U.S. ad industry's employment by subsegment

In 2021, advertising agencies across the United States employed 176.87 thousand people, up 6.6 percent from 165.94 thousand a decade earlier. Meanwhile, the number of ad agencies in the U.S. rose by 10 percent. Within the same period, the number of employees at (PR) firms in the U.S. increased by five percent, amounting to 54.73 thousand in 2021.

Number of employees in the advertising and related services industry in the United States from 2009 to 2021, by segment

Characteristic	Advertising agencies	Public relations agencies	Direct mail advertising	Outdoor advertising	Media buying agencies	Media representatives	Advertising material distribution services	Other services related to advertising
2021	176,870	54,730	35,421	21,571	19,208	16,907	10,599	97,095
2020	181,742	57,083	37,023	24,734	20,454	18,167	10,621	115,193
2019	183,858	56,293	39,268	25,259	21,268	15,945	10,181	117,486
2018	187,908	55,873	41,941	26,293	21,730	17,296	11,596	121,500
2017	191,742	54,685	45,814	27,620	22,318	12,944	12,792	117,376
2016	194,792	58,489	45,505	26,441	21,620	14,816	12,430	98,070
2015	188,781	55,102	45,426	25,703	21,645	13,066	11,819	100,608
2014	190,551	53,752	45,717	27,193	22,002	13,597	11,538	103,644
2013	185,514	51,754	46,101	28,551	20,844	13,872	11,952	105,432
2012	172,528	50,802	51,257	26,226	21,011	12,764	11,386	101,603
2011	165,939	52,091	52,793	25,995	19,370	12,893	15,221	84,974
2010	149,095	49,888	55,091	24,534	15,864	12,654	15,652	88,921
2009	157,118	50,018	60,841	28,980	15,490	13,188	17,579	89,468

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Release date

April 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

2009 to 2021

Special properties

all establishments

Supplementary notes

The source adds the following information: "Paid employees consist of full- and part-time employees, including salaried officers and executives of corporations and salaried members of professional service organizations or associations (...) Included are employees on paid sick leave, paid holidays, and paid vacations."

Before the release of 2012 data, outdoor advertising was named display advertising.
Data preceding 2021 comes from earlier releases.

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