Project Manager Salary

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
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The following article discusses the career path of Project Manager. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Project Managers.

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Job Duties

Project managers are responsible for different projects within the organization. They plan and create strategies that define the goals of the project and the time frame in which it should be completed. They also document and coordinate the project team, assigning tasks to individual members, while supporting and directing the team as a whole. Furthermore, they manage the timeline, the budget, and the available resources for the project itself.

They examine any problems they encounter and develops solutions. They implement any changes as are needed to make sure the timeline is followed and the deadline can be reached within budget. They also report on the progress of their project to stakeholders, senior project managers, and the Board of Directors.

Other job duties of a project manager are:

  • To assign the different resources to the elements of the projects, monitoring the objectives
  • To create plans and budgets in order to reach all relevant targets
  • To ensure that any issues are resolved in order to reach the relevant goals
  • To communicate with the team about changes in performance, goals, or tasks
  • To take part in contract finalization and client meetings
  • To develop new specifications and requirements

Where We Work

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 281,700 administrative services managers in 2016. The largest employers of these professionals were:

  • Educational services; state, local, and private: 13%
  • Healthcare and social assistance: 13%
  • Professional, scientific, and technical services: 9%
  • Finance and insurance: 8%
  • Local government, excluding education and hospitals: 7%

How to Become

Project managers usually have at least a bachelor’s degree. They must be very strong communicators with excellent problem solving and organizational skills, as well as being motivational leaders. This is often more than can be gained solely from completing a bachelor’s degree, which is why project managers are usually expected to have several years of relevant professional experience as well.

Education Requirements

Typically, project managers have at least a bachelor’s degree in order to gain employment in this field. Usually, the major of the degree is in information management, facility management, engineering, business, or related field. Work experience is also very important and this must reflect their leadership and managerial experiences. Usually, they have experience in project management, business operations, buildings maintenance, and so on. They also often have some administrative experience, particularly in relation to record keeping.

Certifications and licenses are not required for project managers, but it does provide a significant advantage, particularly if they have certification in a relevant field. Some of the applicable certifications, offered by the Project Management Institute, include:

  • Project Management Professional (PMP)
  • Program Management Professional (PgMP)
  • Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP)
  • Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM)
  • PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA)
  • PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP)
  • PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP)
  • PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP)

Traits & Qualities

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

  • Strong analytical skills
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Detail oriented
  • Strong leadership skills

Minimum Education

Bachelor’s Degree

National Salary

The national average salary estimate for Project Manager was $80,833. This number is estimated from over 12,915,524 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $42.10 and monthly of $6,736.

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$24,000

$170,000

Salary Distribution

Salary by State

The following section lists Project Manager salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, California had the largest quoted salary of $87,996 while Montana had the smallest quoted salary of $57,085.

Alaska Kentucky New York
Alabama Louisiana Ohio
Arkansas Massachusetts Oklahoma
Arizona Maryland Oregon
California Maine Pennsylvania
Colorado Michigan Rhode Island
Connecticut Minnesota South Carolina
DC Missouri South Dakota
Delaware Mississippi Tennessee
Florida Montana Texas
Georgia North Carolina Utah
Hawaii North Dakota Virginia
Iowa Nebraska Vermont
Idaho New Hampshire Washington
Illinois New Jersey Wisconsin
Indiana New Mexico West Virginia
Kansas Nevada Wyoming
Alaska – $86,036 Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Wipro, City of Seward, and TEKsystems.

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$19,000

$200,000

Salary Distribution
Alabama – $80,430 Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like U.S. Army, Construction Professionals Mullin Company, MATRIX Resources, and AIC.

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$23,000

$172,000

Salary Distribution
Arkansas – $68,697 Rank: 42nd
The average salary ranks 42nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infosys, ANCHOR PERSONNEL NETWORK, LLC, UST Global, and Agile Attributes, LLC.

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$20,000

$146,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona – $75,328 Rank: 30th
The average salary ranks 30th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Progressive Recruitment, AIC, and CorTech, LLC.

