How much does a human resources internship make?

The average human resources internship salary in the United States is $32,702. Human resources internship salaries typically range between $25,000 and $42,000 yearly. The average hourly rate for human resources interns is $15.72 per hour. Human resources internship salary is impacted by location, education, and experience. Human resources interns earn the highest average salary in Washington.

Human resources internship salary

Q: What state pays Human Resources Interns the most?

Washington pays Human Resources Interns the most in the United States, with an average salary of $39,738 per year, or $19.10 per hour.

Q: How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a human resources internship?

You know if you are being paid fairly as a human resources internship if your pay is close to the average pay for the state you live in. For example, if you live in Oregon you should be paid close to $39,512 per year.

Q: What is a good starting salary for a Human Resources Internship?

A good starting salary for a human resources internship is $25,000 in the United States. That puts you in the 10th percentile of annual income for a human resources internship in the U.S., which is about what you would expect if you were new to the field. The average salary for human resources interns is $33,214, but that normally requires some level of experience to achieve. Furthermore, a good starting salary for a human resources internship can vary by state.

Q: What is a good salary for an internship?

A good salary for an internship is around $31,000 a year (about $2,607 per month or $15 per hour). That's the average for a typical internship, but, as most internships go, factors like location, industry and company can determine whether you receive compensation.

Q: What is a reasonable salary for an internship?

A reasonable salary for an internship is typically around $15 an hour. However, this depends largely on industry and company. Fortunately, it is becoming less common for employers to have unpaid internships, so a person should find a paid internship regardless of their field.

Q: What is the salary of an HR trainee?

The salary of an HR trainee is between $29,000 and $70,000 annually or $14.50 to $33.65 hourly. The amount is based on location, industry, and educational background. Hiring trainees allows employees to understand the ins and outs and specific needs of the corporation or agency they are working for.

Quoted expert

Sarah DeArmond Ph.D.

Average human resources internship salary

$15.72

$32,702 yearly

Entry-level human resources internship salary

$25,000 yearly salary

Updated December 15, 2025

Understanding Human Resources Internship Salaries

The average salary for a human resources intern is $32,702 annually, or about $16 per hour. This figure can vary significantly based on factors such as location, company size, and specific industry. For instance, internships in urban areas or larger firms often command higher wages due to the increased cost of living and competitive job market.

Salary by State

Different states offer varying pay scales for HR internships. For example, states like California and New York typically provide higher salaries compared to others, reflecting their higher living costs and demand for HR professionals.

Paying Industries

Industries such as finance, technology, and healthcare tend to offer the most competitive salaries for HR interns. These sectors recognize the value of effective human resource management and are willing to invest in developing talent.

Conclusion

Researching and understanding salary trends can empower aspiring HR professionals to negotiate better compensation packages and make informed decisions about their career paths. For those interested in pursuing a human resources internship, it is essential to consider these factors to maximize earning potential.

On this page

Human resources internship salary by:

Let Zippia find your next human resources internship job

Let Zippia find your next human resources internship job

Where can a Human Resources Internship earn more?

Compare salary by location

59k

39k

19k

-1k

Columbus, OH$39,931

Charleston, WV$28,884

Compare salary by company

94k

74k

54k

34k

14k

KLA$65,753

Student Conservation Association$43,515

Human resources internship salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor and Ziprecruiter, the average salary for a human resources internship typically falls between $32,702 and $51,946.

zippia

$32,702yearly

glassdoor[1]

$51,946yearly

indeed[2]

$36,605yearly

Salary.com[3]

$36,250yearly

ZipRecruiter[4]

$36,125yearly

Average human resources internship salary by state

The average human resources internship salary in Washington, Oregon, and New York are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average human resources internship salary states are Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi.

