# Public Relations Managers

US SOC code 11-2032. Markdown version of https://futurehistory.earth/timeline/11-2032

Also called: PR manager, Communications manager, Director of communications, Director of public relations, VP of communications.

## In brief

In May 2025, [BLS](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip) counted **74,850** US public relations managers, with median pay of **$146,910** a year. Of the BLS counts since 2021, the highest was **76,060**, in May 2024, close to the May 2025 count. The earliest figure here is [an estimate](https://www.prmuseum.org/pr-timeline) of **500** from 1927, not measured the same way as today's count. The last full technology era for public relations managers: Media monitoring platforms, 2015 to 2023.

## What the sources say

### Official outlook

BLS projects employment to grow 5.7% from 2025 to 2035. Source: [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=11-2032&ioType=o).

### AI exposure studies

- **57.5%** of this job's tasks are exposed to large language models. Not a forecast of job losses. [Eloundou and others, 2023](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv)

Data as of BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025-35. BLS publishes these counts as yearly survey snapshots and cautions against reading them as a precise trend.

## Public Relations Managers employment and pay by year

- On record since: 1900
- Latest US employment: 74,850 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [5]
- Latest US median pay: $146,910 (May 2025). Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 [8]
- Outlook: +5.7% by 2035. Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-35 [20]

### All 9 years of cited US data

| Year | US employment | Annual pay (median unless marked) | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1927 | 500 (estimate) | n/a | Est., PR Museum [1] |
| 1947 | 5,000 (estimate) | n/a | Est., PRSA Milestones [2] |
| 1980 | 41,000 (estimate) | $28,000 (estimate) | Est., ProPublica (employment) [3]; Est., BLS National Survey of Professional (pay) [6] |
| 2000 | 68,000 | $54,540 | BLS OEWS 2000 [4] |
| 2021 | 59,850 | $125,780 | BLS OEWS May 2021 [5] |
| 2022 | 64,280 | $129,430 | BLS OEWS May 2022 [5] |
| 2023 | 72,760 | $134,760 | BLS OEWS May 2023 [5] |
| 2024 | 76,060 | $138,520 | BLS OEWS May 2024 [5] |
| 2025 | 74,850 | $146,910 | BLS OEWS May 2025 [5] |

## Sources (52)

### Employment series

1. [PR Museum — PR Timeline: Arthur Page joins AT&T as VP (1927), establishing PR as a management function](https://www.prmuseum.org/pr-timeline), Museum of Public Relations
2. [PRSA Milestones — PRSA founded 1947, membership history (4,500 members by 1960)](https://www.prsa.org/about/prsa-milestones), Public Relations Society of America
3. [ProPublica — "PR Industry Fills Vacuum Left by Shrinking Newsrooms" (2011): McChesney/Nichols BLS data, 0.45 PR workers per 100,000 in 1980](https://www.propublica.org/article/pr-industry-fills-vacuum-left-by-shrinking-newsrooms), ProPublica
4. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
5. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2024](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)

### Wage series

6. [BLS National Survey of Professional, Administrative, Technical, and Clerical Workers (PATC) — historical pay series for managerial professionals, ca. 1980](https://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm), Bureau of Labor Statistics
7. [BLS OES 2000 national estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oes00nat.zip), Bureau of Labor Statistics
8. BLS OEWS, national cross-industry estimates (flat file), Bureau of Labor Statistics. Editions: [2021](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm21nat.zip), [2022](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm22nat.zip), [2023](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm23nat.zip), [2025](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm25nat.zip)
9. [BLS OEWS May 2024, national cross-industry estimates (flat file)](https://www.bls.gov/oes/special-requests/oesm24nat.zip), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

### Tool eras

10. [Lee Establishes the Field of Public Relations — EBSCO Research Starters (Declaration of Principles, 1906)](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/lee-establishes-field-public-relations), EBSCO Research Starters
11. [Museum of Public Relations — PR Timeline (1900: Publicity Bureau founded; 1906: Lee Declaration of Principles)](https://www.prmuseum.org/pr-timeline), Museum of Public Relations
12. [PRSA Milestones — PRSA founded 1947; membership 4,500 (1960), 9,000 (1981)](https://www.prsa.org/about/prsa-milestones), Public Relations Society of America
13. [The Tylenol Crisis of 1982: A Masterclass in Crisis Management — PR News (everything-pr.com)](https://everything-pr.com/the-tylenol-crisis-of-1982-a-masterclass-in-crisis-management-and-litigation-pr), PR News
14. [Agility PR Solutions — "Exploring the evolution of public relations in the digital age" (online newsrooms, email distribution era)](https://www.agilitypr.com/pr-news/pr-news-trends/exploring-the-evolution-of-public-relations-in-the-digital-age/), Agility PR Solutions
15. [CisionOne — AI-Powered Platform Expansion: 400,000+ news sources (Sept 2025)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cisionone-expands-ai-powered-platform-with-enhanced-instant-insights-and-social-intelligence-302557904.html), Cision / PR Newswire
16. [Cision — 2025 State of the Media Report: 3,000+ journalists across 19 markets; PR-journalist partnership landscape](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cisions-2025-state-of-the-media-report-reveals-a-tipping-point-for-trust-technology-and-pr-journalist-partnerships-302448410.html), Cision / PR Newswire
17. [Meltwater — Mira AI Teammate launch, May 2025 (270,000+ global news sources)](https://www.meltwater.com/en/about/press-releases/meltwater-unveils-mira-latest-ai-innovations-in-2025), Meltwater
18. [PRSA — In Brief: Majority of PR Pros Using AI, Mar 2026](https://www.prsa.org/article/in-brief--majority-of-pr-pros-using-ai-survey-finds--MARCH26), Public Relations Society of America
19. [Muck Rack — Media List Agent launch (Feb 2026)](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/muck-rack-launches-media-list-160000790.html), Muck Rack / Yahoo Finance

