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Marketing Manager
growing
E · Enterprising
A · Artistic

Marketing Manager

Business & Finance

Lead campaigns, brand strategy, and the team that grows an audience.

Why it matters here: DMV associations, agencies, and government contractors staff marketing teams.

Labor Market — DMV Region

Sourced from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS releases (DMV metro and nationwide) plus MD, VA, and D.C. workforce agencies.

Current openings
737
Employed in DMV
Avg hourly wage
$90.18/hr
DMV average
Avg annual salary
$187,570
Median
Employers hiring
182
Organizations in DMV
Entry wage
$136,850
25th percentile
Experienced wage
$243,950
75th percentile
Projected growth
+8%
5-year outlook
Region
DMV
MD · D.C. · Northern VA
DMV Region vs. nationwide
DMV pay is 19% above the national median
National median
$157,620
All 50 states
National entry wage
$115,000
25th percentile
National experienced wage
$205,000
75th percentile

Local cost of living is why DMV pay often differs from the national median.

Data sources & citations
  • DMV & state figures: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — OEWS wage & employment estimates and Employment Projections, with OEWS area pay relatives for the Washington–Arlington–Alexandria metro, Maryland, D.C., and Northern Virginia · View source
  • Occupation profiles & skills: O*NET OnLine (U.S. Department of Labor) · onetonline.org

All salary figures are published estimates for groups of workers, not offers or guarantees for any individual role.

Local demand over time
Nearby cities hiring
Washington, D.C.
192
Arlington
81
Silver Spring
66
Rockville
59
Bethesda
52
Gaithersburg
44

Education & Career Pathways

Multiple ways to get here — pick the one that fits your life.

4-year degree
⏱ 4 years
💵 $12k–$32k/yr (in-state)
First job: Entry-level marketing manager role
Salary progression
Year 1$125,350
Year 3$148,580
Year 5$171,810
Year 10$223,450
Montgomery College transfer
⏱ 2 years + transfer
💵 $5k–$8k/yr
First job: Assistant / technician role while finishing coursework
Salary progression
Year 1$106,548
Year 3$139,179
Year 5$171,810
Year 10$223,450
Certification fast track
⏱ 6–18 months
💵 $500–$6,000
First job: Entry role with an industry credential
Salary progression
Year 1$112,815
Year 3$142,313
Year 5$171,810
Year 10$223,450

Career Progression

How you can grow — with expected salary at each step.

  1. Entry-level Marketing Manager
    Learning the role, supervised work, building core skills.
    $125,350
  2. Marketing Manager (experienced)
    Independent work, mentoring newer team members.
    $171,810
  3. Senior / Lead Marketing Manager
    Owning projects, specialization, higher responsibility.
    $223,450
  4. Manager or specialist track
    Supervising a team or moving into a high-demand specialty.
    $268,140
Salary progression

Skills Required

What you'll actually do — and how you'll be judged.

Technical skills
Leadership
Communication
Data Analysis
Creativity
Soft skills
Communication
Teamwork
Problem Solving
What the workday feels like
Based on the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

Agency or corporate office, weekday hours, campaign deadlines

Where you work

A marketing floor with campaign boards and analytics dashboards, plus client or executive presentations.

Hours and schedule

Weekday hours, extending around launches, events and end-of-quarter pushes.

Pace and pressure

Deadline-shaped and multi-project; you're always juggling several campaigns at different stages.

Who you work with

You lead specialists, writers and designers and answer to sales and leadership on results.

Physical demands

Desk and meeting work, with occasional event days on your feet.

What people wear

Business casual, sharper for client-facing work.

Remote reality

Hybrid, with events and shoots on site.

Workplace culture: what's normal here

  • Results are measured publicly — campaign numbers are shared with the whole team.
  • Creative disagreement is normal, and decisions are settled by test results where possible.
  • Brand consistency is guarded closely; anyone can flag off-brand work.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook — Work Environment, with regional detail for the DMV.

Official data behind this career

Federal statistics for DMV Region, translated into plain language.

How people get in (BLS)

Data unavailable for this category.

Source: BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook

Who lives and works here (Census)

Washington–Arlington–Alexandria, DC–VA–MD–WV metro area

Median household income$117,432
Median earnings per worker$58,000
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher53%
Adults in the labor force71%
Unemployment4.6%
Median age37.5

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — ACS 2019–2023 5-year estimates (tables DP03, DP02, DP05)

Where workers commute (LEHD)
  • The DMV functions as one labor market: workers routinely cross state lines to get to work.
  • The largest employment destinations are D.C., Fairfax County and Montgomery County.

Top places these workers go to work

Washington, D.C.
Fairfax County, VA
Montgomery County, MD
Arlington County, VA

Source: Census LEHD OnTheMap / LODES, latest published year

This career and the regional economy (BEA)
Industry groupFinance, insurance and real estate
Share of the DMV economyAbout 20% of metro GDP
Total DMV metro economyAbout $722 billion a year
Income per person — DMV Region$87,000

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — BEA regional GDP and personal income, most recent published year

Recent private-sector pay trend (ADP — supplemental)
Pay growth, people who stayed in their job4.4%
Pay growth, people who changed jobs6.6%

Private-sector payroll data from ADP. It is a supplemental near-real-time indicator and does not replace BLS government employment statistics.

Source: ADP National Employment Report — Most recent monthly ADP National Employment Report

Where these numbers come from
  1. 1U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OOH, OEWS, Employment Projections, CES) — Primary source for occupation wages, outlook, projected openings, education and training.
  2. 2U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey — Primary source for income, educational attainment, labor force and demographic context by place.
  3. 3Census LEHD (LODES / OnTheMap) — Primary source for where workers live versus where they work, and local workforce flows.
  4. 4U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Primary source for regional GDP, industry contribution, compensation and personal income.
  5. 5ADP National Employment Report — Supplemental near-real-time private-sector employment and pay indicator. Not a replacement for BLS.

Figures describe groups of workers, not any one person. Where an official figure is not published for a category, this page says “Data unavailable for this category.” rather than estimating.

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