WestwardAI Consulting

Local market data · Marketing agencies · New York

AI for marketing agencies in New York

The New York metro area had 1,568 marketing agencies in 2022, the most of all 297 US metros and 10% of all in the country. They employed 44,888 people at an average of $125,531 a year. 73% have fewer than 10 staff, so the same few people answer the phone, book, follow up and do the paperwork. Those are the jobs AI tools take on today.

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Marketing agencies in New York vs the US

New York metroUnited States
Businesses1,56814,962
People employed44,888195,282
Average staff per business28.613.1
Average yearly pay per employee$125,531$105,123
Share with fewer than 10 staff73%80%

Pay here is 19% higher than the national average for marketing agencies, so every hour of staff time costs more to spend on admin. The average marketing agency here has 28.6 people on payroll, 119% higher than the US figure of 13.1.

How big marketing agencies in New York are

Fewer than 5 staff982 (63%) US 67%
5 to 9163 (10%) US 12%
10 to 19122 (8%) US 9%
20 to 49131 (8%) US 7%
50 or more168 (11%) US 5%

Businesses with paid employees, by number of employees, March 2022.

Marketing agencies by county in the New York area

New York County has the most, with 681 of the metro's 1,568 (43%). Among the 10 big metros on this page, New York ranks 1st for average pay and 8th for the share of small firms.

CountyBusinessesEmployeesAvg pay
New York County68136,453$132,575
Kings County2381,458$114,621
Suffolk County95350$69,511
Nassau County81327$50,722
Bergen County71726$101,990
Westchester County61525$70,257
Queens County54462$80,431
Morris County531,358$105,265
Monmouth County42311$142,177
Rockland County33113$122,673
Essex County3296$70,833
Hudson County21206$93,233

9 smaller counties not shown. Census withholds pay where few firms would make it identifiable.

Where AI helps a marketing agency first

A marketing agency gets the most from AI on the running of the agency, not just the client deliverables: responding to new leads, writing proposals, onboarding clients, building monthly reports and chasing approvals. Those are the tasks that eat a founder’s week. Start with the one that happens most often.

What your team's admin hours cost in New York

Change any number. The starting values are the New York averages above; the hours and the share are yours to set.

Those hours cost you$696,000 a year

The share you would hand off$208,800 a year

Hours your team gets back3,480 a year

See what we would build for this

Guides for marketing agencies, one job each

Marketing agencies in other big metros

MetroBusinessesAvg payRank of 387
Los Angeles1,355$120,8012nd
Chicago575$103,6514th
Miami583$91,2803rd
Dallas452$89,1755th
Houston257$86,75210th
Atlanta325$102,3719th
Washington243$111,17815th
Philadelphia349$91,8476th
Boston205$117,61816th

Where these numbers come from

From the U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2022 (released 2024), industry code NAICS 541810 (Advertising agencies), for the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ metro area (22 counties). It counts businesses with paid employees in March 2022, so solo owners with no payroll are not in it. Average pay is total yearly payroll divided by employees. The calculator uses 50 working weeks and 2,080 hours a year. Page checked 2026-11-12.

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Related businesses in New York

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