The executive who leads a company's marketing, brand, customer insight and demand generation, and reports to the CEO. The Conference Board, CMO Compensation 2024 Edition puts typical pay at $1,917,000 a year (2024). BLS does not publish separate figures for marketing managers; it counts them within marketing manager (SOC 11-2021), whose median pay is $166,790 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Typical entry-level education: Bachelor's degree.
- SOC 11-2021
- Management
- Last updated October 9, 2026
At a glance
Chief Marketing Officer in four numbers
- Median pay
- $166,790a year, or $80.19/hrBLS OEWS, May 2025Lowest 10% $90KTop 10% $294K
US median, all jobs: $50,980
- Projected growth
- +6.9%Faster than averageBLS EP, 2025–2035This career+6.9%All jobs+3.5%
Projected employment change, 2025–2035 Item Value This career +6.9% All jobs +3.5% - Openings a year
- 34,000421,600 jobs todayBLS EP, 2025–2035
- Jobs in 2025421.6K
- Projected 2035450.8K
Employment, 2025–2035 Item Value Jobs in 2025 421.6K Projected 2035 450.8K - Typical education
- Bachelor'sneeded to enterBLS EP, 2025–2035; mix: O*NET
Also advertised as: CMO, Chief Brand Officer, EVP of Marketing, Global Head of Marketing.
Pay
How much do Marketing Managers make?
Industry-reported pay
$1,917,000
Median total compensation of CMOs disclosed among the top five paid officers at Russell 3000 companies (typical) and S&P 500 companies (high).
- Top earners
- $5,003,000
Source: The Conference Board, CMO Compensation 2024 Edition, 2024 (published pay scale or filing). This is not a BLS figure: BLS counts marketing managers within marketing manager, whose pay is shown below. The Conference Board: CMO Compensation, 2024 Edition · Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: Pay ratios, CEO and C-suite compensation
Every chief marketing officer in the US, by percentile of annual wage
Median
$166,790
Middle half earn $123,020 to $216,410
- 10th
- $90,260
- 25th
- $123,020
- 75th
- $216,410
- 90th
- $293,610
All US occupations: $50,980
| Percentile | Value |
|---|---|
| 10th | $90,260 |
| 25th | $123,020 |
| Median | $166,790 |
| 75th | $216,410 |
| 90th | $293,610 |
| All US occupations | $50,980 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
- Median annual wage
- $166,790
- Median hourly wage
- $80.19/hr
- Mean annual wage
- $177,770
- People employed
- 395,240
Versus all US occupations
At $166,790, Marketing Managers earn 227% above the $50,980 median across all US occupations, a difference of $115,810 a year.
Versus management occupations
Inside the Management group, where the middle occupation pays $126,060, this is 32% above the group median.
Pay range
The top 10% earn $293,610 or more while the bottom 10% earn $90,260, a gap of 3.3×. That is an unusually wide spread, which usually tracks specialisation, employer type and years of experience.
Rank in the bank
This median pays more than 95% of the 1,741 occupations in the NueCareer career bank.
Highest-paying state
Massachusetts pays the most at $212,020, and still leads at $200,478 once local prices are taken into account.
Pay by state
Which states pay Marketing Managers the most?
State medians come from the same OEWS release as the national figures. The cost-of-living column divides each state median by that state's BEA Regional Price Parity, restating pay in national-average dollars so a high-cost state and a low-cost one can be compared directly.
| State | Median | COL-adjusted | Employed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Massachusetts | $212,020 | $200,478 | 14,270 |
| 2California | $193,620 | $174,874 | 54,660 |
| 3Virginia | $187,820 | $185,769 | 6,890 |
| 4Colorado | $182,730 | $177,318 | 6,010 |
| 5New York | $181,200 | $167,901 | 54,000 |
| 6New Jersey | $180,040 | $165,470 | 13,510 |
| 7District of Columbia | $177,170 | $161,209 | 3,470 |
| 8Minnesota | $173,300 | $175,723 | 8,500 |
| 9Washington | $172,270 | $160,980 | 8,880 |
| 10Connecticut | $169,240 | $163,343 | 5,800 |
Job outlook
Is Chief Marketing Officer a growing career?
