Short answer
The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area had 374 advertising, PR and related agency offices with paid staff in 2023, employing 6,338 people, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns. Mecklenburg County has 242 of them. Advertising agencies account for 130 offices and PR agencies for 60. Before you hire one, agree in writing on scope, notice period, who owns the work and the ad accounts, how third-party costs are billed, and what each monthly report shows.
- Charlotte has 374 agency offices; Mecklenburg County has 242 of them and 5,665 of the 6,338 jobs.
- Average pay across all 374 is $52,282, but advertising agencies alone average $93,360 per employee.
- Fifteen media representative offices employ 1,726 people: they sell ads for media owners, not campaigns for clients.
- 283 of the metro's agency offices have fewer than five employees; six have 100 or more.
- A commissioned logo or campaign isn't automatically yours: get a signed copyright assignment.
On this page
This report is for Charlotte-area companies hiring a marketing agency, for people sizing the local market, and for vendors that sell to agencies. It gives the Census count by county and by type of agency, explains a quirk in the data, sets out the contract terms worth agreeing, and shows published rates and a prospecting example.
The count, county by county
County Business Patterns 2023 reports NAICS 5418 (advertising, public relations and related services) for the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, which crosses into South Carolina:
| County | Offices | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Mecklenburg, NC | 242 | 5,665 |
| York, SC | 28 | 99 |
| Iredell, NC | 27 | 333 |
| Union, NC | 25 | 52 |
| Cabarrus, NC | 21 | 77 |
| Gaston, NC | 12 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
| Lincoln, NC | 7 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
| Rowan, NC | 6 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
| Metro area | 374 | 6,338 |
The metro's other counties hold the remaining six offices. Where employment is "not reported", the Census Bureau published a figure but flagged it as high-noise: the noise it adds for confidentiality moved the value by 5% or more. The metro's agency offices paid $331.4 million in 2023, average 16.9 employees each, and are 0.96% of the 38,864 in the US.
By size, 283 offices have one to four employees, 37 have five to nine, 22 have 10 to 19, 21 have 20 to 49 and 5 have 50 to 99. The Census Bureau doesn't publish the larger cells here; the six offices with 100 or more employees are the total less the published cells.
These are establishments with paid employees, not companies, and owner-only shops aren't counted.
What the numbers hide
The average pay across the 374 offices is $52,282 per employee, well below the national figure for the same industries ($93,178, our calculation). The reason is the mix. NAICS 5418 includes businesses most clients would never hire for a campaign:
| Kind of business | NAICS code | Offices | Employees | Pay per employee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advertising agencies, including digital | 541810 | 130 | 1,368 | $93,360 |
| PR agencies | 541820 | 60 | 224 | $89,138 |
| Media buying agencies | 541830 | 7 | not reported (high-noise figure) | not reported |
| Media representatives (sell ads for media owners) | 541840 | 15 | 1,726 | $53,557 |
| Out-of-home display advertising | 541850 | 23 | 135 | $60,074 |
| Direct mail | 541860 | 10 | 95 | $47,442 |
| Flyer and sample distribution | 541870 | 67 | 117 | $65,538 |
| Other services, including in-store demonstrations and promotional products | 541890 | 62 | not reported (high-noise figure) | not reported |
Pay per employee is our calculation from CBP payroll. The 15 media representative offices average 115 employees each; they sell advertising time and space on behalf of media owners. Strip them and the other non-agency services out, and the market a client would shortlist from is about 190 offices: 130 advertising agencies and 60 PR agencies, plus the region's 545 marketing consultancies (NAICS 541613, 2,440 employees) and 126 graphic design studios (541430). Firms offering custom SEO register under 541511, custom programming.
The contract terms to agree before you start
With most agencies here under five people, your protection is the contract. These are the clauses worth settling before work starts, and what good looks like:
| Clause | What to agree | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Deliverables, rounds of revisions, and what counts as extra | Heads off "that wasn't included" arguments over fees |
| Term and notice | A fixed first term, then 30 to 60 days' notice either way | Lets you leave without paying out a long retainer |
| Ownership of work | A signed assignment of copyright in final work on payment | Commissioned work is a work made for hire only in nine narrow categories, with a signed agreement |
| Ad and analytics accounts | Accounts in your company's name; the agency gets user access | Google says an agency must set up a separate Ads account for you; keep Admin access |
| Third-party costs | Media, printing, stock and software billed at cost or at a stated markup | Some agencies buy services as principal and resell them at their own price |
| Reporting | Named metrics, a monthly date, and raw data on request | Google requires paid-search agencies to share customer IDs and disclose management fees |
| Confidentiality and data | Who can see your customer data, and deletion when you leave | An agency may hold your CRM exports and ad audiences |
| Non-solicitation | Neither side hires the other's staff for a set period | It limits your hiring too, so read it |
The ownership row comes from the Copyright Act as the Copyright Office explains it: a logo or campaign created by an outside firm usually isn't one of the nine "work made for hire" categories, and a transfer of copyright is valid only in a signed writing. The third-party cost row reflects Omnicom's 10-K, which says that in some businesses it acts as principal for third-party services and takes the pricing risk. If your business is regulated, as banks and insurers are, add your compliance review time to the schedule and say who signs off on copy.
