy Organizations	11,100	4.39	$ 33.77	$ 70,230
Grantmaking and Giving Services	6,490	4.10	$ 41.53	$ 86,380
Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations	15,360	3.59	$ 37.89	$ 78,820
Spectator Sports	2,200	1.46	$ 26.28	$ 54,660

Top paying industries for Public Relations Specialists:

Industry	Employment (1)	Percent of industry employment	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Software Publishers	2,290	0.35	$ 59.34	$ 123,430
Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing	240	0.15	$ 58.11	$ 120,860
Merchant Wholesalers, Nondurable Goods (4242 and 4246 only)	890	0.23	$ 57.77	$ 120,160
Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing	50	0.05	$ 57.49	$ 119,570
Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities	2,980	0.28	$ 56.11	$ 116,700

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Geographic profile for Public Relations Specialists:

States and areas with the highest published employment, location quotients, and wages for Public Relations Specialists are provided. For a list of all areas with employment in Public Relations Specialists, see the Create Customized Tables function.

States with the highest employment level in Public Relations Specialists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
California	29,520	1.65	0.91	$ 42.20	$ 87,770
Texas	26,380	1.95	1.07	$ 31.77	$ 66,070
New York	25,080	2.67	1.47	$ 43.03	$ 89,490
Florida	20,330	2.12	1.17	$ 32.09	$ 66,740
District of Columbia	17,320	24.68	13.60	$ 54.93	$ 114,250

States with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Public Relations Specialists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	17,320	24.68	13.60	$ 54.93	$ 114,250
Vermont	1,150	3.83	2.11	$ 33.57	$ 69,820
Missouri	8,960	3.12	1.72	$ 33.05	$ 68,740
New York	25,080	2.67	1.47	$ 43.03	$ 89,490
Rhode Island	1,290	2.64	1.46	$ 36.99	$ 76,950

Top paying states for Public Relations Specialists:

State	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
District of Columbia	17,320	24.68	13.60	$ 54.93	$ 114,250
Washington	6,460	1.85	1.02	$ 44.11	$ 91,740
Georgia	5,490	1.15	0.64	$ 43.77	$ 91,040
New York	25,080	2.67	1.47	$ 43.03	$ 89,490
California	29,520	1.65	0.91	$ 42.20	$ 87,770

Metropolitan areas with the highest employment level in Public Relations Specialists:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	23,770	2.50	1.38	$ 44.21	$ 91,950
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	23,020	7.45	4.10	$ 52.28	$ 108,730
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	11,450	1.85	1.02	$ 39.07	$ 81,260
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	8,510	2.14	1.18	$ 33.42	$ 69,510
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	7,200	2.65	1.46	$ 32.45	$ 67,500
Boston-Cambridge-Nashua, MA-NH	6,300	2.28	1.26	$ 42.50	$ 88,390
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	5,690	1.26	0.70	$ 37.51	$ 78,020
San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA	5,650	2.33	1.29	$ 48.61	$ 101,100
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	5,440	1.71	0.94	$ 33.04	$ 68,710
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	5,290	2.77	1.53	$ 36.72	$ 76,380

Metropolitan areas with the highest concentration of jobs and location quotients in Public Relations Specialists:

Metropolitan area	Employment (1)	Employment per thousand jobs	Location quotient (9)	Hourly mean wage	Annual mean wage (2)
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	23,020	7.45	4.10	$ 52.28	$ 108,730
Ames, IA	200	4.29	2.36	$ 30.28	$ 62,970
Columbia, MO	410	4.24	2.33	$ 30.42	$ 63,270
Burlington-South Burlington, VT	500	4.13	2.28	$ 33.01	$ 68,650
Lansing-East Lansing, MI	870	4.11	2.27	$ 34.92	$ 72,640
Ithaca, NY	190	3.90	2.15	$ 35.90	$ 74,670
Olympia-Tumwater, WA	470	3.79	2.09	$ 36.44	$ 75,780
Jefferson City, MO	280	3.67	2.02	$ 29.96	$ 62,310
Missoula, MT	230	3.55	1.96	$ 28.06	$ 58,360
Manhattan, KS	140	3.51	1.93	$ 27.41	$ 57,010