Digital Marketing Pricing Data: Agency rates comparison for all 50 states to help you optimize your marketing budget

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DesignRush has proprietary data from 6,808 digital marketing agencies in the United States. “The data for this report was collected from exclusive internal data on the average hourly rates of digital marketing services across all U.S. states,” said Mariana Delgado, marketing director, DesignRush (Delgado is the only person quoted in this article who was involved with the study).

Here is the MarketingSherpa chart based on the data. I think the chart is interesting to look at to see the trend line, but we don’t normally have 50 (nifty) fields in a chart, so this chart can be a little hard to read. For that reason, I included a table at the very bottom of this article so you can look up the exact average hourly rate for any state.

Chart #1: Average hourly digital marketing service rates, by state, in 2024

Here are some key takeaways from the data.

The national average hourly rate for digital marketing agencies is $82.66

And the median is $84.40. Since the mean (average) and median are quite close, outliers aren’t skewing the national average.

Most expensive states for digital marketing services

Delaware tops the list with an average hourly rate of $132.04, but it's not the only state where marketers face steep costs – in Nevada, the average hourly rate is $107.47 (second-most-expensive).

“In states like Delaware and Nevada, digital marketing costs are driven up by the high demand for specialized services in sectors such as finance, tourism, and entertainment. The concentration of these industries often leads to a premium on digital marketing services,” Delgado said.

Where to find bargains for digital marketing services

“We've found that the best rates for digital marketing services are found out West, especially in Wyoming and Montana. We've been using a marketing firm in Wyoming for the past year, and they've done great work for us at very affordable prices,” said Jordan Anthony, certified nutritionist, Ahara.

If you're looking to save, follow Anthony’s lead and explore options in Wyoming. According to the study, Wyoming was the second-most affordable state for digital marketing services ($43.88 per hour) and Montana is the third-most affordable ($45.57).

But there was one state that was cheaper – Alaska was the least expensive state at a rock-bottom $14.55 per hour.

“Lower costs by 5 to 10% without a drop in effectiveness”

But all pricing is relative, so you might even find some savings in states that aren’t the rock bottom cheapest.

“We tend to use individual freelancers for our digital marketing services in order to remain more flexible and find the best deals,” said Rafi Friedman, president, Coastal Luxury Outdoors. “There's definitely a trend of finding our most affordable freelancers in Middle America. States like Missouri, Tennessee, and Nebraska tend to have highly affordable freelancers who are taking advantage of the low cost of living in their state.”

While Friedman has found luck in those states, they were on the more expensive side, according to the DesignRush data, with all three having above-average hourly rates – Tennessee at $89.68, Missouri at $95.03, and Nebraska at $95.95. So while this chart gives you an idea of where to start, you can still reduce costs in above-average states as well.

For Friedman, those states have brought modest cost savings. “Using freelancers in low-cost states hasn't been revolutionary or anything, but it's helped to lower our marketing costs by about 5 to 10% without any drop off in effectiveness. We generally roll this money into more marketing,” he told me.

Some of the more populous states did better than you would think

“What stood out was the unexpected competitiveness of digital marketing rates in larger states like California and Florida,” Delgado said. “Texas and Florida – which are major markets with large agency pools – showed rates that were still reasonable relative to their size and market influence.”

California was below average at $80.08 an hour, while Florida was slightly above the average but below the median at $83.28.

"Florida's favorable business environment, supported by various policies and a thriving tech community, enables agencies to operate efficiently and manage costs effectively. This allows them to offer clients excellent value for their investment, providing high-quality digital-marketing services that drive tangible results," said Greg Davis, owner, Azola Creative.

Texas wasn’t too much more expensive at $86.06 per hour.

“While we found some lower-cost options in other states, we opted to go with a firm here in Texas, and they've been working well for us,” said Ryan Farley, CEO, LawnStarter.

How to domestically outsource digital marketing services

If you would like to try domestic outsourcing, where should you begin?

“Conduct a pilot project to test their capabilities and establish clear communication channels to ensure seamless collaboration across distances,” Delgado advised.

Also, remember, it doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing endeavor. Find the right mix that works best for your culture.

As Friedman told me, “We are a largely in-person team, and we rely a lot on our strong company culture and personal connections to communicate effectively. I would be lying if I said that this didn't create some friction with our remote freelancers. This is why we prefer to hire them on a per-project basis. We can work out our requirements in-house, send them to the freelancers, get the content back, and decide what to do with it.”

Limitations of the data

While marketing and advertising has traditionally been an industry that focuses on billable hours, the hourly rate you pay is only part of the story, of course. If you find an agency that does three times more and better work at $100 an hour versus an agency charging only $50 per hour, you will be more successful going with the agency with the higher hourly rate.

And hourly rates are only one pricing model. Some agencies charge a markup on media buying instead of (or in addition to) hourly rates. There are agencies with pay-for-performance, results-based models that only get paid when specific results are achieved. And some agencies charge on a fixed-fee basis.

In addition, brands don’t have to hire agencies to begin with. “There is a trend toward moving many of these functions in-house, particularly by smaller B2C firms that want to control their communications, particularly in social media.  By having an in-house agency, a company can better respond to specific issues that may develop on social channels and have the direct capability of solving problems and potential crises,” said Dr. Randi Priluck, associate dean and professor of marketing, Lubin School of Business at Pace University. “These in-house agencies are also able to make programmatic advertising buys very efficiently leaving even less demand for digital marketing agencies.”

But regardless of what pricing model you charge or pay and whether you’re paying top-dollar in Delaware or saving in Wyoming, understanding the landscape can help you negotiate better rates – and boost your ROI.

This article was distributed through the free MarketingSherpa email newsletter.

Related resources

Digital Marketing Agency Charts: Business Potential Scores for US states to help agency owners decide where to locate

Digital Marketing Case Studies: 3 examples of how teams found the right ‘hook’

Effective Digital Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses: Discounts on TikTok, neutrality on Quora, seasonality for Google PPC

Here is the full data table for all 50 states.

Chart #2: Full data table