State view
County view

Average salary:

Highest paying states for human resources interns

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Alaska	$38,868	$18.69
2	North Dakota	$35,471	$17.05
3	Oregon	$39,512	$19.00
4	New York	$39,271	$18.88
5	New Hampshire	$35,319	$16.98
6	Washington	$39,738	$19.10
7	Massachusetts	$37,202	$17.89
8	District of Columbia	$38,263	$18.40
9	Connecticut	$36,914	$17.75
10	Wyoming	$32,815	$15.78
11	Wisconsin	$34,363	$16.52
12	Maine	$33,710	$16.21
13	Montana	$33,508	$16.11
14	Utah	$34,983	$16.82
15	Delaware	$33,303	$16.01
16	Vermont	$32,436	$15.59
17	Idaho	$32,397	$15.58
18	Colorado	$35,365	$17.00
19	Arizona	$33,462	$16.09
20	California	$36,571	$17.58
21	Michigan	$32,632	$15.69
22	Minnesota	$33,429	$16.07
23	Pennsylvania	$33,345	$16.03
24	Virginia	$34,450	$16.56
25	New Jersey	$35,464	$17.05
26	Nevada	$32,086	$15.43
27	Rhode Island	$30,817	$14.82
28	Nebraska	$29,546	$14.20
29	Kentucky	$29,876	$14.36
30	North Carolina	$30,936	$14.87
31	Kansas	$29,236	$14.06
32	Iowa	$29,354	$14.11
33	Illinois	$29,750	$14.30
34	Maryland	$32,969	$15.85
35	Oklahoma	$29,784	$14.32
36	Hawaii	$29,607	$14.23
37	West Virginia	$29,329	$14.10
38	South Dakota	$27,899	$13.41
39	Texas	$30,117	$14.48
40	New Mexico	$28,429	$13.67
41	Georgia	$28,554	$13.73
42	Alabama	$28,389	$13.65
43	Tennessee	$27,602	$13.27
44	Indiana	$28,125	$13.52
45	Mississippi	$26,842	$12.90
46	Arkansas	$26,382	$12.68
47	Missouri	$28,226	$13.57
48	Louisiana	$28,051	$13.49
49	Ohio	$26,995	$12.98
50	Florida	$25,933	$12.47
51	South Carolina	$24,358	$11.71

Top human resources internship jobs near you

Highest paying cities for human resources interns

The highest-paying cities for human resources interns are Lacey, WA, New York, NY, and Washington, DC.

Rank	City	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	Lacey, WA	$39,931	$19.20
2	New York, NY	$39,167	$18.83
3	Washington, DC	$38,229	$18.38
4	Boston, MA	$37,259	$17.91
5	Westminster, CO	$35,452	$17.04
6	Arlington, VA	$35,280	$16.96
7	Salt Lake City, UT	$34,952	$16.80
8	Phoenix, AZ	$33,525	$16.12
9	Philadelphia, PA	$33,444	$16.08
10	Saint Paul, MN	$33,417	$16.07
11	Baltimore, MD	$33,096	$15.91
12	Ann Arbor, MI	$32,483	$15.62
13	Durham, NC	$31,204	$15.00
14	East Providence, RI	$30,858	$14.84
15	Fort Worth, TX	$30,274	$14.55
16	Chicago, IL	$29,877	$14.36
17	Oklahoma City, OK	$29,806	$14.33
18	Omaha, NE	$29,557	$14.21
19	Overland Park, KS	$29,236	$14.06
20	Charleston, WV	$28,884	$13.89

Human Resources Interns are the most in-demand in these five cities:

Human resources internship salary details

A human resources internship's salary ranges from $25,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $42,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average human resources internship salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a human resources internship's salary?

Percentile	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate
90th Percentile	$42,000	$3,500	$20
75th Percentile	$37,000	$3,083	$18
Average	$32,702	$2,725	$16
25th Percentile	$28,000	$2,333	$13
10th Percentile	$25,000	$2,083	$12

Highest paying human resources internship jobs

The highest paying types of human resources interns are senior human resources generalist, human resources consultant, and human resources analyst.

Job title	Annual salary	Monthly salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
Recruiting Coordinator	$45,459	$3,788	$21.86	56,602
General Internship	$61,485	$5,124	$29.56	88,761
Project Management Internship	$33,909	$2,826	$16.30	114,595
Administrative Internship	$38,801	$3,233	$18.65	80,571
Internship	$35,254	$2,938	$16.95	51,064
Human Resources Technician	$40,933	$3,411	$19.68	39,846

How would you rate the starting salaries for human resources internships, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Sarah DeArmond Ph.D.

Management and Human Resources Department Chair, Professor of Human Resource Management, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

Before the pandemic, starting salary prospects were quite positive in human resource management. I expect to see salaries down a bit. Generally, companies have a slight edge now in salary negotiations, as there is more available talent than may have been the case before the pandemic. However, there have not been as significant of job losses in human resource management as has been the case in some other fields (e.g., hospitality management).

