PPC salaries: How much in-house and agency search marketers make in 2022

This data will help give you some bargaining power, whether you're negotiating salary for a new role or seeking a raise from your employer.

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Are you being paid what you’re worth? Often this is a tricky question. But a new PPC salary survey may provide you with the answer and help you figure out whether it’s time to get a raise or start looking for your next gig. 

Duane Brown, CEO & Head of Strategy at Take Some Risk, has just completed and released his annual look at PPC salaries. The 111 slides were put together based on data from 715 responses. Helpfully, it’s broken down by gross salary by country and region.

There’s a lot of data in the survey, but we’re going to focus on only a couple of areas: agency and in-house salaries for PPC specialists in the U.S. If you want to dive deeper into more details, check out the full report (PDF).

As Brown noted in the report, some survey data was skewed by respondents who only had 1-3 years of experience in PPC but had been working for around a decade or more.

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Agency PPC salaries. The median salary ranged from $47,500 (less than one year of experience) to $139,000 (15+ years of experience). This was based on 171 responses from people who work for an agency. Here’s the chart:

Agency Ppc Salary Us 2022
Salary Survey 2022: Agency Salary in U.S.

In-house PPC salaries. The median salary ranged from $50,000 (less than one year of experience) to $123,000 (15+ years of experience). This was based on 109 responses from people who work for a client or brand.

In House Ppc Salary Us 2022
Salary Survey 2022: In-House Salary in U.S.

Company size. The survey also looked at salaries by company size. If you’re looking to get a six-figure salary, your best chances will be working at a company with 200+ employees. 

Company Size Ppc Salary 2022
Salary Survey 2022: Company Size Salary in U.S.

Male vs. female. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2020 women earned 82 percent of what men earned. So is there a gender pay gap in search marketing? The PPC survey data indicates a clear yes for the most part, especially at certain experience levels. 

The most extreme gap is among entry-level female PPC specialists and those with 15+ years of experience. Both groups earn 20% less than males. But as careers progress, women are typically paid about 10% less than men at a similar level of experience. At 1-2 years, the median salary was equal for males and females. Females with 10-15 years of experience earned more than male counterparts, though not by much (4 percent)

Here’s that data, side by side, for comparison. 

Male Vs Female Ppc Salary Us 2022
Salary Survey 2022: Male vs. Female Salary in U.S.

Why we care. You need to know your value and you always need to value yourself and the work you do. Several variables are influence salary – where you live, your experience, your gender and, frankly, how good you are at negotiating. The job market is hot right now. Marketers are in high demand. Ultimately, though, it’s all about whether you can deliver results for your company or your clients. At least now you have some data to point to the next time you’re negotiating your next position or raise. 


About the author

Danny Goodwin
Staff
Danny Goodwin has been Managing Editor of Search Engine Land & Search Marketing Expo - SMX since 2022. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land’s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events.

Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.

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