Comparisons

• Salaries for marketing specialists in Kentucky vary somewhat by location, according to Salary.com. As of May 2011, marketing specialists in Paducah had a median annual salary of $44,671, in Bowling Green $45,675, in Hopkinsville $47,139, in Owensboro $47,191, in Lexington $47,714, in Frankfort $48,393, and in Louisville $49,543.
  
  

Salary Range

• The middle 50 percent of marketing specialists on the earnings scale in this group of cities had salaries in a range from $38,622 to $58,077 per year. The lowest salaries were in Paducah, where the bottom 10 percent had annual pay rates of $33,114 and less. The highest salaries were in Louisville, where the top 10 percent made $65,847 per year and more.
  
  

National Figures

• Nationwide, the median salary of marketing specialists was $52,260 per year. The middle 50 percent had salaries of $45,183 to $61,263 per year. The bottom 10 percent earned $38,740 annually and less, while the top 10 percent made $69,459 and more. This ranked Paducah in the bottom 25 percent nationwide, and the other Kentucky cities in the middle 50 percent.
  
  

Nearby Metro Areas

• Some cities in other states have metropolitan areas that spread into Kentucky. The median annual salary for marketing specialists in Evansville, Indiana, was $47,191, and in Huntington, West Virginia, $47,243, similar to the median salaries in Hopkinsville and Owensboro. The median salary for marketing specialists in Cincinnati, Ohio, was higher than that of the largest Kentucky cities, at $51,738 per year.
  
  

Advancement

• With experience, a marketing specialist can advance to the position of marketing manager. Looking at Owensboro as an average that's representative of Kentucky salaries, the median salary for marketing managers in Owensboro was $77,986 as of May 2011. The bottom 10 percent of marketing managers there made $56,528 per year and less, the middle 50 percent had salaries between $66,754 and $91,799, and the top 10 percent earned $104,375 and higher.