Insights you need to ensure your team — and you — are getting fair market value.
The world is unsettled. And so is the field of communications.
This was the overarching takeaway from Ragan’s 2025 Salary & Workplace Culture Report. With input from more than 400 communicators across a range of industries and job titles, the report explores why communicators feel underpaid despite the majority receiving raises; how workers are settling into the stabilizing options of remote, hybrid, or in-person arrangements; and who is most likely to look for new roles in the next year.
The mean salary range from the survey was $100-149K, with one-third of respondents earning within this band, on par with previous years’ findings. Twenty-one percent of respondents earned more, while 46% earned less. While this pay may sound positive, with most earning well above the median U.S. household income of $39,000, further data reveals brewing troubles.
Most communicators – 76% — received a raise in the past year, but for more than half of recipients, it was near or below the rate of inflation, meaning most communicators lost purchasing power in the last year. That’s likely why most communicators (57%) said their raises were too low or way too low. Overall, 52% of survey respondents considered themselves underpaid. While in normal economic circumstances, there may be concerns about retention given this widespread dissatisfaction, only 9% of survey respondents said they planned to seek new employment in the next 12 months.
But even if workers aren’t primed to leave, unhappiness can lead to other problems in the workplace, including decreased productivity. That’s why the survey also explored what makes workers feel most satisfied at work. The top two factors that keep workers motivated in the workplace are the intertwined concepts of flexible work environment (59%) and work-life balance (47%). Workers are seeking new arrangements that allow them to mesh together the personal and professional aspects of their lives in new ways.
That likely explains why, five years after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid work has become the most dominant style for communications workers. More than half (54%) now work at least some of the week in an office and some of the week at home. About a quarter work fully from home and about the same number work fully in an office. In other words, more than three-quarters of all communications workers spend at least some portion of their time working from home.
We’re long past the point where this is novel. And yet organizations and the people who support them are still finding ways to make these work arrangements practical and productive for everyone in terms of hours, in-office responsibilities, compensation and more.
The full report provides much more depth on the findings of the report, including information on employee retention, salary breakdowns by title, gender and more. It’s all the information you need to ensure your team is being compensated at fair market value – and that you are too.
There are three ways to get your hands on the 62-page report:
- The report is available as part of a membership in Ragan’s Communications Leadership Council, along with other bespoke research.
- The report is available for purchase here.
Want to try before committing? Download the executive summary for free.
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