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.
A wage reference for United States.
Published wage percentiles describe a distribution within the source occupation group. They provide context for a career decision; employer packages and job offers have their own terms.
This wage group may include multiple detailed occupations. The figures are for the source group, which may be broader than Public Relations Specialists. They are not an exact-title, employer, experience or seniority match.
May 2025 · USD · United States. Annual and hourly figures are shown only when the source publishes them; neither is calculated from the other.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage data, distributed through the O*NET® OnLine service.
Annual wage thresholds
USD per year
Hourly wage thresholds
USD per hour
| Percentile | Annual wage (USD/year) | Hourly wage (USD/hour) |
|---|---|---|
| 10th | $44,110 | $21.21 |
| 25th | $56,260 | $27.05 |
| 50th · Median | $74,750 | $35.94 |
| 75th | $100,370 | $48.25 |
| 90th | $135,150 | $64.98 |
“≥” means at least the published amount; “≤” means at most that amount. These are bounds, not exact values. “Not published” means the source did not provide that figure. Occupational wages follow the source definition and do not establish an employer’s base salary, equity or total compensation.
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Compare an entered wage with the published thresholds for United States. Your entry stays on this page.
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What this career involves.
Occupation definitions describe common work. Responsibilities and requirements vary by employer and specific job.
Selected title examples
Expand more title examples (45)
Typical tasks
- Respond to requests for information from the media or designate an appropriate spokesperson or information source.
- Plan or direct development or communication of programs to maintain favorable public or stockholder perceptions of an organization's accomplishments, agenda, or environmental responsibility.
- Post and update content on the company's Web site and social media outlets.
- Write press releases or other media communications to promote clients.
- Establish or maintain cooperative relationships with representatives of community, consumer, employee, or public interest groups.
- Confer with other managers to identify trends or key group interests or concerns or to provide advice on business decisions.
Expand more tasks (12)
- Coach client representatives in effective communication with the public or with employees.
- Study the objectives, promotional policies, or needs of organizations to develop public relations strategies that will influence public opinion or promote ideas, products, or services.
- Prepare or edit organizational publications, such as employee newsletters or stockholders' reports, for internal or external audiences.
- Arrange public appearances, lectures, contests, or exhibits for clients to increase product or service awareness or to promote goodwill.
- Plan or conduct market or public opinion research to test products or determine potential for product success, communicating results to client or management.
- Develop plans or materials to communicate organizational activities that are beneficial to the environment, public safety, or other important social issues.
- Confer with production or support personnel to produce or coordinate production of advertisements or promotions.
- Consult with advertising agencies or staff to arrange promotional campaigns in all types of media for products, organizations, or individuals.
- Prepare or deliver speeches to further public relations objectives.
- Coordinate public responses to environmental management incidents or conflicts.
- Develop marketing campaigns for environmental technologies or services.
- Purchase advertising space or time as required to promote client's product or agenda.
Skills used in this work
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Expand more skills (29)
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Operations Analysis
- Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Mathematics
- Using mathematics to solve problems.
- Management of Financial Resources
- Determining how money will be spent to get the work done, and accounting for these expenditures.
- Management of Material Resources
- Obtaining and seeing to the appropriate use of equipment, facilities, and materials needed to do certain work.
- Technology Design
- Generating or adapting equipment and technology to serve user needs.
- Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly.
- Science
- Using scientific rules and methods to solve problems.
- Programming
- Writing computer programs for various purposes.
- Quality Control Analysis
- Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance.
- Equipment Maintenance
- Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed.
- Equipment Selection
- Determining the kind of tools and equipment needed to do a job.
- Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or programs to meet specifications.
- Operation and Control
- Controlling operations of equipment or systems.
- Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the needed tools.
- Troubleshooting
- Determining causes of operating errors and deciding what to do about it.
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