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The differences between planners and meeting planners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a planner and a meeting planner. Additionally, a planner has an average salary of $63,161, which is higher than the $56,257 average annual salary of a meeting planner.
The top three skills for a planner include customer service, exceptional client and logistics. The most important skills for a meeting planner are client facing, event planning, and powerpoint.
| Planner | Meeting Planner | |
| Yearly salary | $63,161 | $56,257 |
| Hourly rate | $30.37 | $27.05 |
| Growth rate | 4% | 18% |
| Number of jobs | 15,269 | 17,112 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
As the name entails, planners assist in creating a broad vision for a community. They conduct research, design, and advanced programs. Some of them focus on a few roles, such as planning transportation, while some will most likely work at different planning types throughout their profession. They develop a plan through data analysis, determine the project's goals or the community, and form a specific vision. They also identify the strategies to help the city realized its goals and vision.
A meeting planner makes professional decisions in all areas of meeting preparation and presentation. They plan meetings, establish meeting objectives, schedule meetings, budget expenses, inspect meeting sites, negotiate with suppliers, and create a speaker lineup. They also need to deal with travel arrangements and with technical equipment used in the course of the meeting.
Planners and meeting planners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Planner | Meeting Planner | |
| Average salary | $63,161 | $56,257 |
| Salary range | Between $45,000 And $88,000 | Between $40,000 And $77,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Newark, NJ |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Meta | AbbVie |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Hospitality |
There are a few differences between a planner and a meeting planner in terms of educational background:
| Planner | Meeting Planner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 64% | Bachelor's Degree, 78% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | San Diego State University |
Here are the differences between planners' and meeting planners' demographics:
| Planner | Meeting Planner | |
| Average age | 42 | 38 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 54.4% Female, 45.6% | Male, 12.4% Female, 87.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.6% White, 67.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% | Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 16.2% Asian, 5.9% White, 61.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 13% | 16% |