Public Relations Managers in Washington
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$120,243
after federal, FICA and Washington tax
Tax takes
$39,197
24.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$110,760
Washington costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Washington — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$159,440
Kept after tax
$120,243
Worth in national money
$110,760
State rank
9
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for public relations managers is strong here. Washington's middle earner gets $159,440, putting the state 9 of 48 — about 8.53% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 493 occupations Washington reports, public relations managers comes in at 25 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $159,440 the take-home is $120,243. But Washington costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $110,760 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $168,850, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For public relations managers, Washington sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $159,440, ranking 9 of 48 and running about 8.53% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Public relations managers ranks 25 of 493 occupations by median in Washington, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Washington income tax is $120,243 for public relations managers, from $159,440. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $110,760. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $168,850 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Relations Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $104,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $159,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $255,280 |
| This salary | $159,440 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Washington | $120,243 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $120,243 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,979 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $159,440 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$18,452 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 109 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of public relations managers in Washington earn under $159,440 and half over. The published range runs $104,500 at the tenth percentile to $255,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Washington's $120,243, worked from $159,440. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 25 of 493.
- Two cautions on $110,760, the adjusted value of that $159,440 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Washington. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 25 of 493 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for public relations managers in Washington, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $104,500 to $255,280; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Washington take-home of $120,243, on $159,440 for work ranking 25 of 493 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 25 of 493 in the state.
- This $110,760 adjusted figure, worked from $159,440, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 25 of 493 in the state. The occupation ranks 25 of 493 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $168,850, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $104,500 at the bottom tenth to $255,280 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $110,760 of national purchasing power.
Is most of this wage taxed away?
No. $120,243 survives, because Washington levies no wage income tax. The federal share does not change with the state you work in.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Washington is $168,850. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($104,500) and the ninetieth ($255,280) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Washington's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $110,760 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
Why is the take-home ratio comparatively high in this state?
Washington levies no personal income tax on wages, so take-home of $120,243 reflects the federal layer and FICA alone. Federal income tax and FICA are unchanged; states without a wage income tax generally recover revenue through consumption and property bases instead.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.