Guide · 8 minutes
Advertising sales salary: what radio, TV, digital and ad technology sellers earn
Written by Yuma Heymans, Founder & CEO of SalesJobs.Now.
Yuma runs SalesJobs.Now out of San Francisco. Recruiting is familiar ground: Yuma also co-founded HeroHunt.ai, a platform that uses AI to find and reach candidates.
A US advertising sales posting on this board typically pays $128,250 a year, but the number hides two different jobs. Local radio, TV and billboard companies post a median of $52,500 for their account executives, who sell airtime and billboard space to businesses in one market. Digital publishers, social networks and ad technology companies post $145,000 for theirs, who manage the budgets of brands and agencies. This guide breaks media sales pay down by kind of company, seat, employer and city, and says what to ask before taking a seat.
On 2 November 2026 this board had 1,218 open sales roles at companies that sell advertising (radio and TV groups, outdoor, publishers, social networks and programmatic ad technology), 798 of them open to US candidates, and 432 of those stated their pay. Every figure below is the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale (base or on-target earnings, as the posting states it), one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the postings in each group. The media sales jobs page lists every open seat with today's figures.
Contents
- The short answer
- Local media against digital media
- Pay by kind of seat
- The media companies that post the most
- New York and everywhere else
- Why local postings look low, and what to ask
- Getting into advertising sales
- How these figures were counted
- Quick answers
1. The short answer
| Measure, US advertising sales roles, 2 Nov 2026 | Posted pay per year |
|---|---|
| Median | $128,250 |
| Middle half of postings | $70,000 to $174,500 |
| Bottom tenth below | $45,000 |
| Top tenth above | $237,100 |
| Local radio, TV and outdoor account executives (median) | $52,500 |
| Digital and ad technology account executives (median) | $145,000 |
2. Local media against digital media
| Kind of media company | US open roles | Share stating pay | Median, every seat | Median, account executives | Middle half, account executives |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Local radio, TV, news and outdoor | 422 | 33% | $64,896 | $52,500 | $40,000 to $77,250 |
| Digital publishers, social networks and ad technology | 376 | 78% | $145,000 | $145,000 | $109,100 to $186,360 |
- Local media is eight employers with stations, billboards or a news app in markets across the country: iHeartMedia (120 US roles), Nexstar Media Group (101), Townsquare Media (76), TEGNA (46), Clear Channel Outdoor (39), Scripps (17), Outfront Media (13) and NewsBreak (10). Most seats are account executives in one market, selling spots, sponsorships, billboard space and digital campaigns to the businesses around them; Townsquare titles 69 of its 76 US seats multimedia account executive.
- Digital media is 39 employers: publishers such as Hearst and Condé Nast, social networks such as Reddit and Pinterest, and ad technology companies such as The Trade Desk, StackAdapt, PubMatic and Nexxen. Their sellers work with brands and the agencies that buy for them, often from New York.
Almost all of the remote US seats (44 of 48) are digital.
3. Pay by kind of seat
| Kind of seat | US postings with pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales leadership | 49 | $189,650 | $145,000 to $237,500 |
| Revenue operations | 27 | $174,500 | $98,750 to $201,500 |
| Partner and channel sales | 23 | $153,000 | $133,750 to $213,750 |
| Account management | 71 | $114,000 | $79,950 to $148,764 |
| Account executive | 173 | $100,000 | $52,500 to $152,500 |
| Sales development | 13 | $54,506 | $52,500 to $67,500 |
The account executive median sits between the two worlds of section 2: most local postings are account executive seats, and so are many digital ones. The account executive salary guide compares the seat across every market.