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$25,000

$152,000

Salary Distribution
California – $87,996 Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like TEKsystems, Apple, Chevron, and Ericsson.

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$28,000

$181,000

Salary Distribution
Colorado – $77,474 Rank: 23rd
The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Kaiser Permanente, U.S. Army, Mason Frank International, and Select Source International Pvt Ltd.

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$21,000

$169,000

Salary Distribution
Connecticut – $84,257 Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Apollo Professional Solutions, Inc., ACT-Consulting, epromptus inc, and TCA Consulting Group Inc..

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$28,000

$171,000

Salary Distribution
DC – $85,416 Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cognizant Technology Solutions, Mason Frank, Primastep LLC, and Piper Companies.

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$28,000

$173,000

Salary Distribution
Delaware – $79,029 Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infosys, NITYO INFOTECH, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank Of America.

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$25,000

$163,000

Salary Distribution
Florida – $74,646 Rank: 32nd
The average salary ranks 32nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Citi, Syntel, U.S. Air Force, and Capgemini.

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$22,000

$157,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia – $77,561 Rank: 22nd
The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like MATRIX Resources, Pyramid Consulting Group, Crystal Equation, and Capgemini.

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$21,000

$168,000

Salary Distribution
Hawaii – $76,992 Rank: 25th
The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, TEKsystems, Armstrong Franklin Technology, and Spencer Ogden Energy.

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$23,000

$161,000

Salary Distribution
Iowa – $65,984 Rank: 48th
The average salary ranks 48th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like gpac, Infosys, CyberCoders, and Wells Fargo.

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$17,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
Idaho – $67,237 Rank: 46th
The average salary ranks 46th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like PETERSON CONSULTING GROUP, Rose International, CyberCoders, and Wipro.

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$17,000

$150,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois – $80,971 Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Accenture, Caterpillar, Health Care Service Corporation, and TEKsystems.

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$25,000

$166,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana – $71,022 Rank: 38th
The average salary ranks 38th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Kingsley Rose, Cerebral Group LLC, Expert Hiring LLC, and Interpro Inc.

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$20,000

$152,000

Salary Distribution
Kansas – $68,083 Rank: 43rd
The average salary ranks 43rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Capgemini, CRTechnical, gpac, and Ericsson.

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$20,000

$144,000

Salary Distribution
Kentucky – $72,079 Rank: 36th
The average salary ranks 36th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like V-Soft Consulting Group, Washington Frank, Infosys, and Humana.

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$21,000

$153,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana – $80,535 Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like KJMK Management, Inc. DBA RealStreet Staffing (A), RealStreet Staffing, Entergy, and ANCHOR PERSONNEL NETWORK, LLC.

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$21,000

$178,000

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts – $84,190 Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infosys, Syntel, Cognizant Technology Solutions, and athenahealth.

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$28,000

$170,000

Salary Distribution
Maryland – $84,593 Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like T&W Logistics, LLP, WHO… a staffing company, Latitude 36, and Burns & McDonnell.

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$25,000

$177,000

Salary Distribution
Maine – $82,698 Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Bertram & Associates, Phillips Staffing Solutions, Cameron Craig Group, and Career Brokers, Inc..

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$28,000

$165,000

Salary Distribution
Michigan – $78,178 Rank: 21st
The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Impact Business Group, Chandra Technologies, Inc., CorTech, LLC, and BSC.

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$24,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
Minnesota – $76,758 Rank: 27th
The average salary ranks 27th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Syntel, Timothy Jon & Associates, Target, and U.S. Bank.

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$23,000

$160,000

Salary Distribution
Missouri – $73,442 Rank: 33rd
The average salary ranks 33rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Nigel Frank International, Mason Frank, IDC Technologies, and CloudbigD.

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$22,000

$153,000

Salary Distribution
Mississippi – $64,959 Rank: 49th
The average salary ranks 49th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Silverleaf Recruitment, Sundial Solar Power Developers, Inc., University of Mississippi, and Home Repair and Remodeling Company.

