Account Manager Salary

Created by Henry Steele

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 13 minutes
Reading Time: 13 minutes

The following article discusses the career path of Account Manager. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Account Managers.

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Account Manager Job Duties

Account managers can work in a variety of industries and fields. They are typically responsible for the oversight of a large portfolio of clients or customers who have purchased products or services in the past. Their job is to ensure that clients are satisfied with their product or service, and to possibly develop new business from them in the future.

See also 5 Awesome Entry Level MBA Jobs

The responsibilities of account managers include developing strong working relationships with customers, developing relationships with business executives, and tracking sales through the writing of sales reports. Account managers also often answer questions from clients, and find new opportunities for business among the existing client base.

The account manager is the face of the company for the manager’s group of clients. In most situations, he will be the major company representative who communicates with these customers. Thus, it is important for the account manager to deliver as positive a customer experience as possible. This is done by listening to every client so as to gain a full understanding of their needs.

Also, the account manager must usually meet or exceed a certain number of sales in a given quarter or year. The account manager also is often required to make several reports regarding the sales progress of the department. Some of the possible reports may include quarterly sales reports, annual sales forecasts and account status reports each week or month.

Other job duties of account managers are:

  • Serve as the major point of contact for all account management matters for that group of clients
  • Build and maintain strong working relationships with clients, potential clients and business stakeholders
  • Negotiate sales contracts and close deals to increase profits for the company
  • Develop strong business relationships with major accounts and customers

Account Manager Where We Work

The Bureau of Labor Statistics or BLS reports that there are 806,000 management analysts working in 2016, which is a role similar to account manager. The largest employers of these professionals are:

  • Professional, technical and scientific services: 30%
  • Self employed: 17%
  • Government: 17%
  • Finance and insurance: 11%
  • Management of companies and enterprises: 5%

Another related occupation in the BLS data is sales manager. There are 385,500 sales managers working in the US as of 2016, in the following industries:

  • Wholesale trade: 20%
  • Retail trade: 18%
  • Manufacturing: 12%
  • Professional, technical and scientific: 10%
  • Finance and insurance: 9%

How to Become Account Manager

The exact degree requirements to become an account manager can vary based upon the industry and exact job description. Many account managers start off with a bachelor’s degree in business or marketing if they are interested in sales, marketing or managing promotions. Account managers in the financial fields usually have a bachelor’s in accounting, finance or business. For higher level account manager roles, you may need an MBA.

See also Choosing the Best Online MBA Programs

Account Manager Education Requirements

Most account managers need to have a bachelor’s degree. The major for the degree depends upon the type of account management that you are doing. Many professionals earn their bachelor’s in business, sales or marketing. Others who are working in the financial management sector may earn their bachelor’s in finance or accounting.

Find accredited online business, finance and accounting degree programs to choosing the following:

Account Manager Traits & Qualities

The most effective account managers have the following traits to some degree or other:

  • Recognize all stakeholders: It is very important for good account managers to serve their clients’ needs. But it is important as well to remember that clients are just one important constituency for the account manager. They also must meet the requirements and expectations of the senior management team at the company.
  • Good communication skills: The best account managers are able to regularly communicate important information, no matter if it is a campaign update to a client, insights from customers to team members, or the overall account health status report to top managers. It also is important to be able to listen as well as talk.
  • Gets their hands dirty when needed: The best account manager has experience working on the creation and execution of marketing campaigns and can work in the trenches with team members when needed to ensure that marketing and sales campaigns are running smoothly.
  • Gains respect: Strong account managers are able to build strong relationships with others by developing rapport and trust with clients and the overall team.

Account Manager Minimum Education

Choose Master’s or Bachelor’s. Degree

Account Manager National Salary

The national average salary estimate for Account Manager was $62,548. This number is estimated from over 9,931,324 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $32.58 and monthly of $5,212.

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$14,000

$156,000

Salary Distribution

Account Manager Salary by State

The following section lists Account Manager salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, DC had the largest quoted salary of $80,089 while South Dakota had the smallest quoted salary of $25,728.

AlaskaKentuckyNew York
AlabamaLouisianaOhio
ArkansasMassachusettsOklahoma
ArizonaMarylandOregon
CaliforniaMainePennsylvania
ColoradoMichiganRhode Island
ConnecticutMinnesotaSouth Carolina
DCMissouriSouth Dakota
DelawareMississippiTennessee
FloridaMontanaTexas
GeorgiaNorth CarolinaUtah
HawaiiNorth DakotaVirginia
IowaNebraskaVermont
IdahoNew HampshireWashington
IllinoisNew JerseyWisconsin
IndianaNew MexicoWest Virginia
KansasNevadaWyoming
Alaska$76,705Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CHASE Professionals.