4. The media companies that post the most
Among employers with at least five US postings that state pay, the medians on 2 November 2026 were:
| Employer | What it sells | US postings with pay | Median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yahoo | Digital advertising and ad buying | 8 | $291,000 |
| Teads | Advertising across screens | 10 | $255,000 |
| Social advertising | 20 | $171,000 | |
| PubMatic | Programmatic advertising | 10 | $165,000 |
| Social advertising | 12 | $149,000 | |
| The Trade Desk | Programmatic advertising | 23 | $143,000 |
| Condé Nast | Magazine and digital advertising | 9 | $137,000 |
| StackAdapt | Programmatic advertising | 13 | $114,000 |
| TEGNA | Local TV and streaming | 20 | $92,500 |
| Hearst | Media advertising and information | 14 | $80,500 |
| Nexstar Media Group | Local TV and digital | 22 | $59,500 |
| Townsquare Media | Local radio and digital | 28 | $47,500 |
| iHeartMedia | Radio, podcasts and audio | 37 | $45,000 |
| Clear Channel Outdoor | Billboards and airport displays | 12 | $31,500 |
The companies with the most open advertising sales roles in every country were iHeartMedia (120), Nexstar Media Group (102), Townsquare Media (78), Ströer (53, outdoor and digital advertising in Germany), Hearst (51), TEGNA (47), Taboola (41) and Clear Channel Outdoor (39).
5. New York and everywhere else
| Where the seat is | US postings with pay | Median | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 171 | $145,000 | $88,750 to $186,575 |
| Everywhere else in the US | 216 | $107,750 | $56,030 to $152,625 |
New York is where brands, agencies and the national sales teams of media companies meet, so it holds the most digital seats: 205 of the 798 US roles name it. The New York sales jobs page lists every seat there.
6. Why local postings look low, and what to ask
Local postings state low ranges: iHeartMedia's most common was $40,000 to $50,000 a year, and Townsquare Media's $40,000 to $70,000. The seats are sold on revenue goals and on finding new advertisers, so what a local seller earns depends on what the commission plan adds to that salary. Two-thirds of local postings state no pay at all, against about one in five digital postings. Before accepting:
- Ask what account executives in the market earned last year in total, commission included, not just the posted range.
- Ask whether you inherit a list of advertisers or start from an open territory, and how long until the commission matters.
- Ask what commission is paid on: new advertisers, renewals, total billing, or digital products at a different rate from airtime.
- For digital seats, ask how the quota is set against the agency budgets you will manage, and whether the variable pay is on spend booked or spend delivered.
The guide What is OTE explains base, variable pay and quota.
7. Getting into advertising sales
Local media is one of the most open doors in sales: radio, TV and outdoor companies hire account executives from other sales jobs, retail and hospitality, and some post entry-level seats (Clear Channel Outdoor's entry-level account executives and Nexstar's entry-level multimedia account executives among them). Digital and agency-facing seats usually ask for years of selling media to brands or agencies, so local media or a publisher's sales team is a natural first step before a social network or an ad technology company. The guide How to get into sales covers the first seats in every market.
8. How these figures were counted
- The roles: every open sales role on this board on 2 November 2026 at a company whose own description says it sells advertising (radio, TV, outdoor, publishing, social and programmatic ad technology), read from each company's own careers system and checked every hour: 1,218 roles, 798 of them open to US candidates and 432 of those stating pay. Marketplaces whose sellers sign up merchants are left out.
- Local media are the employers whose description names local stations, radio or billboards; the rest are digital.
- The pay: the midpoint of each posting's own range on a full year's scale, one per posting after repeats of the same title at the same company are merged, and the median across the US postings in each group. "Up to" figures are left out.
These figures describe one day; the media sales jobs page always shows the current roles and pay.
9. Quick answers
How much do advertising sales reps make? On this board, US advertising sales postings state a median of $128,250 a year (2 November 2026): $52,500 for local radio, TV and billboard account executives and $145,000 for digital and ad technology account executives.
Is media sales a good career? It is one of the easiest markets to enter at the local level, and the digital seats it leads to post a median of $145,000 for account executives; the step between them is a record of selling media.
What does a radio or TV account executive make? Local radio and TV postings state low salary ranges (iHeartMedia's most common was $40,000 to $50,000 a year), and the seats carry revenue goals, so total pay depends on the commission plan.
Which advertising companies pay salespeople the most? Among employers with at least five priced US postings, Yahoo, Teads, Reddit and PubMatic posted the highest medians on 2 November 2026.
Where can I see advertising sales jobs? The media sales jobs page lists every open seat with the pay it posts.