New York is the global epicenter of marketing and advertising. A TIME Magazine column in May 1962 sets the scene of Madison Avenue as the proverbial Madison Square Garden of advertising, which was dramatized many years later on the popular TV show Mad Men.
In 2013, New York remains the marketing capital with both the highest percentage of employed marketers in the nation, and the most competitive average salaries nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employment of marketers is one of the highest concentrations of those working in the field anywhere in the country.
BLS data also estimates that the annual mean salary of a marketing manager working in the New York area is $167,590 a year, the nation’s highest. Advertising and promotions managers in New York earn an estimated $144,210, also ranked at the top.
To be sure, there are many strong job markets nationally for marketing and advertising pros. Beyond New York, state and national statistics show the best opportunities are in the following cities:
Chicago
The Windy City employs an estimated 9,200 marketing managers, the third highest total in the nation. Chicago’s Loop is something of a Midwestern Madison Avenue. Advertising and promotions manager positions in Chicago are also the third most concentrated in the country.
Los Angeles
Behind New York, Los Angeles employs the most marketing managers nationwide and is expected to benefit from healthy growth in the next decade. The California Employment Development Department estimates that the city will gain nearly 2,300 new marketing managers by 2020 - that 16% growth outpaces the industry’s national growth estimate of 14%, per the BLS.
Atlanta
Atlanta is one of the fastest growing U.S. cities for marketing professionals. Atlanta’s advertising industry employs 1.99 people per 1,000 jobs in the city, and pays a competitive $121,070 annual mean salary, reports the BLS.
San Francisco
The BLS estimates that three of the five most active industry-specific fields for marketers are related to the computing technology sector: management, scientific, and technical consulting services; computer systems design and related services; and software publishers. In other words, San Francisco’s marketers benefit greatly from their proximity to Silicon Valley. The San Francisco-Redwood City-San Mateo Bay Area also offers the nation's second highest annual mean salary for marketing managers at $169,520.