Marketing Manager Salary (2026), outlook and how to become one

Marketing Managers earn a median of $166,790 a year (BLS OEWS, May 2025). That is 227% above the $50,980 median for all US occupations. That works out at $80.19/hr. The middle half earn between $123,020 and $216,410. The top 10% earn $293,610 or more.

The median hourly wage for marketing managers is $80.19 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). On a full-year basis the $166,790 annual median works out to about $13,900 a month before tax.

BLS does not publish a starting salary. The nearest measure is the low end of the pay range: the lowest-paid 10% of marketing managers earn less than $90,260 a year and the bottom quarter less than $123,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). New workers often start near that end, but where a particular job starts depends on the employer, the state and the credentials you bring, so read these as the bottom of the range rather than a guaranteed entry wage.

Yes, more often than not. The median is $166,790, so more than half of marketing managers earn over $100,000 a year; even the 25th percentile is $123,020 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). In 47 states the median itself is above $100,000: Massachusetts ($212,020), California ($193,620), Virginia ($187,820), Colorado ($182,730), and 43 more.

The highest state medians for Marketing Managers are Massachusetts ($212,020), California ($193,620), Virginia ($187,820) (BLS OEWS, May 2025).

BLS does not split marketing managers' pay by specialty or employer, but its range shows how far the top end runs: the highest-paid 10% earn more than $293,610, against a median of $166,790 (BLS OEWS, May 2025). Location moves pay the most in the published data: the best-paying states are Massachusetts ($212,020), California ($193,620), Virginia ($187,820). Among the specialty careers inside this occupation, industry sources put typical pay at $1,917,000 for chief marketing officers (The Conference Board, CMO Compensation 2024 Edition, 2024). Those are not BLS figures.

Yes. BLS reports a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for Marketing Managers, and O*NET rates the preparation needed as considerable preparation. Employers typically expect 5 years or more of related work experience first.

BLS does not publish a fixed length; it depends on the route. What it does publish: the typical way in for marketing managers is a bachelor's degree, plus 5 years or more of work experience in a related occupation. O*NET classes the work as needing considerable preparation.

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.

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. A core O*NET task: compile lists describing product or service offerings. Employers most often ask for Accounting software, Analytical or scientific software, Application server software.

Most work more than 40. In O*NET's survey of people in the job, 84% of marketing managers usually work more than 40 hours a week, 16% work exactly 40 and 0% work fewer. 99% say their schedule is regular and 1% irregular. Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, Work Context.

O*NET scores Marketing Managers highest on the Enterprising and Conventional 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, ESTJ, ESFJ. Personality is a fit signal, not a gate. The free NueCareer quiz scores your own profile against all 1,731 careers in the bank.

Women make up 59.4% of marketing managers, against 47.1% of all employed people: more women than in the workforce as a whole. Only 11.2% are 55 or older (23.2% across all jobs): a young workforce. The median worker is 38.9 years old (all workers: 42.1). Source: BLS Current Population Survey, 2025 annual averages.