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$24,000

$157,000

Salary Distribution
Alabama$58,620Rank: 31st
The average salary ranks 31st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Phillips Staffing Solutions, Cameron Craig Group, MedExec International, and The Hastings Group.

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$14,000

$149,000

Salary Distribution
Arkansas$63,091Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like UST Global, Wholesale Payments Inc., American Fidelity Assurance, and HP.

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$14,000

$163,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona$56,237Rank: 37th
The average salary ranks 37th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Culver Careers, CyberCoders, Encore Payment Systems, and Renaissance Personnel Group.

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$14,000

$145,000

Salary Distribution
California$68,571Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Schneider Electric, Sprint, Grainger, and FedEx Office.

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$14,000

$170,000

Salary Distribution
Colorado$62,842Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Spencer Ogden, CyberCoders, AT&T, and Randstad.

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$14,000

$154,000

Salary Distribution
Connecticut$61,513Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Ginas Tech Jobs, Cameron Craig Group, AT&T, and Waste Management.

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$14,000

$163,000

Salary Distribution
DC$80,089Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Royak Group Inc., Bryant Associates, Inc., Elite Transpo, Inc., and Nigel Frank International.

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$14,000

$206,000

Salary Distribution
Delaware$42,207Rank: 49th
The average salary ranks 49th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., Sallie Mae, TigerDirect, and Discover Financial Services.

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$14,000

$104,000

Salary Distribution
Florida$52,058Rank: 44th
The average salary ranks 44th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Florida Distributing Company, MotionPoint, Jasper Contractors, and Nationwide Move Management.

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$14,000

$133,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia$58,891Rank: 28th
The average salary ranks 28th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Robert Half Technology, IBM, Grainger, and Central International.

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$14,000

$150,000

Salary Distribution
Hawaii$50,323Rank: 46th
The average salary ranks 46th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Staffing Solutions of Hawaii, Remedy Intelligent Staffing, Valpak, and Sales Empowerment Group.

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$14,000

$122,000

Salary Distribution
Iowa$60,768Rank: 21st
The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cameron Craig Group, Phillips Staffing Solutions, PMG Employment Consultants, and MedExec International.

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$14,000

$139,000

Salary Distribution
Idaho$49,398Rank: 47th
The average salary ranks 47th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., American Fidelity Assurance, Endless Air, and Alliances Management.

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$14,000

$130,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois$66,163Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Anheuser-Busch, Praxair, American Hotel Register Company, and Restaurant.com.

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$14,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana$60,442Rank: 23rd
The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cummins, Verizon, US Xpress, and Angie’s List.

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$14,000

$144,000

Salary Distribution
Kansas$54,579Rank: 38th
The average salary ranks 38th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like TekCollect, Cap360, Wholesale Payments Inc., and Direct Sales Recruiting, LLC.

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$14,000

$133,000

Salary Distribution
Kentucky$56,431Rank: 36th
The average salary ranks 36th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Krull Insurance Team, National Register USA, Talent Search Group, and Wholesale Payments Inc..

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$14,000

$137,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana$63,839Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like BIC Alliance, Fowler Placement Services, Inc., Phillips Staffing Solutions, and MMS Group.

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$14,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts$66,401Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Monster Worldwide, AT&T, Fisher Agencies, and Oracle.

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$14,000

$161,000

Salary Distribution
Maryland$58,724Rank: 30th
The average salary ranks 30th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Fowler Placement Services, Inc., Ploeger Recruiting Services, and Lodestar Executive Search.

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$14,000

$140,000

Salary Distribution
Maine$64,986Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., CyberCoders, Wayfair, and Nigel Frank International.

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$14,000

$155,000

Salary Distribution
Michigan$72,227Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Tata Technologies, Verizon, Cameron Craig Group, and General Motors.

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$19,000

$158,000

Salary Distribution
Minnesota$59,870Rank: 25th
The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Summit Information Resources, CHS Inc., Business Impact Group, and Waste Management.

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$14,000

$148,000

Salary Distribution
Missouri$58,062Rank: 33rd
The average salary ranks 33rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Alexander Open Systems, Inc, TekCollect, Cap360, and Encore Payment Systems.

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$14,000

$155,000

Salary Distribution
Mississippi$53,950Rank: 41st
The average salary ranks 41st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., ACS, Encore Payment Systems, and TNT Recruiting Solutions.

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$14,000

$150,000

Salary Distribution
Montana$60,230Rank: 24th
The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc. and American Fidelity Assurance.

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$14,000

$139,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina$64,795Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Plastic Executive Recruiters, HireNetworks, True North Consultants, and SearchStars.

