Public Relations Managers

SOC 11-2032 · 2024-2034

Plan, direct, or coordinate activities designed to create or maintain a favorable public image or raise issue awareness for their organization or client.

How the U.S. Department of Labor describes this work. Published in English only.

What California expects of this job

Typical pay in California: $170,798per year
Projected openings: 8,060
Projected change: +8.3%
Usually needs: Bachelor's degree

Bright Outlook — a U.S. Department of Labor designation
Rapid Growth

The Department's own designation, made from its national projections. It is not this project's assessment and it is not California's: every other figure on this page comes from California's projection, which can point the other way and for some occupations does.

Pay by region

Region	Typical pay in California	Projected openings
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA (San Benito and Santa Clara Counties)	$222,511	640
San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City MD (San Francisco and San Mateo Counties)	$185,879	1,110
Oakland-Fremont-Berkeley MD (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties)	$167,563	410
Napa MSA (Napa County)	$162,131	30
San Rafael MD (Marin County)	$158,300	60
Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine MD (Orange County)	$156,671	620
Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura MSA (Ventura County)	$150,826	80
Stockton-Lodi MSA (San Joaquin County)	$149,583	50
Santa Cruz-Watsonville MSA (Santa Cruz County)	$148,656	40
Bakersfield-Delano MSA (Kern County)	$146,741	30
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale MD (Los Angeles County)	$146,069	2,180
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom MSA (El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, and Yolo Counties)	$142,514	400
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad MSA (San Diego County)	$142,453	540
San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles MSA (San Luis Obispo County)	$141,587	30
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario MSA (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties)	$135,547	290
Santa Rosa-Petaluma MSA (Sonoma County)	$134,967	60
Chico MSA (Butte County)	$131,718	20
Santa Maria-Santa Barbara MSA (Santa Barbara County)	$125,311	50
Fresno MSA (Fresno and Madera Counties)	$118,253	110

What the pay actually ranges across

The lowest-paid tenth earn under: $99,441
A quarter earn under: $127,656
Half earn under: $170,798
Three quarters earn under: $226,040
The highest-paid tenth earn over: $305,846

A median is one point. These are the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2026 figures for California, and they say how far apart the people doing this job actually are. Read them as the spread across everyone already in the work — not as a starting wage and not as a promise about where anyone lands.

Similar work

O*NET, the U.S. Department of Labor's occupation database, names these as occupations involving work similar to this one — its own reading of the job, not a grouping by code. They keep O*NET's order, and only those California publishes a projection for are shown.

Occupation	Typical pay in California	Projected openings	Projected change
Public Relations Specialists	$87,410	31,480	+8.2%
Advertising and Promotions Managers	$170,036	3,210	+2.6%
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists	$96,289	122,600	+9.4%
Marketing Managers	$196,868	49,260	+8.1%
Management Analysts	$103,162	154,880	+11.5%
Fundraising Managers	$138,149	4,840	+6.8%

Programs that train for this job — 1