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Public affairs specialist salary

Quoted expert
Peter Bicak Ph.D.

Average public affairs specialist salary

$66,383

$31.91 hourly rate

Entry-level public affairs specialist salary
$43,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

Average Public Affairs Specialist Salary

The salary for a Public Affairs Specialist typically averages around $66,383 annually. This figure can change significantly depending on various factors, including geographic location and years of experience. For example, specialists in metropolitan areas often earn more due to higher living costs and demand for skilled professionals.

Salary by State

Public Affairs Specialists in California and New York tend to receive the highest salaries, often exceeding $75,000 annually. In contrast, those in less populated states may earn closer to $50,000. It’s essential to consider these regional differences when evaluating job opportunities.

Career Advancement

Gaining additional experience, certifications, or advanced degrees can further enhance earning potential. Many Public Affairs Specialists find that transitioning to higher-level roles such as Communications Director or Policy Advisor can lead to substantial salary increases.

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Where can a Public Affairs Specialist earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
109k
89k
69k
49k
29k
Columbus, OH$98,298
Jefferson City, MO$58,665
Compare salary by company
Vs
141k
121k
101k
81k
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41k
Google$127,173
National Park Foundation$71,190

Public affairs specialist salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Indeed, Glassdoor, SalaryExpert and Payscale, the average salary for a public affairs specialist typically falls between $59,472 and $95,080.
zippia
$66,383yearly
glassdoor[1]
$95,080yearly
indeed[2]
$59,472yearly
Salary.com[3]
$60,749yearly
payscale[4]
$69,702yearly
SalaryExpert[5]
$75,451yearly

Average public affairs specialist salary by state

The highest-paying states for public affairs specialists are Virginia, Connecticut, and Washington. The lowest average public affairs specialist salary states are Alabama, Kansas, and Arizona.

  • State view
  • County view
Average salary:

Highest paying states for public affairs specialists

RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
1District of Columbia$98,254$47.24
2Virginia$92,207$44.33
3Rhode Island$77,634$37.32
4Connecticut$86,760$41.71
5New Jersey$82,899$39.86
6Maryland$82,437$39.63
7Washington$83,061$39.93
8Delaware$70,536$33.91
9New York$75,980$36.53
10Massachusetts$71,842$34.54
11California$74,529$35.83
12Pennsylvania$70,204$33.75
13West Virginia$68,615$32.99
14Alaska$68,551$32.96
15Georgia$65,102$31.30
16New Hampshire$72,930$35.06
17Oregon$67,271$32.34
18Idaho$69,458$33.39
19Vermont$64,483$31.00
20North Dakota$67,680$32.54
21Arkansas$64,902$31.20
22Utah$61,366$29.50
23Wyoming$59,100$28.41
24North Carolina$61,082$29.37
25Colorado$66,506$31.97
26Illinois$63,612$30.58
27Kentucky$64,327$30.93
28Nevada$61,422$29.53
29Tennessee$61,497$29.57
30Texas$61,667$29.65
31Ohio$62,521$30.06
32Indiana$60,701$29.18
33Michigan$59,307$28.51
34Minnesota$60,588$29.13
35Iowa$56,896$27.35
36Hawaii$52,684$25.33
37Wisconsin$59,044$28.39
38Nebraska$57,923$27.85
39New Mexico$60,877$29.27
40South Dakota$56,392$27.11
41Missouri$58,778$28.26
42Montana$53,464$25.70
43Arizona$50,841$24.44
44Florida$43,347$20.84
45South Carolina$56,773$27.29
46Maine$54,790$26.34
47Oklahoma$51,472$24.75
48Louisiana$50,758$24.40
49Alabama$51,233$24.63
50Kansas$50,852$24.45
51Mississippi$46,239$22.23

Highest paying cities for public affairs specialists

The highest-paying cities for public affairs specialists are Washington, DC, Arlington, VA, and Seattle, WA.