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$14,000

$166,000

Salary Distribution
North Dakota$61,460Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like United Safety, Volt, Uline, and Spherion.

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$14,000

$146,000

Salary Distribution
Nebraska$58,856Rank: 29th
The average salary ranks 29th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., Safe Haven Security, Military4Hire, and Cameron Craig Group.

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$19,000

$119,000

Salary Distribution
New Hampshire$54,488Rank: 39th
The average salary ranks 39th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Jericho Group Consultants, Wholesale Payments Inc., Trupath Systems, and American Fidelity Worksite Group.

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$14,000

$127,000

Salary Distribution
New Jersey$59,731Rank: 26th
The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Porter Group, kore inc, RelayHealth/McKesson, and Digital Convergence Technologies INC.

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$14,000

$146,000

Salary Distribution
New Mexico$54,452Rank: 40th
The average salary ranks 40th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wholesale Payments Inc., ASPcares Pharmacy, HP, and Sprint.

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$14,000

$140,000

Salary Distribution
Nevada$63,852Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Fowler Placement Services, Inc., Cameron Craig Group, MJ Recruiters, LLC, and Ploeger Recruiting Services.

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$14,000

$156,000

Salary Distribution
New York$73,425Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like IBM, Google, Citi, and Bloomberg.

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$14,000

$186,000

Salary Distribution
Ohio$56,912Rank: 35th
The average salary ranks 35th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Spectrum, CyberCoders, Verizon, and Alliance Search Solutions.

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$14,000

$141,000

Salary Distribution
Oklahoma$62,305Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Baker Hughes Incorporated, ONESource Technical, Phillips Staffing Solutions, and PMG Employment Consultants.

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$14,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon$60,484Rank: 22nd
The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, TekCollect, Direct Sales Recruiting, LLC, and Anheuser-Busch.

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$14,000

$142,000

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania$58,202Rank: 32nd
The average salary ranks 32nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Seal-it, gpac, Sprint, and Porter Group.

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$14,000

$144,000

Salary Distribution
Rhode Island$52,931Rank: 42nd
The average salary ranks 42nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CVS Health, Fortune Energy, The Marrinan Group, and YRC Freight.

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$14,000

$136,000

Salary Distribution
South Carolina$52,464Rank: 43rd
The average salary ranks 43rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like USHA, Encore Payment Systems, Mangrum Career Solutions, LLC, and PMG Employment Consultants.

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$14,000

$135,000

Salary Distribution
South Dakota$25,728Rank: 51st
The average salary ranks 51st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like ERC, ACS, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, and Hypor USA.

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$7.25

$22.00

Salary Distribution
Tennessee$59,210Rank: 27th
The average salary ranks 27th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CIG, The Krull Insurance Team, TekCollect, and PMG Employment Consultants.

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$14,000

$145,000

Salary Distribution
Texas$62,073Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Baker Hughes Incorporated, Ricoh, National Oilwell Varco, and Oracle.

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$14,000

$157,000

Salary Distribution
Utah$51,257Rank: 45th
The average salary ranks 45th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Wyndham Vacation Ownership, Wholesale Payments Inc., CyberCoders, and Asset Marketing Services, LLC.

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$14,000

$125,000

Salary Distribution
Virginia$57,241Rank: 34th
The average salary ranks 34th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Porter Group, Randstad, and Sprint.

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$14,000

$143,000

Salary Distribution
Vermont$63,799Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Confidant Recruiting, Inc.

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$14,000

$150,000

Salary Distribution
Washington$65,114Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Microsoft, Faststream Recruitment, Faststream Recruitment, INC, and CHASE Professionals.

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$14,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
Wisconsin$61,707Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like gpac, GE Healthcare, Cameron Craig Group, and Kohler Co..

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$14,000

$148,000

Salary Distribution
West Virginia$48,627Rank: 48th
The average salary ranks 48th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like PINNACLE COMPANIES, Freeman Agency, DSM Staff Network, and Rush Star Wireless, Inc.

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$14,000

$145,000

Salary Distribution
Wyoming$29,644Rank: 50th
The average salary ranks 50th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like MassMarkets, Mass Markets, and Smith Group DBA Aaron’s.

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$7.25

$34.75

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Employers

According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Account Manager. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.

Employer NameLocationAverage Salary

Account Manager Learn More

Related Account Manager Careers

Career NameAverage Salary

Henry Steele
Managing Editor
Henry is Managing Editor of BusinessStudent.com. He is a seasoned business professional who regularly consults with local business's throughout Southern California. Henry pursued his undergrad in Business and Economics at the University of San Diego and gained valuable life changing experience through a unique internship upon graduation.

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