What Charlotte agencies charge
Agencies earn through some mix of hourly or project fees, commissions on media bought, incentives, and reimbursed third-party costs, as Omnicom's 10-K describes. Few publish rates. The most complete public rate data is the General Services Administration's schedule contracts, which list each vendor's maximum hourly rate for federal orders. No vendor based in the Charlotte metro holds one with an advertising, PR or marketing consulting category, so here are the national medians by vendor size (our calculation from GSA's data, 30 October 2026):
| Role | Small businesses | Larger firms |
|---|---|---|
| Account manager or executive | $141 (77 vendors) | $156 (22 vendors) |
| Copywriter | $125 (61 vendors) | $120 (13 vendors) |
| PR or communications specialist | $121 (72 vendors) | $112 (21 vendors) |
| Creative director | $184 (93 vendors) | $210 (15 vendors) |
Larger firms aren't always dearer: their median copywriter and PR rates are lower. These are ceilings for government work, so use them as a reference point when you compare written estimates.
Selling to Charlotte agencies
Agencies buy software, data, production and freelance help, often for one client and billed to that client. At under 20 staff the founder decides; above that, an operations lead or department head evaluates.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and rates are fictional.
Proofloop (proofloop.example) sells review-and-approval software for marketing copy at $300 a month, aimed at agencies whose clients need a compliance sign-off. The metro has 80 agency offices with five to 49 employees (37 + 22 + 21). If a quarter serve banks, insurers or healthcare clients, 20 fit, worth $72,000 a year if all bought. The first email names a client the agency has publicly announced and the approval step that industry requires. Working out which of the 80 serve regulated clients is the research Bebop does for each account.
Where to check Charlotte agencies
- AMA Charlotte, the American Marketing Association's chapter, with events where agencies and client-side marketers meet.
- PRSA Charlotte, the Public Relations Society of America's chapter.
- The North Carolina Secretary of State holds business registrations; its search page blocked our automated check, so search it directly. Agencies in York County register with South Carolina instead.
Next step: compare Charlotte's agencies with the national groups in the largest advertising agencies and holding companies.
Sources
- County Business Patterns 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- North American Industry Classification System 2022: definitions and cross-references, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Circular 30: Works Made for Hire, US Copyright Office, revised August 2024
- Copyright Law of the United States, Chapter 2 (sections 201 and 204), US Copyright Office, accessed 30 October 2026
- Omnicom Group Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, Omnicom Group, via SEC EDGAR, 20 February 2026
- Advertiser guide: Working with third parties, Google Advertising Policies Help, accessed 30 October 2026
- Transparency requirements for third-party advertisers, Google Advertising Policies Help, accessed 30 October 2026
- CALC+ Labor Ceiling Rates (Marketing and Public Relations export), US General Services Administration, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many marketing agencies are in Charlotte?
374, by the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns for 2023: that's advertising, PR and related agency offices with paid staff in the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, employing 6,338 people. Mecklenburg County had 242. Of the 374, 130 were advertising agencies and 60 PR agencies; the rest include media sales offices and promotional services. The metro also had 545 marketing consultancies.
Why is average pay at Charlotte marketing agencies so low?
Because the Census category mixes agencies with other businesses. Across all 374 offices the average was $52,282 per employee in 2023, but advertising agencies alone averaged $93,360. Fifteen media representative offices with 1,726 employees, which sell ads for media owners, and promotional services such as in-store demonstrations pull the overall average down.
Who owns the work a marketing agency creates?
Not automatically you. Under the Copyright Act, work commissioned from an outside firm is a work made for hire only if it falls in one of nine categories, such as a contribution to a collective work, and both sides sign an agreement saying so. Logos and campaigns usually don't qualify, so ask for a signed assignment of copyright in the final work once you've paid.
How much notice should a marketing agency contract have?
There's no legal standard; it's negotiated. A workable structure is a fixed first term long enough to judge results, then 30 to 60 days' notice by either side. Make sure the contract lists what the agency hands back when you leave: ad and analytics accounts, website and domain access, source files and any customer data it holds.
What are the big 3 marketing agencies?
By reported revenue, the three largest agency groups are Omnicom, Publicis Groupe and WPP. Omnicom, based in New York, reported $17.27 billion of revenue for 2025 and completed its merger with Interpublic on 26 November 2025. Each group owns many agency brands that work and buy separately. For figures and sources, see our page on the largest advertising agencies and holding companies.