Media Planner Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 1,480 US job postings by 463 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for media planners: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 1,480 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for media planners in US job postings is $98,000 a year (492 postings from 175 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $80,000 to $127,000.
- The skills that most set media planner postings apart are google ads, meta, google analytics.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Media Planner job postings in the US, October 2026
- $98,000
- Median advertised pay (492 postings)
- $80,000–$127,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 1,480
- US job postings from 463 employers
- 3 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a media planner make?
The median advertised pay is $98,000 a year, from 492 US job postings by 175 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $162,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 492 US media planner job postings: median $98,000 a year, middle half $80,000 to $127,000.
- Median: $98,000
- 25th percentile: $80,000
- 75th percentile: $127,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $40K–$50K | 2.3% |
| $50K–$60K | 2.8% |
| $60K–$70K | 9.3% |
| $70K–$80K | 10.2% |
| $80K–$90K | 12.5% |
| $90K–$100K | 13.6% |
| $100K–$110K | 9.9% |
| $110K–$120K | 7.1% |
| $120K–$130K | 8.8% |
| $130K–$140K | 3.1% |
| $140K–$150K | 4.2% |
| $150K–$160K | 4.2% |
| $160K–$170K | 2.8% |
| $170K–$180K | 3.4% |
| $180K–$190K | 0.3% |
| $190K–$200K | 0.9% |
| $200K–$210K | 1.1% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.9% |
| $220K–$230K | 0.3% |
| $260K–$270K | 0.9% |
| $270K–$280K | 0.3% |
| $280K–$290K | 0.3% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $100,000 | $80K–$128K | 337 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $98,000 | $80K–$127K | 492 |
What is the starting salary for a media planner?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Media planner pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | $100,000 | $76,000–$143,000 | 147 | 22.1% |
Skills employers ask for in media planner job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 46% |
| Analytical skills | 32% |
| Excel | 27% |
| Google ads | 18% |
| Attention to detail | 18% |
| Organizational skills | 13% |
| Google analytics | 12% |
| Problem-solving | 11% |
| Meta | 10% |
| Powerpoint | 10% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set media planners apart
- Google ads325.2× as often as in all postings · 18%
- Meta272.4× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Google analytics105.1× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Media planning711.5× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Analytical skills4.4× as often as in all postings · 32%
- Meta ads manager587.2× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Roas345.3× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Dv360799.5× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Performance marketing182.5× as often as in all postings · 6%
- Tiktok84.7× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Meta ads366.9× as often as in all postings · 5%
- Paid search338.5× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a media planner job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a media planner do?
Employers post these jobs as Paid Media Manager, Media Buyer, Paid Media Specialist, Media Director, Advertising Manager and other titles. The largest specializations are Paid Media Manager (28%), Media Manager (16%), Ad Operations Specialist (8%), Programmatic Account Manager (8%), Media Analyst (3%), out of home media planner (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Search Marketing Strategists (13-1161.01). Its most important tasks:
- Manage tracking and reporting of search-related activities and provide analyses to marketing executives.
- Optimize digital assets, such as text, graphics, or multimedia assets, for search engine optimization (SEO) or for display and usability on internet-connected devices.
- Collect and analyze Web metrics, such as visits, time on site, page views per visit, transaction volume and revenue, traffic mix, click-through rates, conversion rates, cost per acquisition, or cost per click.
- Participate in the development or implementation of online marketing strategy.
- Optimize Web site exposure by analyzing search engine patterns to direct online placement of keywords or other content.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a media planner?
Among 548 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 548 US media planner job postings: median 3 years, and 13% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 13% |
| 2 yrs | 17% |
| 3-4 yrs | 34% |
| 5-7 yrs | 27% |
| 8-9 yrs | 5% |
| 10+ yrs | 3% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Other names for a media planner: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Paid Media Manager | 46 (9.9%) |
| Media Buyer | 34 (7.3%) |
| Media Planner | 25 (5.4%) |
| Paid Media Specialist | 22 (4.8%) |
| Media Director | 21 (4.5%) |
| Advertising Manager | 17 (3.7%) |
| Senior Paid Media Manager | 15 (3.2%) |
| Digital Media Buyer | 13 (2.8%) |
| Media Supervisor | 13 (2.8%) |
| Senior Media Planner | 13 (2.8%) |
| Paid Media Strategist | 12 (2.6%) |
| Senior Media Buyer | 11 (2.4%) |
| Associate Media Director | 11 (2.4%) |
| Media Manager | 10 (2.2%) |
| Manager, Planning | 9 (1.9%) |
| Director, Media | 9 (1.9%) |
| Associate Director, Programmatic | 8 (1.7%) |
| Senior Media Manager | 7 (1.5%) |
| Media Analyst | 7 (1.5%) |
| Senior Associate, Planning | 6 (1.3%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Media Planner compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media Planner | $98K | 3 years | 1,480 | – |
| Digital Marketing Specialist | $98K | 3 years | 2,888 | 15 |
| E-commerce Manager | – | 3 years | 738 | 14 |
| Marketing Manager | $130K | 5 years | 10,752 | 14 |
| Social Media Manager | $77K | 3 years | 1,434 | 13 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Digital Marketing Specialist | 15 | $98K |
| E-commerce Manager | 14 | – |
| Marketing Manager | 14 | $130K |
| Social Media Manager | 13 | $77K |
| Market Research Analyst | 14 | – |
| Librarian | 10 | – |
Applying for media planner jobs?
- Media planner resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find media planner jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a media planner make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 20 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.