By Katie Merritt, Senior Research and Data Manager, Robert HalfUnderstanding compensation trends is more critical than ever, whether you’re a hiring manager seeking to recruit skilled talent or a candidate navigating today’s competitive labor market.An analysis of salary data compiled for the 2025 Salary Guide From Robert Half and gathered from other relevant sources, including third-party job posting data from Textkernel, shows an upward trend in salary growth for several top professions in the United States—from finance and accounting to technology.Salaries have increased by 3.0% year-over-year, on average, across the seven professions in focus in Robert Half’s analysis. While salary levels for many roles remained steady or saw only modest increases, the overall increase across professions suggests many employers are paying close attention to economic conditions, like inflation, and making sure they are offering competitive compensation to valued talent.This post highlights job categories and specific roles that outpaced annual salary gain benchmarks. The increases in compensation observed in these professions and jobs can help inform employers’ staffing plans and budgets and give job seekers insight into what types of skills and roles are in the highest demand.
Overview: Year-Over-Year Salary Growth by Profession
Finance and accounting: 3.6%
Administrative and customer support: 3.5%
Marketing and creative 3.4%
Human resources: 3.2%
Legal: 2.1%
Technology: 1.6%
Total average change, year-over-year: 3.0%
The year-over-year salary trends we surfaced offer insight into dynamics at play in the broader economic and business landscape.Employers can use this information to help shape compensation planning and other talent management strategies so they can compete effectively for talent in 2025.This data can also help guide professionals formulating job search and career plans and preparing to enter salary negotiations with potential employers.Let’s dive deeper into our findings—and consider what may be driving salary trends for specific roles in some sectors.
Finance and accounting: employers paying a premium for analysis and risk management skills
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +3.6%
Robust growth in compensation in the fields of finance and accounting underscores the escalating demand for skilled talent to help organizations navigate macroeconomic challenges, manage cash flow, and meet regulatory compliance and tax requirements.Two categories within the profession that saw even higher year-over-year salary growth were:Budget analysis (+3.8%)Economic uncertainty has companies of all sizes prioritizing financial efficiency and forecasting accuracy. They are engaging specialized talent, like financial planning and analysis (FP&A) consultants, to help them align their budgets with strategic priorities. And to ensure budgets are well prepared, evaluated and monitored, they are hiring and increasing compensation for skilled budget analysis professionals such as:Budget analyst (0-3 years’ experience)Senior budget analystManager of budget analysisInternal audit (+3.5%)Increasing regulatory scrutiny and the need for effective corporate governance and risk management strategies are making the internal audit function more relevant and vital to overall—and ongoing— business success.Today’s internal auditors often act as strategic advisers, helping organizations identify operational efficiencies and mitigate risks. Many businesses are eager to expand their internal audit teams, and are stepping up compensation for roles at all levels, including:Senior internal auditorInternal auditor (1-3 years’ experience)Entry-level internal auditor
Administrative and customer support: employers expecting more versatility, and ramping up pay in response
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +3.5%
The administrative and customer support sector is experiencing steady salary growth as organizations continue to adapt to hybrid work environments and evolving operational needs.Many positions, especially in the administrative field, now require professionals to handle a broad range of responsibilities, engage in cross-departmental collaboration and contribute to strategic initiatives. That’s why employers are increasing compensation for multifaceted roles like:Senior administrative assistant (+4.0%)Senior administrative assistants are indispensable strategic partners in many organizations, serving as the connective tissue between leadership and various departments. They are often asked to take on responsibilities that extend far beyond traditional administrative support, and their ability to adapt to shifting business priorities makes them essential players in driving operational efficiency.Learn more about the senior administrative assistant role.
Marketing and creative: employers paying more for specialists to support customer-centric strategies
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +3.4%
Brand identity and user experience (UX) are critical drivers of business success in the digital economy. As such, organizations need marketing and creative professionals to create compelling narratives, memorable visuals and stellar customer experiences that will help them stand out.Year-over-year salary trends in the marketing and creative fields show that professionals in roles like these are seeing healthy gains in compensation:Product manager (+4.1%)These professionals possess a strong mix of communication, collaboration and organizational skills that makes them highly effective at guiding strategies for new products and product lines from the development phase to go-to-market execution. Their ability to align marketing initiatives with broader business goals—and oversee processes and initiatives from product design to campaign launches—helps drive product success and brand growth for companies.Learn more about the product manager – marketing and creative role.UX designer (+3.2%)With customer-centric design becoming a competitive differentiator, brands and businesses are investing more to attract and retain UX specialists, including UX designers. These professionals help to create intuitive, seamless and visually engaging experiences that meet user needs, drive loyalty and engagement, and—critically—align with business objectives, such as improving conversion rates or increasing customer retention.Learn more about the UX designer role.
