Public Relations Managers
What Public Relations Managers Do
Plan, direct, or coordinate activities designed to create or maintain a favorable public image or raise issue awareness for their organization or client.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- 5 years or more
- On-the-job training
- None
- Self-employed
- 0.3%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 4 of 5Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Experience
- A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
- Education
- Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
- Job training
- Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Cooperation
- Social Orientation
- Dependability
- Leadership Orientation
- Self-Confidence
- Integrity
- Adaptability
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- EnterprisingHigh
- ConventionalMedium
- SocialMedium
- ArtisticMedium
- InvestigativeLow
- RealisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where public relations managers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV6.27× national avg
- 2Trenton-Princeton, NJ3.71× national avg
- 3Midland, MI3.43× national avg
- 4Charlottesville, VA2.49× national avg
- 5Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA2.34× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Marketing ManagersLateral Move
- Management AnalystsLateral Move
- Advertising and Promotions ManagersLateral Move
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing SpecialistsLateral Move
Related Education Programs
Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.
Communication, General
- California State University-Fullerton (Fullerton, CA)grads earn ~$58,082
- University of California-Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara, CA)grads earn ~$72,976
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (Chapel Hill, NC)grads earn ~$70,240
- Ohio State University-Main Campus (Columbus, OH)grads earn ~$62,096
- Arizona State University Digital Immersion (Scottsdale, AZ)grads earn ~$61,193
Public Relations/Image Management
- Southern New Hampshire University (Manchester, NH)grads earn ~$59,801
- The University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)grads earn ~$80,221
- Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)grads earn ~$69,300
- University of Oregon (Eugene, OR)grads earn ~$73,410
- University of Colorado Boulder (Boulder, CO)grads earn ~$74,779