At PR Talent, we’ve never done a salary survey before…. and I’m not about to start now! Market research has never been my strength and the thought of hiring some independent researcher to pull together an exhaustive survey that delivers only quasi-useful information is not my idea of fun. On the other hand, after 14 years of PR recruiting and with top notch recruiters on the ground in major markets, we do have a pretty keen sense of what PR jobs pay… after all that’s pretty much part of our daily conversation with clients and candidates.
So… what we’re providing below is insight into salary ranges for positions at top 20 agencies in the five major markets where we have dedicated recruiters… NY, Chicago, LA, SF, and London. (For now we are not listing corporate salaries since these vary widely by title… maybe next year.) Although limited in scope we believe this provides a solid snapshot of what the major firms are paying without skewing that information by including lots of smaller firms — and smaller markets.
Here’s our first “subjective” salary survey for your consumption:
New York AAE $38 – $44K AE $45-$58K SAE $52 – $68K AS $63 – $85KSAS $80 – $110K VP $110 – $165K SVP $170 – $240K EVP $225-275K Practice Lead $250 – $300k GM $300K + Chicago AAE $33k – $36k AE $38k – $43k SAE $46k – $53k AS $62k – $70k SAS $76k – $84k VP $113k – $125k SVP $162k – $184k EVP $192-213K Practice Lead $200-275K GM $275K + Los Angeles AAE $32-36K AE $38-50K SAE $50-60K AS $60-75K SAS $75-95K VP $95-120K SVP $120-170K EVP $170-200K Practice Lead $200-250K GM $225K+ San Francisco AAE $35-45K AE $45-55K SAE $55-70K AS $70-85K SAS $85-110K VP $110-150K SVP $150-200K EVP $200-250K GM $250-350K + London Account Executive £18-22K Senior Account Executive £22-30K Account Manager- £28-38K Senior Account Manager- £32-42K Account Director- £45-40K Senior Account Director- £45-50K Associate Director-£55-70K Director- £70-90K +