Top companies hiring human resources interns now:

Which companies pay human resources interns the most?

Human resources internship salaries at KLA and Schneider Electric Industrial Services are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average human resources internship salary at companies like W. R. Berkley and AMETEK are highly competitive.

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	KLA	$65,753	$31.61
2	Schneider Electric Industrial Services	$53,443	$25.69
3	W. R. Berkley	$51,969	$24.99
4	AMETEK	$51,309	$24.67
5	Arnold Worldwide	$51,267	$24.65
6	SAP	$51,065	$24.55
7	Intel	$48,724	$23.43
8	Silicon Labs	$48,489	$23.31
9	LG&E and KU	$47,986	$23.07
10	Arrow Electronics	$46,653	$22.43
11	Valmont Industries	$45,893	$22.06
12	Stantec	$45,407	$21.83
13	The Boring Company	$45,138	$21.70
14	Avid	$44,404	$21.35
15	Steel Dynamics	$44,145	$21.22
16	New York Air Brake	$43,940	$21.13
17	Sanmina	$43,895	$21.10
18	Precision Castparts	$43,591	$20.96
19	Fortinet	$43,575	$20.95
20	Student Conservation Association	$43,515	$20.92

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$35,000$34,400$33,800$33,200$32,600$32,000

MaleFemale

Human Resources Internship salary by industry

The average human resources internship salary varies across industries:

The average human resources internship salary in the manufacturing industry is $37,766, the highest of any industry.
The average human resources internship salary in the finance industry is $36,056.
Human resources interns in the health care industry earn an average salary of $34,134, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for human resources interns

Rank	Industry	Average salary	Hourly rate
1	Manufacturing	$37,766	$18.16
2	Government	$36,056	$17.33
3	Retail	$35,410	$17.02
4	Finance	$35,376	$17.01
5	Hospitality	$35,054	$16.85
6	Health Care	$34,134	$16.41

High paying human resources internship jobs

Human resources internship salary trends

The average human resources internship salary has risen by $4,537 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average human resources internship earned $28,165 annually, but today, they earn $32,702 a year. That works out to a 11% change in pay for human resources interns over the last decade.

Compare human resources internship salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average human resources internship salary over time

Compare human resources internship salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Human resources internship salary by year

Year	Avg. salary	Hourly rate	% Change
2025	$32,700	$15.72	+4.2%
2024	$31,300	$15.06	+2.5%
2023	$30,500	$14.68	+2.3%
2022	$29,900	$14.35	+1.2%
2021	$29,500	$14.18	+2.4%

Recently added human resources internship salaries

Company	Job	Location	Date added	Salary
Caqh	Intern, Human Resources	Maryland	06/29/2025	$41,740
Compass Group USA Inc.	Human Resources Intern, Chartwells Higher ED/University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, PA	06/28/2025	$29,218
Compass Group USA Inc.	Human Resources Intern, Chartwells Higher ED/Eastern Michigan University	Ypsilanti, MI	06/28/2025	$30,262
The Center for Great Expectations	Human Resources Intern	Somerset, NJ	06/28/2025	$35,479
Compass Group USA Inc.	Human Resources Intern, Chartwells Higher ED/University of Houston	Houston, TX	06/27/2025	$29,218
Schaeffler AG	Co-Op/Intern-Human Resources (Stratford Campus Months	Stratford, CT	06/27/2025	$47,584
The Malrite Company	HR Intern	Beachwood, OH	06/26/2025	$37,462
Envista	HR Intern	Pomona, CA	06/26/2025	$41,600
North St.	Hr/Payroll Summer Intern	Nore, MN	06/26/2025	$33,392
Safran	Human Resources Intern	Denton, TX	06/25/2025	$35,479

Human resources internship salary FAQs

What state pays Human Resources Interns the most?

How do I know if I'm being paid fairly as a human resources internship?

What is a good starting salary for a Human Resources Internship?

What is a good salary for an internship?

What is a reasonable salary for an internship?

What is the salary of an HR trainee?

Have more questions? See all answers to common office and administrative questions.

Search for human resources internship jobs

Updated December 15, 2025

Browse office and administrative jobs