HR: with enterprise system projects on the rise, project management skills are in demand
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +3.2%
As we note in our latest Salary Guide, there is pent-up demand for human resources talent—and competition is high for experienced professionals with specialized skills. Our separate analysis of year-over-year salary trends shows that one HR role in particular is seeing a big jump in salary this year:Human resources project manager (+6%) The rise of enterprise system implementations, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) transformations, is elevating the demand for project managers who specialize in human resources (HR) operations. Other projects these professionals may help handle include implementing new payroll or employee recordkeeping software and researching incentives to improve staff productivity or retention.Learn more about the human resources project manager role.
Legal: steady growth in compensation for high-stakes roles
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +2.1%
The legal profession is seeing modest but meaningful growth in salaries year over year, according to Robert Half’s research. The ongoing need for expertise in complex regulatory and corporate matters is one factor fueling this trend.Demand is robust for experienced legal professionals who can provide strategic counsel to clients and help them mitigate risks. Roles seeing year-over-year salary growth above the average for the legal profession overall include:Lease manager (+4.0%)Many companies are struggling with how best to expand, contract or maximize their physical footprints in an era of widespread remote and hybrid work. This means lease managers, who typically work in large estate practices or commercial property management firms, are busier than ever. They are helping businesses reevaluate their office space needs, renegotiate terms with landlords, optimize portfolios, and more.Learn more about the lease manager role.Law firm lawyer/attorney (+2.6% and up)
To meet increasing client demands and sustain growth, law firms are under pressure to attract and retain skilled associates and partners. This has led to incremental increases in compensation, especially for legal professionals with specialized expertise in high-demand areas like litigation, mergers and acquisitions, and intellectual property.Our analysis of year-over-year salary trends shows compensation growth for attorneys is solid across experience levels, including:First-year lawyer/attorney: 2.9%Lawyer/attorney – 2-3 years’ experience: 2.8%Lawyer/attorney – 4-9 years’ experience: 2.6%
Technology: after years of intense competition for skilled talent, salaries are stabilizing
Year-over-year salary trend for profession: +1.6%
Following an extended period of escalating salaries due to intense competition for skilled talent, compensation in the technology sector is beginning to stabilize. This shift reflects a maturing market, with more businesses taking a strategic approach to compensation strategies so they can better balance their investments in priorities like digital transformation with financial sustainability.Many firms are also emphasizing retention strategies and skills development rather than solely competing on salary. That said, our salary trends analysis finds employers are still prepared to step up salaries in areas such as:AI, machine learning and data science (+3.4%)Given how quickly generative AI, predictive analytics applications and advanced automation technologies are becoming part of everyday business in industries from healthcare to manufacturing, it’s not surprising to see employers increasing salaries for AI, machine learning (ML) and data science jobs. And because professionals with these skills are challenging to find in the labor market, many companies are prepared to offer generous compensation when hiring for roles such as:AI architectMachine learning engineerData scientistAI/ML analystConsulting and enterprise systems (+1.8%)Upgrades or implementations of ERP and other business systems are complex and resource-intensive. To see these projects succeed, and get the most value from their investments, companies need to ensure they have the right talent in place.Robert Half’s analysis of year-over-year salary trends in consulting and enterprise systems indicates employers are boosting compensation to retain in-demand professionals while offering competitive compensation to new hires for jobs such as:ERP integration managerERP technical developerERP business analyst Senior consultantRobert Half can help you staff your ERP project team. Learn more about our solutions and resources here.
Download the 2025 Salary Guide From Robert Half
Access the GuideWhen it comes to salary trends, understanding the story behind the numbers is essential to navigating today’s job market—and Robert Half’s latest Salary Guide can help.Employers who stay attuned to the latest salary trends and adjust compensation levels accordingly will likely find they have an easier time attracting and retaining top talent. And candidates who are in-the-know about the value of their skills and which roles are in high demand can enhance their chances of job search success.
