Marketing Specialist salary in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, SC

Pay in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton against South Carolina and the US

Marketing specialists at the 90th percentile earn $126,570, 3.5 times the 10th percentile; the US ratio is 3.6. The middle half of marketing specialists in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton earns $51,800–$113,450. The mean ($80,850) is 13% over the median, so a group of high earners pulls the average up; price a typical hire from the median. From the 25th to the 75th percentile, the local range is $61,650 wide, wider than in South Carolina as a whole ($48,610) and the US ($49,960), so what a marketing specialist earns in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton depends more on the employer.

What to budget for a marketing specialist here

Pay climbs faster above the median than below it here: the 75th percentile is $42,120 over the median, the 25th only $19,530 under it. An offer at the 75th percentile adds about $54,348 a year in employer cost. These percentiles describe what people in the job earn locally, not experience levels, so place your offer by the tasks and seniority you need.

For scale, the US median of $78,760 falls between the median and the 75th percentile in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, and the South Carolina statewide median of $69,440 falls between the 25th percentile and the median.

What a hire really costs in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton

Pay is only part of it. Benefits and payroll taxes other than paid leave are 22.5% of total compensation in US private industry², which adds about $20,709 to the $71,330 median and brings it to $92,039 a year. Recruiting, equipment and office space come on top. Benefit levels vary by employer, so treat this as an estimate.

We place executive assistants, customer support and e-commerce staff today; for marketing specialists we answer within one business day whether we can help. Enter the monthly pay you have in mind to compare it with a local hire. The fee field shows our standard fee³; Deel's contractor plan is the default payroll tool⁴.

Other roles in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton

Of the 16 roles we track in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, this one ranks #3 by median pay, between accountants ($77,610) and recruiters ($69,740). Project Coordinator is the highest at $79,990.

Measured against the US median, marketing specialists rank #8 of the 16 roles we track in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton (-9.4%), between medical administrative assistants (-9.4%) and HR assistants (-11.2%). The typical role here is at -10.3%, so this job follows the area's general pay level. Marketing specialists hold 5.1% of the jobs in the 15 of these roles with a job count in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, 4.8% across South Carolina and 5.7% nationally. That is close to the national mix.

Other areas in South Carolina

Across the 11 areas of South Carolina with data for this job, the median runs from $53,460 in the Southern South Carolina nonmetro area to $74,510 in Spartanburg, a gap of $21,050 a year. Of the 5 areas in South Carolina with more marketing specialists than Hilton Head Island-Bluffton, 3 pay less: Charleston-North Charleston, SC ($65,650), Columbia, SC ($68,600) and Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC ($57,840).

Hilton Head Island-Bluffton against other US metro areas

By number of jobs, Hilton Head Island-Bluffton is #188 of 514 US areas for this job. It is a mid-sized market, and its pay is in the top quarter of US areas. Outside South Carolina, Cleveland and Midland pay just above Hilton Head Island-Bluffton and Port St. Lucie and Longview-Kelso just below. All four are within $210 a year of the median in Hilton Head Island-Bluffton. Of the three markets with about as many marketing specialists, none pays as much.

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How these pages are built: methodology and data sources. Last updated 2026-11-12.