How much do communication majors make?

Good morning I did the same research when i was in college and the average communication major start off around 40,000 - 45,000

Hello Alexandra,

Salary ranges can vary based on a great number of things including geography, size of company and the level you will be entering at to name a few. One good way to gauge salary ranges is to do your research. Visit sites like the ones below and type in cities and types of job titles you would be looking at to get an idea of salary and pay.

• Payscale.com
• Occupational Outlook Handbook
• Salary.com

Hope that helps!

- Stefania

Hi Alexandra,

Communication major can prepare you for a wide range of careers and thus the salary really varies depending on which industry/company you end up at. The downside for me is that since communication major covered a lot of topics, I didn't have a specific focus that makes me stand out from other job applicants.

My honest suggestion is to have a double major or minor in business, computer science or something you are interested in, to compliment this communication degree. However, if you don't consider majoring/minoring something else, you still have a chance to have a prosperous career in non-communication related industry if you're willing to learn from the beginning. 

I chose market research as my first job after graduation because it provided me opportunities to be exposed to different industries. Later on, I started to really focus on a few industries which helped me to gain more knowledge in those areas, and led me to my next job in luxury product marketing. Fast forward to today, I work in Global Operations for an IT company and I definitely earned more than my previous jobs because of my job title, my experience, and also the industry.

Some helpful websites to check salary and career advice:

Glassdoor

Quora

Hope this helps!

Hi, communications major here and currently in a communications role.

The salary range is very wide - it depends on the sector and type of organization (e.g. private, agency, nonprofit). I recommend looking at roles at Edelman (or a similar agency), JPMorgan Chase (or another financial institution), Macy's (or non-finance organization), public sector, a small nonprofit and a large nonprofit on glassdoor (my favorite), payscale or paysa. That will give you a really good idea of what you can expect.

Note: Communications roles in the private sector, especially in finance, aren't as clear cut as in the other sectors. If you can't find a salary, look at the job level e.g. analyst, manager, etc. This should give you a good idea of what the salary is - many companies have standard pay scale based on level.