2027 Salary Guide · Marketing & Creative
Nearly a million people work in the BLS occupation that includes digital marketing specialists, Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, and their median pay was $78,760 in May 2025. For 2027 planning that is about $83,500. The occupation mixes research analysts with channel marketers, so a specialist's place in it depends on how much they own: running one channel, or the analytics behind several.
Compare
SEO specialists show the same BLS figures because BLS counts them in the same occupation. Social media managers are reported with public relations specialists and earn slightly less at the median. Web designers earn more, and moving into marketing management is the biggest jump, about $88,030 at the median.
| Role | BLS median | 2027 estimate | Outlook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Digital Marketing Specialist | $78,760 | $83,500 | Much faster than average |
| SEO Specialist | $78,760 | $83,500 | Much faster than average |
| Social Media Manager | $74,750 | $79,500 | Slower than average |
| Web Designer | $104,000 | $110,500 | Faster than average |
| Marketing Manager | $166,790 | $177,500 | Much faster than average |
What moves pay
Digital marketing specialist is a broad title. These are the parts of the job that most often separate a 25th-percentile role from a 75th-percentile one.
Specialists who manage paid search or paid social budgets are judged on cost and return, which ties the job directly to revenue. Larger budgets usually mean more senior roles.
O*NET lists Google Analytics, Tableau and Looker among the technology used in this occupation. Specialists who can build their own reports and explain what drove results are doing analyst work as well as marketing.
O*NET also lists Salesforce and Oracle Eloqua. Running automation platforms connects marketing to sales pipeline and tends to come with more responsibility.
Generalists who run several channels at a small company and specialists who go deep on one channel at a large one can both reach the upper half. Roles in the lower half tend to carry out a plan someone else sets.
Pay distribution
The middle half earned $58,350 to $108,310, roughly $28 to $52 an hour at the 2,080 hours BLS assumes. Specialists who run campaigns end to end, with budget and reporting, sit to the right of the median.
Typical for the Digital Marketing Specialist title: $58,350 to $108,310 (25th to 75th percentile of Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists)
| Percentile | BLS, May 2025 | 2027 planning estimate |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $43,390 | $46,000 |
| 25th percentile | $58,350 | $62,000 |
| Median | $78,760 | $83,500 |
| 75th percentile | $108,310 | $115,000 |
| 90th percentile | $155,480 | $165,500 |
Local pay
The San Francisco Bay Area median, $123,250, is about $60,060 above Pittsburgh's, the lowest among the metros we track. Boston, Seattle and New York all sit above $100,000. New York is the largest market, with about 79,290 jobs, and Los Angeles is second at 39,390.
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Bay Area | $123,250 +56% | $60,680 – $211,140 | 24,120 |
| Boston | $102,390 +30% | $59,730 – $167,440 | 32,310 |
| Seattle | $102,170 +30% | $59,050 – $184,640 | 18,030 |
| New York City | $100,520 +28% | $60,400 – $166,880 | 79,290 |
| Denver | $99,040 +26% | $51,980 – $167,560 | 17,000 |
| Minneapolis-St. Paul | $97,910 +24% | $52,840 – $154,870 | 16,760 |
| Washington, DC | $87,160 +11% | $50,500 – $162,020 | 21,090 |
| Portland | $85,350 +8% | $50,280 – $163,440 | 8,130 |
| Providence | $83,960 +7% | $48,820 – $129,540 | 4,080 |
| Los Angeles | $82,990 +5% | $48,720 – $157,370 | 39,390 |
| Metro area | Median | 10th – 90th | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | $82,930 +5% | $47,960 – $160,460 | 9,500 |
| Austin | $80,460 +2% | $44,990 – $152,160 | 8,270 |
| Chicago | $80,400 +2% | $49,910 – $140,260 | 30,970 |
| San Diego | $79,440 +1% | $42,700 – $162,860 | — |
| Philadelphia | $79,420 +1% | $44,950 – $143,060 | 17,600 |
| Atlanta | $79,030 +0% | $37,700 – $155,680 | 19,920 |
| Miami | $78,990 +0% | $40,250 – $128,120 | — |
| Raleigh | $78,980 +0% | $46,090 – $156,400 | 6,470 |
| Hartford | $78,220 -1% | $46,300 – $141,860 | 3,080 |
| Nashville | $77,240 -2% | $44,440 – $184,990 | 5,510 |
| Detroit | $77,100 -2% | $43,540 – $130,410 | 11,710 |
| Albany | $76,140 -3% | $43,580 – $135,990 | 2,160 |
| Buffalo | $75,990 -4% | $44,440 – $131,990 | 2,520 |
| Dallas-Fort Worth | $75,240 -4% | $42,710 – $142,480 | 20,900 |
| Tampa | $75,210 -5% | $37,700 – $128,550 | 8,420 |
| Baltimore | $74,620 -5% | $45,450 – $137,970 | 5,920 |
| Phoenix | $74,590 -5% | $43,120 – $140,740 | 12,220 |
| Houston | $67,370 -14% | $26,950 – $125,760 | 14,480 |
| Pittsburgh | $63,190 -20% | $35,690 – $118,170 | 4,940 |
BLS metro estimates, May 2025. Percent compares the metro median with the national median. "Jobs" is BLS estimated employment in the metro; blank where BLS does not publish it.
Career path
BLS does not publish pay by experience. These stages map common titles onto the occupation's percentiles as a planning guide.
About $43,400 to $58,400 (10th to 25th percentile)
Schedules posts and emails, builds campaigns in existing tools and pulls reports.
About $58,400 to $108,300 (25th to 75th percentile)
Owns one or more channels, sets up tests and reports on results. This is the widest band, and metro and budget size explain much of it.
About $108,300 to $155,500 (75th to 90th percentile)
Sets strategy for a channel or the full digital mix, manages agencies or contractors, and owns targets.
Marketing Managers median: $166,790
Once the job is mainly directing people and budget, BLS counts it as a marketing manager, a different and higher-paid occupation.
Outlook
BLS projects much faster than average growth for the occupation, about 82,000 openings a year on a base of 952,700 jobs. BLS attributes the growth to wider use of data and market research, which favors specialists who can measure and report results.
BLS Employment Projections via O*NET OnLine. Projections cover Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists as a whole.
FAQ
BLS counts digital marketing specialists in Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists, whose national median was $78,760 in May 2025. The middle half earned between $58,350 and $108,310. With wage growth of 3.1% a year, the 2027 planning median is about $83,500.
First digital marketing jobs have no BLS wage of their own. The 10th percentile, $43,390, and the 25th percentile, $58,350, are reasonable markers for coordinator and first specialist jobs. BLS says the occupation typically needs a bachelor's degree and no prior work experience in a related job.
BLS annual figures assume 2,080 hours a year, so the $78,760 median equals about $38 an hour. The middle half works out to roughly $28 to $52 an hour. Contract and freelance digital marketers usually bill above that to cover benefits and unbilled time.
BLS describes certification in this occupation as voluntary and does not publish a pay premium for it. Platform certifications show employers you can run a specific tool, which matters most for roles that manage ad budgets or automation platforms. Results you can show, such as campaigns and reports, carry more weight.
The occupation it belongs to is one of the largest in the country, about 952,700 jobs, and BLS projects much faster than average growth with about 82,000 openings a year. Pay rises steeply for specialists who move into marketing management, where the median is $166,790.
Careerscape's marketing recruiters can send pre-screened digital marketing specialists for contract, contract-to-hire or direct hire roles.
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