Let’s Talk about the Wage Gap in Public Relations

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It’s always good to talk numbers. Just on the heels of #equalpayday ABODO, who previously released information on the top cities for a PR job, analyzed U.S. Census data to uncover the cities and the fastest-growing industries with the largest and smallest gaps in pay between men and women. The report shows that, nationally, the wage gap currently sits at just over 21%.

The median income for women is $39,315, which is 78.9% of the national median income for men of $49,828. Career in public relations are well above this national average, the 2016 PR Week Survey found that the median PR salary rose to $92,125 last year.

Some additional key findings from ABODO, specific to the PR, Media and Entertainment industries include:

  • Women in PR, Media and Entertainment earn 85.8% of the median annual income of men in the industry.
  • PR, Media and Entertainment ranks among the industries with the smallest gaps in pay between men and women.
  • Cities with the most equal pay in PR, Media and Entertainment are: Miami, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, New York and Raleigh.
  • Cities with the least equal pay in PR, Media and Entertainment are: Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland, Phoenix and Dallas.

We asked ABDO to dive in a bit deeper into the epicenter’s for fashion and lifestyle PR – New York and Los Angeles, and Sr. Communications Manager Sam Radbil let us know that “In Los Angeles specifically, we found that the wage gap — women earning 89.5% of what men earn — ranked #2 among the best cities for equal pay and far better than the national average. Within PR and media jobs in Los Angeles, women earn 83.7% of what men earn in the same city and industry, which ranks #14 in the entire U.S.” In terms of New York, “the data shows that the wage gap — women earning 85.5% of what men earn — ranked #9 among the best cities for equal pay. This is also far better than the national average. Within PR and media workers in New York, women earn 89.7% of what men earn. This ranks #4 in the country.”

While it is useful to know that our industry has above-average, gender-based wage gaps of any kind are ridiculous. Armed with insight from this report we can all have a better sense of the actual silent disparity within our field, and powerful data to help women appropriately negotiate equal pay.

 

Crosby Noricks

Crosby Noricks

Known as the “fashion publicist’s most powerful accessory,” (San Diego Union-Tribune) and the “West Coast ‘It’ girl of fashion PR,” (YFS Magazine) Crosby Noricks put fashion public relations on the digital map when she launched PR Couture in 2006. She is the author of Ready to Launch: The PR Couture Guide to Breaking into Fashion PR, available on Amazon. A decade later, Crosby is a successful fashion marketing strategist who spends her time championing PR Couture's growth and mentoring fashion publicists through her signature online course PRISM. Learn more about opportunities to work directly with Crosby at her website crosbynoricks.com

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