RankCityAvg. salaryHourly rate
1Washington, DC$98,298$47.26
2Arlington, VA$93,926$45.16
3Seattle, WA$84,025$40.40
4Rockville, MD$82,300$39.57
5San Francisco, CA$82,231$39.53
6New York, NY$76,119$36.60
7Manchester, NH$72,986$35.09
8Boston, MA$71,863$34.55
9Philadelphia, PA$70,523$33.91
10Salem, OR$67,524$32.46
11Lakewood, CO$66,594$32.02
12Atlanta, GA$65,574$31.53
13Little Rock, AR$64,704$31.11
14Cleveland, OH$64,483$31.00
15Dallas, TX$62,037$29.83
16Salt Lake City, UT$61,282$29.46
17Saint Paul, MN$60,633$29.15
18Indianapolis, IN$60,368$29.02
19Memphis, TN$60,152$28.92
20Jefferson City, MO$58,665$28.20

Public affairs specialist salary details

A public affairs specialist's salary ranges from $43,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $102,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average public affairs specialist salary graph
Average public affairs specialist salary graph, trends, and summary

What is a public affairs specialist's salary?

PercentileAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rate
90th Percentile$102,000$8,500$49
75th Percentile$83,000$6,917$40
Average$66,383$5,532$32
25th Percentile$52,000$4,333$25
10th Percentile$43,000$3,583$21

Highest paying public affairs specialist jobs

The highest paying types of public affairs specialists are communications consultant, public affairs officer, and specialist.

Job titleAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rateJob openings
Community Relations Coordinator$45,632$3,803$21.9446,318
Communications Consultant$91,455$7,621$43.9729,942
Communications Coordinator$47,075$3,923$22.6339,790
Public Relations Internship$30,868$2,572$14.8465,163
Public Relations$48,383$4,032$23.2622,721
Public Relations Coordinator$46,225$3,852$22.2235,324

How would you rate the starting salaries for public affairs specialists, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Peter Bicak Ph.D.

Professor of Communication, Rockhurst University

I would rate them as competitive. Business Communication, if truly comprehensive, has substantial depth and breadth of opportunities. Interdisciplinary BC majors should have significant writing opportunities, including for social media, traditional media, and journalism. The most prominent options are likely to fall in marketing, public relations, advertising, sales, and management due to the students' experience with basic business units such as accounting, economics, data science, and management. Internal and external organizational communication will always be a part of our corporate, civic, political, and economic lives-one still has to "get the word out" in ways appropriate to the organization for whom he or she works.

Thus, these technologies will be the key instruments for doing so, and there will be a place for business (organizational) communicators. While the major is not designed to be immersive in business instruction, it provides insights that give a graduate a leg up. So, advancement is substantial. For example, a major who enters the advertising and marketing field as an account manager likely has opportunities in the areas (e.g., working on an account in pharmaceuticals leads to other options not just in PR or advertising, but within the pharmaceutical field itself) in which that account exists, given their experience.

Which companies pay public affairs specialists the most?

Public affairs specialist salaries at Google and OSMRE are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average public affairs specialist salary at companies like AARP and Bonneville Power Administration are highly competitive.

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$66,000$65,200$64,400$63,600$62,800$62,000
MaleFemale

Public affairs specialist salary trends

The average public affairs specialist salary has risen by $10,167 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average public affairs specialist earned $56,216 annually, but today, they earn $66,383 a year. That works out to a 8% change in pay for public affairs specialists over the last decade.

Compare public affairs specialist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average public affairs specialist salary over time

Compare public affairs specialist salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Public affairs specialist salary by year

YearAvg. salaryHourly rate% Change
2025$66,400$31.91+2.6%
2024$64,600$31.07+1.9%
2023$63,400$30.49+1.2%
2022$62,700$30.13+2.2%
2021$61,300$29.48+2.2%

Recently added public affairs specialist salaries

CompanyJobLocationDate addedSalary
PerspectaPublic Affairs SpecialistFort Meade, MD06/29/2025$86,000
Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc.Navy Recruiting Public Affairs SpecialistDenver, CO06/26/2025$60,000
Department of The Air ForcePublic Affairs SpecialistGrissom Air Force Base, IN06/24/2025$61,111
PeratonPublic Affairs SpecialistFort Meade, MD06/21/2025$86,000
WaymoCommunity & Public Affairs Specialist-Washington DCIone, WA06/21/2025$125,000
Department of The Air ForcePublic Affairs SpecialistRobins Air Force Base, GA06/20/2025$88,621
WaymoCommunity & Public Affairs Specialist-Washington DCWashington, DC06/19/2025$125,000
Colorado State UniversityPublic Affairs Specialist-US ArmyFort Collins, CO06/13/2025$95,000
JFFPublic Affairs SpecialistsPortland, OR06/10/2025$93,543
National Older Worker Career CenterCommunications Specialist/Public Affairs SpecialistSaint Paul, MN06/05/2025$83,480

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