Advertising sales agents job market in Kentucky

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Industry employment fell while average weekly industry wages rose

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Advertising sales agents in Kentucky.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Advertising sales agents earn in Kentucky

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$51,580Kentucky
Middle 50% of published wages
$39,150 – $62,960
U.S. median annual wage
$64,820
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Kentucky

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Advertising sales agents, compared with the Kentucky median of $51,580.

Kentucky median$51,580
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN$60,180+16.7% vs. state
Middle 50%$49,780 – $77,970Published employment230
Lexington-Fayette, KY$51,480−0.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$36,510 – $59,970Published employment80
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN$48,270−6.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$36,520 – $69,150Published employment760
Bowling Green, KY$38,490−25.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$27,620 – $50,630Published employment30

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Kentucky median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Kentucky’s weighted industry mix.

-0.2%Industry employmentKentucky industry employmentU.S. -0.4%vs. -0.4% U.S.
+1.7%Establishments in weighted industriesKentucky establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +2.8%vs. +2.8% U.S.
+2.7%Avg. weekly industry wageKentucky avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +3.8% · not occupation payvs. +3.8% U.S. · not occupation pay
+0.2 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 37,334 represented establishments, 96.59% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for advertising sales agents in Kentucky

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 10, 2026.

This occupation is less concentrated in the state

Advertising sales agents account for 0.53 times their national share of employment in Kentucky, according to OEWS May 2025. This is the published location quotient. The state estimate is 620 jobs, 0.7% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 0.31 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Concentration describes employment share, not current hiring or future growth.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

Industry groups are pulling in opposite directions

A single industry employment figure combines an increase and a decrease in Kentucky in January to March 2026. Among the leading industry groups for this occupation, Professional and business services changed +0.7% year over year and Information changed -1.4%. The groups examined cover 98.6% of the occupation's national industry mix.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is below the U.S. median

A 20.4% difference separates Kentucky's median annual wage for advertising sales agents from the U.S. median in OEWS May 2025. At $51,580, the state median is below the national figure of $64,820. The estimates describe the middle of each wage distribution, without a living-cost adjustment.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Pay differs widely between metro areas

Published metro pay varies substantially across the 3 comparable areas associated with Kentucky in OEWS May 2025. Median wages range from $38,490 in Bowling Green, KY to $60,180 in Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN; the upper figure is 56.4% higher. Higher nominal pay alone does not account for living costs or job availability.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Metro estimates may include areas in neighboring states. The comparison covers published metro estimates, not every part of the state.

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Kentucky · 2026 Q1-0.2%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark-0.4%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Kentucky industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterKentuckyCoverage
2024 Q2-2.6%100%
2024 Q3-5.6%100%
2024 Q4-5.3%100%
2025 Q1-1.8%100%
2025 Q2-0.9%100%
2025 Q3-0.6%100%
2025 Q4+0.5%100%
2026 Q1-0.2%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Kentucky’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
-0.4%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Advertising sales agents Work

The occupation mix determines which Kentucky industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Kentucky Advertising sales agents context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Professional and business services53.4%+0.7%32,895$1,427
Information42.3%-1.4%4,439$1,757
Trade, transportation, and utilities1.2%-0.6%30,548$1,148
Leisure and hospitality0.7%+0.7%12,252$497
Other services0.7%-0.5%10,553$923
Manufacturing0.3%-3.4%7,646$1,566

Which industries are growing?

2 weighted industries are growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Kentucky employment change are listed.

  • Leisure and hospitality+0.7%
  • Professional and business services+0.7%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Kentucky context

Current Kentucky Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Kentucky. They are not Advertising sales agents demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Kentucky

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

102.8Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
+2.8%Versus the February 2020 baseline
-0.1%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 2026100.82
Jul 31, 2026100.32
Aug 7, 202699.22
Aug 14, 202698.73
Aug 21, 202698.90
Aug 28, 202699.06
Sep 4, 202699.83
Sep 11, 2026101.12
Sep 18, 2026101.43
Sep 25, 2026102.87
Oct 2, 2026102.25
Oct 9, 2026102.87
Oct 16, 2026102.68
Oct 23, 2026102.78

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Advertising sales agents in Kentucky FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Advertising sales agents in Kentucky?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Kentucky industries weighted to Advertising sales agents changed -0.2% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with -0.4% nationwide.

Are wages for Advertising sales agents rising in Kentucky?

QCEW does not publish pay for Advertising sales agents in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +2.7% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Kentucky industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Advertising sales agents openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Advertising sales agents
SOC code
41-3011
State
Kentucky
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
-0.2%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
-0.4%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+0.2 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
+1.7%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+2.7%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/advertising-sales-agents/kentucky#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Advertising sales agents in other states