### Forecasts and exposure studies

20. [BLS Employment Projections 2025-35, National Employment Matrix: 11-2032 Public relations managers (2025: 80.8 thousand; 2035: 85.4 thousand; +5.7%)](https://data.bls.gov/projections/nationalMatrix?queryParams=11-2032&ioType=o), Bureau of Labor Statistics
21. [Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), "GPTs are GPTs", occupation-level exposure data occ\_level.csv (O\*NET-SOC 11-2032.00, human-rated β 0.575)](https://github.com/openai/GPTs-are-GPTs/blob/main/data/occ_level.csv), OpenAI

### Historical notes

22. [Lee Establishes the Field of Public Relations — EBSCO Research Starters](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/lee-establishes-field-public-relations), EBSCO Research Starters
23. [The Birth of Modern Public Relations: From the Industrial Revolution to Pioneers like Bernays — Journalism University](https://journalism.university/persuasive-communication/birth-modern-public-relations-bernays/), Journalism University
24. [Museum of Public Relations — PR Timeline: Arthur Page joins AT&T as VP (1927)](https://www.prmuseum.org/pr-timeline), Museum of Public Relations
25. [PRSA Milestones — founding 1947, code 1950, membership growth to 9,000 by 1981](https://www.prsa.org/about/prsa-milestones), Public Relations Society of America
26. [The Tylenol Crisis of 1982: A Masterclass in Crisis Management — PR News](https://everything-pr.com/the-tylenol-crisis-of-1982-a-masterclass-in-crisis-management-and-litigation-pr), PR News
27. [ProPublica — "PR Industry Fills Vacuum Left by Shrinking Newsrooms" (2011): McChesney/Nichols BLS analysis](https://www.propublica.org/article/pr-industry-fills-vacuum-left-by-shrinking-newsrooms), ProPublica

### Predecessors & successors

28. [History of Public Relations — journalism-to-PR as the dominant career pathway in the early profession](https://publicmediasolution.com/blog/history-of-public-relations/), Public Media Solution
29. [EBSCO Research Starters — Early Public Relations: press agent to PR professional transition](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/early-public-relations), EBSCO Research Starters
30. [PRSA — 10 Emerging Career Paths in an AI-Influenced Landscape (2025): CCO as the senior trajectory](https://prsay.prsa.org/2025/10/22/10-emerging-career-paths-in-an-ai-influenced-landscape/), Public Relations Society of America

### Present-day analysis

- [O\*NET 30.3 — Public Relations Managers (11-2032.00)](https://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/11-2032.00), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Eloundou et al. 2024 — GPTs are GPTs (Science)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130), accessed 2026-05-23
- [BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook — Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers (6% growth 2024-2034)](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/advertising-promotions-and-marketing-managers.htm), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Muck Rack — State of AI in PR 2026 (webinar recap)](https://muckrack.com/blog/state-of-ai-in-pr-2026-webinar-recap), accessed 2026-05-23
- [PRSA — State of Public Relations: AI Becomes Priority, Sept 2025](https://www.prsa.org/article/state-of-public-relations-ai-media-relations-SEPT25), accessed 2026-05-23
- [PRSA — In Brief: Majority of PR Pros Using AI, Mar 2026](https://www.prsa.org/article/in-brief--majority-of-pr-pros-using-ai-survey-finds--MARCH26), accessed 2026-05-23
- [PRSA — 10 Emerging Career Paths in an AI-Influenced Landscape, Oct 2025](https://prsay.prsa.org/2025/10/22/10-emerging-career-paths-in-an-ai-influenced-landscape/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Cision — State of the Media 2026 Report (annual survey of 1,800+ journalists on media relations preferences)](https://www.cision.com/resources/guides-and-reports/sotm/), accessed 2026-06-22
- [McKinsey — Reinventing marketing workflows with agentic AI (2025)](https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/reinventing-marketing-workflows-with-agentic-ai), accessed 2026-05-23
- [CisionOne — AI-Powered Platform Expansion: 400,000+ news sources, AI sentiment scoring, social intelligence (Sept 2025)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cisionone-expands-ai-powered-platform-with-enhanced-instant-insights-and-social-intelligence-302557904.html), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Meltwater — Mira AI Teammate launch, May 2025 (270,000+ global news sources, competitor analysis)](https://www.meltwater.com/en/about/press-releases/meltwater-unveils-mira-latest-ai-innovations-in-2025), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Brand24 — AI PR Tools: teams detect crises 61% faster with automated alerts (2025)](https://obapr.com/resources/15-ai-tools-for-pr-professionals-2026-complete-guide-to-pr-technology/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Prowly — AI PR Software: auto-generates monthly PR performance reports, saving 8-12 hours per reporting cycle](https://prowly.com/ai-pr-software/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Prowly — AI Press Release Generator (generates drafts from brief descriptions, recommends journalist contacts)](https://prowly.com/ai-press-release-generator/), accessed 2026-05-23
- [Jasper — Press Release AI Agent (reduces first-draft time from ~60 min to ~5 min)](https://www.jasper.ai/agents/press-release), accessed 2026-05-23

How to read these figures: https://futurehistory.earth/methodology. Every figure links to its own source; gaps stay gaps.