Employment change over 2025–2035, against every US occupation
Faster than average. +6.9% projected growth vs 3.5% for all occupations.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Marketing Managers | +6.9% |
| All US occupations | +3.5% |
Source: BLS EP, 2025–2035
Faster than average
BLS projects employment of Marketing Managers to change 6.9% over 2025–2035, against 3.5% projected for all occupations. That is 29,100 more jobs.
Annual openings
About 34,000 openings are projected each year, 8.1% of the 421,600 jobs that existed in 2025. Most come from workers leaving the occupation, not from growth alone.
Getting in
How to become a Chief Marketing Officer
Most CMOs have a bachelor's degree in marketing, business or communications, and many hold an MBA. Typical paths run through brand management at consumer goods companies, agency leadership, or growth and product marketing roles at technology firms, followed by vice president roles leading several marketing functions.
Boards and CEOs look for a record of growing revenue, building brands and using data to judge marketing returns. Executive search firms fill most CMO roles, and groups such as the Association of National Advertisers offer peer networks.
- 1
Typical entry-level education
Bachelor's degree
- 2
Work experience in a related occupation
5 years or more
- 3
Typical on-the-job training
None
- 4
Preparation needed (O*NET job zone)
Medium preparation
BLS Employment Projections, 2025–2035; job zone from O*NET 31.0 Database.
The work
What does a Chief Marketing Officer do?
The chief marketing officer is the executive responsible for how a company is positioned and how it attracts and keeps customers. They set brand strategy, lead advertising and communications, oversee pricing and product marketing, run customer research and analytics, and in many companies own growth targets alongside sales.
CMOs manage large teams and budgets, choose and oversee agencies, and decide where marketing money goes across media, digital channels, sponsorships and events. At public companies, CMOs who are among the most highly paid officers have their pay disclosed in the annual proxy statement.
Day-to-day tasks
- Set brand, positioning and marketing strategy for the company
- Allocate the marketing budget across channels and markets
- Lead advertising, digital, content and communications teams
- Select and manage creative and media agencies
- Track marketing performance and customer metrics
- Work with sales and product leaders on growth targets
- Present marketing plans and results to the CEO and board
Typical tasks, researched by NueCareer from the sources below.
Working conditions and hours
CMOs work at company headquarters with frequent travel to agencies, customers, events and regional offices. Days are filled with meetings with the executive team, board, agencies and staff, and the job carries pressure to show results quickly. Tenures are often shorter than for other executives.
Where the work happens
Indoors, climate-controlled
NeverEvery dayIndoors, in a climate-controlled space, every day.
Outdoors in all weather
NeverEvery day
Physical demands
Sitting
NeverAlmost all the timeSeated for more than half the working day.
Standing
NeverAlmost all the timeBending or twisting
NeverAlmost all the time
Working with people
Contact with other people
NoneConstantFace-to-face discussions
NeverEvery dayDealing with the public
Not importantExtremely important
Pressure and stakes
Strict deadlines
NeverEvery dayMeeting strict deadlines at least weekly.
Conflict situations
NeverEvery dayCost of a mistake
Not seriousExtremely serious
Autonomy
Freedom to decide
NoneA lotA lot of freedom to make decisions without checking first.
Conditions: O*NET Work Context survey. Each item has its own scale, so each dot is read against the two answers that end its own line.
Core skills
O*NET importance, 1 to 5
- Active Listening4.1
- Speaking4.0
- Reading Comprehension3.9
- Critical Thinking3.9
- Active Learning3.9
- Monitoring3.9
- Writing3.3
- Learning Strategies3.3
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Active Listening | 4.1 |
| Speaking | 4.0 |
| Reading Comprehension | 3.9 |
| Critical Thinking | 3.9 |
| Active Learning | 3.9 |
| Monitoring | 3.9 |
| Writing | 3.3 |
| Learning Strategies | 3.3 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
Transferable skills
O*NET importance, 1 to 5
- Persuasion3.9
- Complex Problem Solving3.9
- Judgment and Decision Making3.9
- Systems Evaluation3.9
- Social Perceptiveness3.8
- Coordination3.8
- Negotiation3.8
- Time Management3.8
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Persuasion | 3.9 |
| Complex Problem Solving | 3.9 |
| Judgment and Decision Making | 3.9 |
| Systems Evaluation | 3.9 |
| Social Perceptiveness | 3.8 |
| Coordination | 3.8 |
| Negotiation | 3.8 |
| Time Management | 3.8 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
Tools and software
- Accounting software · in demand
- Analytical or scientific software · in demand
- Application server software · in demand
- Business intelligence and data analysis software · in demand
- Cloud-based data access and sharing software · in demand
- Cloud-based management software · in demand
- Content workflow software · in demand
- Customer relationship management CRM software · in demand
- Data base management system software · in demand
- Data base user interface and query software · in demand
- Data mining software · in demand
- Desktop publishing software · in demand
“In demand” marks an O*NET Employer-Based Hot Technology, software named in real job postings for this occupation.
