What are the average 'ceilings' for caliber of work or the kind of work in NYC, LA, and Chicago?

To what degree am I limiting my career growth in the short and long-term by staying in a smaller market? or my career longevity (i know it's advertising and people don't really retire, still curious)?

Two different, but interrelated questions

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Some geographies are going to lend themselves to certain kinds of markets, if that's an interest or part of your career - LA is a lot of entertainment, movie advertising, Detroit is automotive, NJ/Philly is lots of pharma, etc. I don't know that I would put Chicago on the same level/tier as NYC, I think for advertising NYC stands alone at the top, but it's also going to be hyper competitive and is very expensive to live there. Depends on where you are at in your career and what you want to accomplish - if you are young, single, no kids and want more opportunities to work on award earning level campaigns, that NYC could make sense, then you could go to a smaller market with a great resume. Or you could choose to specialize with a certain industry focus and choose a city/area based on that. But I would say envision and define what's most important to you first, including work/life balance, geographic proximity to family, etc., them use that to navigate any decision to try to relocate (or not) for your career.

likesmarthelpful

Special US in LA is killing.

likeuplifting

Admittedly have almost exclusively worked in NYC but there are certainly more agencies, higher pay scales, generally larger clients, and bigger projects in major markets. Obviously lots of outliers but as a generalized observation that’s a thing. Ceilings are what you make of them and post-COVID more opportunities to work for those agencies ex-NYC.

There are lots of reasons to love moving to those markets and many counterpoints (for example, it’s hellishly expensive for just about everything here).

Career longevity probably isn’t tied to location intrinsically. Smaller shops might last longer, maybe the clients are different or more comfortable staying longer but advertising is pretty fickle that way so may not be a major factor.

Hope that non-answer helps somehow.

likesmarthelpful

thank you. very thoughtful follow-up. certainly seems like a blend of intangibles. point on ageism maybe being more aggressive in larger markets is a good one, too. a lot to chew on. appreciate it!

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