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

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.

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:

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.

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. 

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. 

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

Danny Goodwin is Senior Editor of Search Engine Land. In addition to writing daily about SEO, PPC, and more for Search Engine Land, Goodwin also manages Search Engine Land’s roster of subject-matter experts. He also helps program our conference series, SMX – Search Marketing Expo. Prior to joining Search Engine Land, Goodwin was Executive Editor at Search Engine Journal, where he led editorial initiatives for the brand. He also was an editor at Search Engine Watch. 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.