Personality fit
What personality type suits a Chief Marketing Officer?
NueCareer estimate (Holland code EAC) built on O*NET's Marketing Manager profile, scored 1 to 7
| Axis | Chief Marketing Officer |
|---|---|
| Realistic | 1 |
| Investigative | 3 |
| Artistic | 4 |
| Social | 3 |
| Enterprising | 7 |
| Conventional | 5 |
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database
What the work is built around
Day to day this is work built around leading, persuading, selling and making decisions, combined with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data.
- Enterprising7.0
- Conventional5.0
- Artistic3.6
- Investigative2.9
- Social2.8
- Realistic1.0
Closest MBTI types
NueCareer fit scores: cosine similarity between each MBTI type's interest vector and this occupation's O*NET interest profile. Not a BLS or O*NET figure; the method is documented on our methodology page.
Explore further
Careers related to Chief Marketing Officer
O*NET related occupations
- Management
- Business and Financial Operations
Market Research Analyst and Marketing Specialist
$78,760median a year
Most earn $43K to $155K
+7.0%Bachelor's - Management
- Management
- Business and Financial Operations
- Sales and Related
More management careers
Median annual pay, with marketing managers highlighted
- IT Manager$175,140
- Marketing Manager$166,790
- Chief Marketing Officer$166,790
- Financial Manager$166,570
- Human Resources Manager$149,280
- Sales Manager$148,270
- Construction Manager$114,990
- Supply Chain Manager$107,230
- Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Manager$69,990
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| IT Manager | $175,140 |
| Marketing Manager | $166,790 |
| Chief Marketing Officer | $166,790 |
| Financial Manager | $166,570 |
| Human Resources Manager | $149,280 |
| Sales Manager | $148,270 |
| Construction Manager | $114,990 |
| Supply Chain Manager | $107,230 |
| Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Manager | $69,990 |
Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025
Lists Chief Marketing Officer appears on
Questions
Chief Marketing Officer: frequently asked questions
How much do Marketing Managers make?
The Conference Board, CMO Compensation 2024 Edition reports $1,917,000 (median total compensation of CMOs disclosed among the top five paid officers at Russell 3000 companies (typical) and S&P 500 companies (high), 2024), with top earners around $5,003,000. BLS does not publish a separate wage for marketing managers. It counts them within marketing manager, whose median pay is $166,790 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). The middle half of that occupation earn between $123,020 and $216,410, and the top 10% earn $293,610 or more.
Do you need a degree to become a Chief Marketing Officer?
Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Marketing Managers, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as medium preparation. Employers typically expect 5 years or more of related work experience first.
Is Chief Marketing Officer a growing career?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 6.9% over 2025–2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations (BLS EP, 2025–2035). BLS still projects about 34,000 openings a year, mostly from workers retiring or moving to other work.
What does a Chief Marketing Officer do?
The chief marketing officer is the executive responsible for how a company is positioned and how it attracts and keeps customers. A typical task: set brand, positioning and marketing strategy for the company. Employers most often ask for Accounting software, Analytical or scientific software, Application server software.
Which states pay Marketing Managers the most?
The highest state medians for Marketing Managers are Massachusetts ($212,020), California ($193,620), Virginia ($187,820) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).
What personality type suits a Chief Marketing Officer?
O*NET scores Marketing Managers highest on the Enterprising, Conventional and Artistic interest areas, so the work mixes leading, persuading, selling and making decisions with organising, following procedures and working precisely with data. On NueCareer's MBTI-to-interest mapping the closest types are ENTJ, ENFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.