What Does a Community Relations Director Do?

In this section, we compare the average community relations director annual salary with that of a director of public affairs. Typically, directors of public affairs earn a $17,851 higher salary than community relations directors earn annually.

Even though community relations directors and directors of public affairs have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require community relations, community events, and press releases in the day-to-day roles.

As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a community relations director responsibility requires skills such as "memory care," "sales process," "senior care," and "public speaking." Whereas a director of public affairs is skilled in "government affairs," "public policy," "external stakeholders," and "policy issues." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

Directors of public affairs really shine in the pharmaceutical industry with an average salary of $137,872. Whereas community relations directors tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $87,495.

Directors of public affairs tend to reach similar levels of education than community relations directors. In fact, directors of public affairs are 4.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

Now we're going to look at the assistant director, communications profession. On average, assistant directors, communications earn a $41,823 lower salary than community relations directors a year.

While the salary may be different for these job positions, there is one similarity and that's a few of the skills needed to perform certain duties. We used info from lots of resumes to find that both community relations directors and assistant directors, communications are known to have skills such as "community relations," "community events," and "press releases. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, several resumes showed us that community relations director responsibilities requires skills like "memory care," "business development," "sales process," and "senior care." But an assistant director, communications might use skills, such as, "customer service," "property management," "professional development," and "alumni."

On average, assistant directors, communications earn a lower salary than community relations directors. There are industries that support higher salaries in each profession respectively. Interestingly enough, assistant directors, communications earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $65,113. Whereas, community relations directors have higher paychecks in the manufacturing industry where they earn an average of $87,495.

When it comes to the differences in education between the two professions, assistant directors, communications tend to reach similar levels of education than community relations directors. In fact, they're 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 5.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is public information officer. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than community relations directors. In fact, they make a $40,063 lower salary per year.

Using community relations directors and public information officers resumes, we found that both professions have similar skills such as "community relations," "community events," and "press releases," but the other skills required are very different.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from community relations directors resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "memory care," "business development," "sales process," and "senior care." But a public information officer might have skills like "web content," "community outreach," "press conferences," and "graphic design."

Additionally, public information officers earn a higher salary in the professional industry compared to other industries. In this industry, they receive an average salary of $65,730. Additionally, community relations directors earn an average salary of $87,495 in the manufacturing industry.

Public information officers typically study at similar levels compared with community relations directors. For example, they're 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Managers of corporate communications tend to earn a lower pay than community relations directors by about $12,627 per year.

While their salaries may vary, community relations directors and managers of corporate communications both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "community relations," "press releases," and "business development. "

Even though a few skill sets overlap, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a community relations director might have more use for skills like "community events," "memory care," "sales process," and "senior care." Meanwhile, some managers of corporate communications might include skills like "corporate communications," "project management," "strategic communications," and "employee engagement" on their resume.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The manufacturing industry tends to pay more for managers of corporate communications with an average of $104,720. While the highest community relations director annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.

Managers of corporate communications reach similar levels of education when compared to community relations directors. The difference is that they're 1.2% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.