Communications Manager Salary

Created by Henry Steele

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 8 minutes
Reading Time: 8 minutes

The following article discusses the career path of Communications Manager. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Communications Managers.

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Job Duties

Communications managers are responsible for facilitating external and internal cooperation within the business they work for. They often network closely with other businesses, internal departments, and clientele of the company. They can be found in small businesses, nonprofit organizations, and corporations and hold responsibility for maintaining and improving their company’s reputation.

These professionals can work alone or as part of a team. If they work for large companies, they are often supervised by a senior communications manager within a larger team. They also work with a talented pool of graphic designers, writers, and marketers in order to develop the company’s brand image. Usually, their work is based in an office.

Other job duties of communications managers are:

  • To manage different initiatives of marketing communication, including promoting special events and managing both internal and external communications
  • To monitor advertising budgets and keep abreast of advertising trends
  • To be a liaison between the company’s management team and outside vendors
  • To provide support and guidance in public relation strategies and marketing planning in order to meet company objectives

Where We Work

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 31,300 advertising, promotions, and marketing managers in 2016, and the communications manager is part of this professional group. The largest employers of these professionals were:

  • Advertising, public relations, and related services: 34%
  • Information: 12%
  • Management of companies and enterprises: 7%
  • Wholesale trade: 6%
  • Retail trade: 6%

How to Become

A bachelor’s degree is generally the minimum requirement for a communications manager. Having a major in areas such as journalism or marketing is preferred. Furthermore, experience is very important, and communications managers must be able to demonstrate past successes in both internal and external communications. Usually, these professionals have between five and 10 years of experience.

Education Requirements

Communications managers are generally required to hold a bachelor’s degree as a minimum. Usually, they will major in areas such as marketing degrees, communication degrees, journalism, psychology, or advertising degrees. Those who have taken classes in photography, art history, visual arts, communication technology and methods, sales, market research, consumer behavior, and marketing are in the highest demand.

Additionally, it is often advisable to also have completed courses in areas such as statistics, mathematics, computer science, finance, economics, management, and business law. This is because these courses will enable a communications manager to best understand the methods of driving traffic through communication online, an integral part of modern forms of communication.

Experience is also very important. Most communications managers completed an internship as part of their degree. They will then have taken up an entry level position, through which they can grow to coordinator position.

Traits & Qualities

The most effective communications managers have the following traits to some degree or other:

  • To have a lot of experience with technology
  • To be proficient with graphic design and marketing tools, including Adobe Illustrator and Microsoft PowerPoint
  • To have strong written and verbal communication skills
  • To have excellent interpersonal skills

Minimum Education

Bachelor’s Degree

National Salary

The national average salary estimate for Communications Manager was $68,895. This number is estimated from over 366,724 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $35.88 and monthly of $5,741.

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$16,000

$159,000

Salary Distribution

Salary by State

The following section lists Communications Manager salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, New Jersey had the largest quoted salary of $94,809 while Utah had the smallest quoted salary of $37,248.

ArkansasKentuckyNew York
ArizonaLouisianaOhio
CaliforniaMassachusettsOklahoma
ColoradoMarylandOregon
ConnecticutMichiganPennsylvania
DCMinnesotaTexas
FloridaMissouriUtah
GeorgiaMontanaVirginia
IllinoisNorth CarolinaWashington
IndianaNew JerseyWisconsin
Arkansas$61,319Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like University of Arkansas.

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$16,000

$136,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona$64,650Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Tucson Country Club and Southwest Accounting Resources, Inc..

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$15,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
California$75,914Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CorTech, LLC, Cor-Tech LLC, Robert Half Management Resources, and City of San Jose.

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$17,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
Colorado$57,015Rank: 24th
The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like U.S. Army, University of Colorado, Robert Half Technology, and Colorado Center On Law and Policy.

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$16,000

$121,000

Salary Distribution
Connecticut$85,697Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Experis.

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$20,000

$196,000

Salary Distribution
DC$69,991Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Creative Circle, American Airlines, AHI Staffing Solutions, and Smith Center for Healing and the Arts (Healing Resources for Cancer).

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$19,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
Florida$65,024Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Creative Group, Southern State Strategies, Idea Recruitment, and University of Florida.

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$18,000

$139,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia$67,396Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Creative Group, Emory University, Randstad Professionals, and CorTech, LLC.

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$17,000

$152,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois$67,967Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Creative Group, Executive Administration, Inc., Creative Circle, and Hirewell.

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$16,000

$156,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana$50,781Rank: 26th
The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Indiana University.

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$14,000

$144,000

Salary Distribution
Kentucky$60,087Rank: 22nd
The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like University of Kentucky and CyberCoders.

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$19,000

$122,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana$45,158Rank: 27th
The average salary ranks 27th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Vdart Inc.

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$11.90

$36.50

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts$74,932Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Charles River Search, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and PREVENT BLINDNESS.

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$14,000

$187,000

Salary Distribution
Maryland$66,133Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Johns Hopkins University.

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$14,000

$158,000

Salary Distribution
Michigan$66,127Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like RapiSource LLC, Oakland University, and AccessSourceGroup.

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$14,000

$164,000

Salary Distribution
Minnesota$66,498Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like University of Minnesota.

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$19,000

$141,000

Salary Distribution
Missouri$61,078Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Washington University in St. Louis, The Creative Group, and Creative Circle.

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$16,000

$134,000

Salary Distribution
Montana$43,223Rank: 28th
The average salary ranks 28th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like MSU Alumni Foundation.

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$21,000

$67,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina$60,603Rank: 21st
The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Southern State Strategies, U.S. Army, Robert Half Technology, and TEKsystems.

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$15,000

$135,000

Salary Distribution
New Jersey$94,809Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like OfficeTeam, The Creative Group, and Novartis.

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$17.25

$97.70

Salary Distribution
New York$75,152Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Anheuser-Busch, TTS Media, and The Creative Group.

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$20,000

$165,000

Salary Distribution
Ohio$59,718Rank: 23rd
The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like LexisNexis, Ohio State University, and CyberCoders.

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$16,000

$130,000

Salary Distribution
Oklahoma$52,540Rank: 25th
The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like a Creative and Communications Agency.

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$14,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon$37,689Rank: 29th
The average salary ranks 29th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like George Fox University and Willamette Humane Society.

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$7.25

$39.85

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania$87,640Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Systematic business consulting, Ploeger Recruiting Services, Bertram & Associates, and Lodestar Executive Search.

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$31,000

$171,000

Salary Distribution
Texas$68,243Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like NES Global Talent, Creative Circle, Southern State Strategies, and Houston Independent School District.

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$17,000

$153,000

Salary Distribution
Utah$37,248Rank: 30th
The average salary ranks 30th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Primus Software Corp and Animal Riders LLC.

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$8.60

$34.40

Salary Distribution
Virginia$66,298Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Creative Group, University of Virginia, George Mason University, and Virginia Commonwealth University.

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$20,000

$137,000

Salary Distribution
Washington$72,733Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like King County, State of Washington, Pacific Lutheran University, and Raise Up Washington.

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$19,000

$161,000

Salary Distribution
Wisconsin$62,279Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Executive Director, Inc. and University of Wisconsin.

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$19,000

$130,000

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Employers

According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Communications Manager. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.

Employer NameLocationAverage Salary

Learn More

Related Careers

Career NameAverage Salary

Henry Steele
Managing Editor
Henry is Managing Editor of BusinessStudent.com. He is a seasoned business professional who regularly consults with local business's throughout Southern California. Henry pursued his undergrad in Business and Economics at the University of San Diego and gained valuable life changing experience through a unique internship upon graduation.

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