Vocational Index

Career

Public relations managers

Shape how an organization is seen, especially when it matters most.

$146,910
Median pay
+5.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
6,100
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school

Here's what you actually need to know.

The work

What people in this job do

  • Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, government officials, and media representatives and use these relationships to develop new business opportunities.
  • Assign, supervise, and review the activities of public relations staff.
  • Identify main client groups and audiences, determine the best way to communicate publicity information to them, and develop and implement a communication plan.
  • Develop, implement, or maintain crisis communication plans.
  • Write interesting and effective press releases, prepare information for media kits, and develop and maintain company internet or intranet web pages.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition+5.0%2025–35 edition+5.7%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 6,600 → 6,100 openings a year.

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Persuasion & leadership
7.0
Information & systems
4.4
People & care
4.2
Creation & expression
3.7
Ideas & analysis
2.3
Objects & tools
1.0

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“Establish and maintain effective working relationships with clients, government officials, and media representatives and use these relationships to develop new business opportunities.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Speaking, Active Listening, Reading Comprehension, Writing.

Trade-offs

What does it ask of you in exchange?

4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $146,910 a year and 6,100 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

  • CommunicationSee the degree →
  • Public Relations and AdvertisingSee the degree →
  • Communication, GeneralCIP 09.0100
  • Speech Communication and RhetoricCIP 09.0101
  • Mass Communication/Media StudiesCIP 09.0102
  • Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied CommunicationCIP 09.0900

Paths across

Careers that use similar skills

Ask anything about this career.

“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.

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Sources

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.