How To Become A Community Relations Director: What It Is and Career Path

What is a community relations director and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Derek Arnold

A community relations director is a position within a company responsible for supporting the organization's mission, vision, and values by facilitating the projects related to a commitment to community relations. They manage the relationships with the populations and communities surrounding the company or organization.

The tasks that they perform within this capacity include planning and carrying out events and educational activities which increase the visibility of the organization in the community. In addition, they direct the organization's interactions with the surrounding community and its marketing strategies, serve as a representative for the organization at community meetings and forums, and manage the community relations budget, allocating funds for different programs and outreaches. Many types of industries employ this position, including investment firms and manufacturing companies. Education requirements can vary, but a bachelor's degree in business or related field is almost always required. The more years of relevant experience an applicant has, the better.

The average hourly salary for the position is $43.11, which equates to $89,667 annually. The career is expected to grow further in the near future, resulting in new opportunities emerging all across the United States.

What general advice would you give to a community relations director?

Derek Arnold

Senior Instructor, Villanova University

One of the things I stress to my incoming first-year students is that you need to be less concerned about specialized skills right off the start that you might develop over four (or more) years (and many will wind up changing their choice of that major anyhow over their collegiate career) and worry more about strong "general" skills that will apply to multiple areas "out there." I tell them that some jobs available in four years haven't even been created yet. Application software developers, data miners, 3d printing engineers, AI specialists--all these positions were in their infancy only a few years ago. Some of the people in school right now will be among the first who might be hired to fill the new jobs created.

To some extent, the training for them is not complete either, so some basic skills can help you be in the right place at the right time. Skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, logic/argumentation, and strong speaking skills never go out of style and can turn out to be a key to success once you get dropped into a situation that wasn't exactly what you were expecting when you were looking for your first "real" job. Think about it: If you bought stock in a company that employed Zoom support technicians, plexiglass screen manufacturers, and installers, mask makers, or contact tracing application software designers, you are probably sitting in a good place right now. The key is to be prepared, ready, and willing to explore new opportunities as they arise; there's a lot you can learn on the fly, but having a well developed, sensible pattern to address general questions to solve problems (or even what questions you need to ask) can put you in advantageous positions. There is a crying need for this, especially in today's ever-changing world.

ScoreCommunity Relations DirectorUS Average

Salary

7.5

Avg. Salary $96,788

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.7

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.42%

Asian 5.12%

Black or African American 5.97%

Hispanic or Latino 9.12%

Unknown 4.66%

White 74.71%

Gender

female 74.22%

male 25.78%

Age - 41

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 41

Stress level

8.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a community relations director

Explore community relations director education requirements

Most common community relations director degrees

Bachelor's

71.9 %

Master's

12.8 %

Associate

10.1 %

Start to develop specific community relations director skills

Skills	Percentages
Community Relations	23.38%
Community Events	5.86%
Memory Care	5.35%
Press Releases	3.44%
Business Development	3.42%

Complete relevant community relations director training and internships

Accountants spend an average of Less than 1 month on post-employment, on-the-job training. New community relations directors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a community relations director based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real community relations director resumes.

Research community relations director duties and responsibilities

Manage monthly marketing budget for SNF and ALF facility.
Manage all event planning, reunion programming, donor stewardship and in-house publications for UR alumni.
Maintain website and contribute to organization's Facebook page.
Convert reporting from UK GAAP to IFRS first time adoption.

Get community relations director experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a community relations director. The most common roles before becoming a community relations director include marketing director, account executive team lead and executive director.

Prepare your community relations director resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your community relations director resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a community relations director resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable community relations director resume templates

Build a professional community relations director resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your community relations director resume.

Apply for community relations director jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a community relations director job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average community relations director salary

The average community relations director salary in the United States is $96,788 per year or $47 per hour. Community relations director salaries range between $61,000 and $152,000 per year.

Average community relations director salary

$96,788 Yearly

$46.53 hourly

What is a community relations director and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a community relations director?

Community relations director career paths

Key steps to become a community relations director

Explore community relations director education requirements

Most common community relations director degrees

Start to develop specific community relations director skills

Complete relevant community relations director training and internships

Research community relations director duties and responsibilities

Get community relations director experience

Prepare your community relations director resume

Choose from 10+ customizable community relations director resume templates

Apply for community relations director jobs

How did you land your first community relations director job

Average community relations director salary

How do community relations directors rate their job?