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Role hub · Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners

Event Planner: what the job is, what it pays, and how to get hired.

The work, the skills that matter, the tools in demand and the pay range, from U.S. government data, plus every TryHired page for the role.

Maid DizdarevicCareer coach · 8x LinkedIn Top Voice
Updated Nov 2, 2026 · Data: BLS OEWS May 2025 · O*NET 31.0
Pay ladder · select a percentile
Median percentile pay

Half of event planners earn more than this and half earn less.

Annual
$61,160
Hourly
$29.41
Source
BLS May 2025
Quick answer

Event Planners coordinate activities of staff, convention personnel, or clients to make arrangements for group meetings, events, or conventions. The median pay is $61,160 a year ($29.41 an hour) (BLS, May 2025). The most commonly reported education requirement is a bachelor's degree (41% of workers surveyed by O*NET).

Median pay
$61,160
BLS May 2025
Employed in the U.S.
142,860
BLS May 2025
Preparation
Job Zone 4 of 5
considerable preparation
Most common education
Bachelor's Degree
41% of workers

Data Government data groups this job as Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners (O*NET-SOC 13-1121.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

Key facts

Event Planners at a glance

  • Workers in the BLS occupation “Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners” in the United States earned a median annual wage of $61,160 in May 2025, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

  • In its 2025–35 employment projections, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for workers in the BLS occupation “Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners” in the United States.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS projects employment of workers in the BLS occupation “Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners” in the United States to grow 5.8% from 2025 to 2035, with about 16,800 openings a year on average, including replacement openings.

    Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35

  • BLS estimated that 142,860 people were employed in the BLS occupation “Meeting, Convention, and Event Planners” in the United States in May 2025, not counting the self-employed.

    Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025

Explore the role

Every page for Event Planners

SalaryEvent Planner salary

Pay by percentile, state and metro, with a negotiation script.

Open →How to becomeEvent Planner how to become

Education, training and the skills to build first.

Open →ResumeEvent Planner resume

Keywords, bullet formulas and the skills to prove.

Open →Interview questionsEvent Planner interview questions

Questions with what they test, plus practice mode.

Open →Career changeEvent Planner career change

Where these skills transfer, with skill match and pay change.

Open →Free toolCheck your resume

Parsed text, evidence per bullet, fixes first.

Open →
The work

What event planners do day to day

Data Core tasks rated most important by workers in the role (O*NET).

  1. Consult with customers to determine objectives and requirements for events, such as meetings, conferences, and conventions.
  2. Review event bills for accuracy and approve payment.
  3. Coordinate services for events, such as accommodation and transportation for participants, facilities, catering, signage, displays, special needs requirements, printing and event security.
  4. Arrange the availability of audio-visual equipment, transportation, displays, and other event needs.
  5. Confer with staff at a chosen event site to coordinate details.
  6. Inspect event facilities to ensure that they conform to customer requirements.
  7. Maintain records of event aspects, including financial details.
  8. Monitor event activities to ensure compliance with applicable regulations and laws, satisfaction of participants, and resolution of any problems that arise.
Job requirements

What the job requires

Data BLS figures for meeting, convention, and event planners (SOC 13-1121), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.

Workday sitting
79.1%
mean share of the day required to sit
Most common strength level
Sedentary
59.6% of workers
Can pause work
91.5%
of workers could take short, unscheduled breaks
Self-paced workload
60.8%
of workers set their own workload

On TryHired lists: Desk jobs.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.

Where this career works

Industries that employ it

Data Share of all event planner jobs in each industry, 2025 (BLS Employment Matrix).

  1. Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional, and similar organizations13.9% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $67,980
  2. Administrative and support services10.8% of all jobs in this occupation · +4.4% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $69,580
  3. Educational services; state, local, and private9.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +2.7% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $64,220
  4. Professional, scientific, and technical services7.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +11.5% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $75,310
  5. Food services and drinking places6.6% of all jobs in this occupation · +6.3% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $57,610
  6. Performing arts, spectator sports, and related industries6.5% of all jobs in this occupation · +10.0% projected change here 2025–35 · mean wage $59,010

Sources: BLS 2025–35 National Employment Matrix (share of the occupation's jobs, projected change) and BLS OEWS May 2025 industry estimates (mean wage). Different industry estimates are not a pay forecast for any person.

Skills that matter

Ranked by importance to the job

Data O*NET importance ratings. The first three are core.

Reading ComprehensioncoreActive ListeningcoreSpeakingcoreSocial PerceptivenessCoordinationService OrientationCritical ThinkingTime ManagementComplex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas: Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Communications and Media, Administrative, Administration and Management, Computers and Electronics.

Tools and technology

Software event planners use

Data Examples reported for the role; employer demand flags from O*NET.

  • Adobe Creative Cloud softwareGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • Adobe InDesignDesktop publishing softwareHot technology
  • Adobe PhotoshopGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • ESRI ArcGIS softwareGeographic information systemHot technology
  • FacebookWeb page creation and editing softwareHot technology
  • Marketo Marketing AutomationSales and marketing softwareHot technology
  • Trimble SketchUp ProGraphics or photo imaging softwareHot technology
  • Delphi DiscoveryFinancial analysis software
  • Delphi TechnologyFinancial analysis software
  • Geographic information system GIS softwareGeographic information system
  • Google DriveCloud-based data access and sharing software
  • LinkedInWeb page creation and editing software

Also called: Catering Director, Conference Planner, Conference Planning Manager, Conference Services Director, Conference Services Manager, Convention Services Director.

Method

How this page is built

Tasks, skills, tools, education and related roles come from O*NET 31.0. Pay and employment come from the BLS OEWS May 2025 national estimates. The skill-match score is our calculation: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.

What this page can't tell you
  • How a specific employer defines the job.
  • Pay for self-employed workers (OEWS covers employees).
  • Your own chances: data describes the occupation, not you.
Sources
  1. O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
  2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).

How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.