Lobbyist vs activist

The differences between lobbyists and activists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a lobbyist, becoming an activist takes usually requires 6-12 months. Additionally, a lobbyist has an average salary of $45,609, which is higher than the $37,694 average annual salary of an activist.

The top three skills for a lobbyist include public policy, government relations and state government. The most important skills for an activist are climate, grassroots, and social justice.

Lobbyist vs activist overview

	Lobbyist	Activist
Yearly salary	$45,609	$37,694
Hourly rate	$21.93	$18.12
Growth rate	8%	12%
Number of jobs	128	1,184
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	42	43
Years of experience	4	12

Lobbyist vs activist salary

Lobbyists and activists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lobbyist	Activist
Average salary	$45,609	$37,694
Salary range	Between $26,000 And $77,000	Between $26,000 And $53,000
Highest paying City	-	New York, NY
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between lobbyist and activist education

There are a few differences between a lobbyist and an activist in terms of educational background:

	Lobbyist	Activist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 71%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Political Science	Political Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Northwestern University

Lobbyist vs activist demographics

Here are the differences between lobbyists' and activists' demographics:

	Lobbyist	Activist
Average age	42	43
Gender ratio	Male, 51.6% Female, 48.4%	Male, 40.6% Female, 59.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 13.5% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 20.2% Asian, 7.3% White, 50.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.6%
LGBT Percentage	12%	11%

Differences between lobbyist and activist duties and responsibilities

Lobbyist example responsibilities.

Secure support for the Centene brand as a Medicaid manage care organization amongst healthcare providers and members of the advocacy community.
Preserve dietitian services as a require``condition of participation"for Medicare hospitals.
Advocate on Medicare reimbursement, research funding, dietary supplements and professional education issues.
Conduct analysis of international climate change implications and participate in the selection of tools for government agencies to monitor climate change.
Verify and update exiting editorial content and write new editorial for revise statutes.

Activist example responsibilities.

Manage local campaigns to improve the NYC public education system and perform research on school districts to gather and analyze statistics.
Maintain the organization's social media presence through Facebook.
Attend monthly meetings that emphasize women's leadership in society.
Supervise up to a team of 8 people at various sites around nyc for fundraising.
Implement in organization and leadership.
Perform Psychological/Psychiatric/Intake assessments on perspective patients.

Lobbyist vs activist skills

Common lobbyist skills

Public Policy, 26%
Government Relations, 19%
State Government, 10%
Grassroots, 5%
State Legislators, 3%
Legislative Process, 3%

Common activist skills

Climate, 33%
Grassroots, 22%
Social Justice, 21%
Customer Service, 20%
Leadership, 1%
Community Outreach, 1%

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Lobbyist vs Activist

Updated January 8, 2025

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