Event Planner Salary (May 2025 BLS Data)

How much does an event planner make?

The median annual pay for meeting, convention, and event planners in the US is $61,160. The middle half earn between $46,970 and $78,790, and the top 10% earn more than $101,700. About 142,860 people work in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Occupation 13-1121.

The pay range for meeting, convention and event planners

Read the range, not only the median. Half of everyone in the group earns between the 25th and 75th percentile.

US, all industries. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

Which BLS figure covers event planner roles?

Event planners are counted in meeting, convention and event planners (13-1121), a close match for the title. The group covers planners at hotels, venues, associations, agencies and corporate teams, so it mixes people who book rooms and catering with people who run a company’s flagship conference. The figures cover employees only; BLS’s wage survey leaves out the self-employed, and many wedding and private event planners run their own business.

Is event marketing paid the same as event planning?

Not always. An event planner’s job is logistics: venues, vendors, budgets, schedules and the day itself. An event marketing or field marketing manager also owns why the event exists: which accounts or customers it should reach, how it’s promoted, and what pipeline or sales it produces.

That second set of duties is marketing work, and pay often follows the marketing title rather than the planner one. If the role reports into marketing and is measured on leads, pipeline or attendance from target accounts, compare it with the marketing specialist salary data for individual contributors and the marketing manager salary data for people who own a program and a budget. Event coordinators who support a marketing team sit closer to the marketing coordinator salary range.

What affects event planner pay?

Scope moves pay more than anything else: the size of the events, the budget you control and whether you lead a team. After that:

• Employer type: corporate in-house teams, large associations and big agencies tend to pay differently from hotels and venues. Compare the specific offer, not the label.
• Marketing ownership: if you own promotion, registration targets and post-event follow-up, you’re doing marketing, and you can price yourself that way.
• Travel: roles with heavy travel or on-site weeks sometimes pay more, and the hours are worth counting when you compare offers.
• City: conference and trade show work clusters in a few metros, and pay follows.

Event planner salary by state

The median for meeting, convention and event planners varies a lot by state, mostly with the cost of living and where the employers are. The table runs from highest to lowest.

Highest first. States BLS doesn't publish a median for are left out. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025.

How to use this in a salary negotiation

Use the range to anchor, not to argue. Find where the role sits: an entry-level coordinator belongs near the 25th percentile, a senior lead running a team and budget near the 75th or above. Then check the posting, since a growing number of states require employers to publish a pay range. If the posting’s range and the BLS range disagree, the posting wins: it’s the budget for this job. The BLS figure is still useful when there’s no range at all, or when you’re asked for your number first. Our salary negotiation guide covers what to say and when, and our guide to answering salary expectations covers the question itself. Plenty of people dread this part. A range you can point to turns it into a calm, practical exchange, so write your number down now and say it aloud once or twice in your own words.

FAQ

Do event marketing managers earn more than event planners?

Often, because the role is measured on marketing results, not only logistics. BLS has no separate event marketing figure, so compare the role with marketing specialists or marketing managers depending on its scope.

Do freelance event planners earn more?

There’s no BLS comparison, because the wage survey doesn’t cover the self-employed. Freelance income depends on rates, the number of events a year and how steady the bookings are.

How do event planners move into marketing?

Take on the promotion and follow-up side of your events: the invitation emails, the registration page, the report on who came and what happened next. That’s the evidence a marketing hiring manager wants to see on your resume.

What’s the difference between an event planner and an event coordinator?

An event coordinator usually handles the logistics of events someone else has planned: vendors, schedules, registration and the day itself. An event planner owns more of the decisions, from budget and venue to the program. Both are counted in the same BLS group, with coordinators usually in the lower half of the range. The event coordinator interview questions and cover letter cover the coordinator side.

How much does a corporate event planner make?

BLS doesn’t separate corporate planners from planners at venues, hotels or agencies, so the range above covers all of them. In-house corporate planners who run conferences, sales meetings and customer events often sit in the upper half, especially in large companies and expensive cities. If the role is measured on pipeline or attendance goals, compare it with an event marketing manager too.