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$17,000

$142,000

Salary Distribution
Montana – $57,085 Rank: 51st
The average salary ranks 51st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, LC Staffing, Benchmarkinc, and State of Montana.

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$14,000

$130,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina – $80,511 Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like TIAA, ACT-Consulting, Veredus, and Robert Half Management Resources.

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$25,000

$167,000

Salary Distribution
North Dakota – $69,790 Rank: 40th
The average salary ranks 40th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like International Search Consultants, CyberCoders, Spherion, and Express Employment Professionals.

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$17,000

$156,000

Salary Distribution
Nebraska – $69,616 Rank: 41st
The average salary ranks 41st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like C.B. HARRIS and Company, Inc, Infosys, gpac, and CyberCoders.

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$20,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
New Hampshire – $83,336 Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Lodestar Executive Search, Systematic business consulting, JDP Search Group, and True North Consultants.

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$32,000

$158,000

Salary Distribution
New Jersey – $85,795 Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Becton Dickinson & Company, Datanomics, Goldman Sachs, and HCL Technologies.

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$27,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
New Mexico – $60,361 Rank: 50th
The average salary ranks 50th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Benefitalign, LLC, PUEBLO OF SANDIA, Sabio Systems, and TruTEMPS Staffing.

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$14,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
Nevada – $73,204 Rank: 34th
The average salary ranks 34th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like HRmango, NV Energy, RSCONSULTING SERVICES, and Genric Solutions.

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$20,000

$158,000

Salary Distribution
New York – $87,800 Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Thomson Reuters, Mitchell/Martin Inc., Bloomberg, and AIG.

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$24,000

$190,000

Salary Distribution
Ohio – $75,339 Rank: 29th
The average salary ranks 29th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Skilled Talent, Capgemini, Infosys, and Procter & Gamble.

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$26,000

$150,000

Salary Distribution
Oklahoma – $70,391 Rank: 39th
The average salary ranks 39th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, ABB, MAS Technology Staffing, and Astra Solutions.

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$16,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon – $77,049 Rank: 24th
The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Galaxux Inc., TEKsystems, and At-Tech.

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$26,000

$155,000

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania – $76,838 Rank: 26th
The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Siemens AG, Robert Half Management Resources, Cigna, and Westinghouse Electric Company, LLC.

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$22,000

$164,000

Salary Distribution
Rhode Island – $86,746 Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infosys, 360HeadHunter, State of Rhode Island, and Rhode Island Department of Administration.

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$38,000

$155,000

Salary Distribution
South Carolina – $67,920 Rank: 44th
The average salary ranks 44th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infojini Consulting Inc, Beechwood Computing Ltd, innoSoul Inc, and Samiti technology.

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$17,000

$152,000

Salary Distribution
South Dakota – $66,492 Rank: 47th
The average salary ranks 47th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like First Dakota Enterprises, Inc..

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$20,000

$140,000

Salary Distribution
Tennessee – $75,540 Rank: 28th
The average salary ranks 28th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Construction Professionals Mullin Company, Infosys, Cameron Craig Group, and LKF Leasing (AU).

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$25,000

$153,000

Salary Distribution
Texas – $83,545 Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like WorleyParsons, ConocoPhillips, KBR, and Technip.

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$25,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
Utah – $67,784 Rank: 45th
The average salary ranks 45th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like FLSmidth, CyberCoders, Collabera, and PTS ONLY ON W2.

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$19,000

$146,000

Salary Distribution
Virginia – $83,525 Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, Request Technology, and CGI Group.

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$26,000

$171,000

Salary Distribution
Vermont – $71,116 Rank: 37th
The average salary ranks 37th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Infosys, CyberCoders, NativeEnergy, and Sailotech Pvt Ltd.

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$22,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
Washington – $85,564 Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like IBM, Robert Half Management Resources, Peterson Group, and Ericsson.

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$30,000

$169,000

Salary Distribution
Wisconsin – $75,089 Rank: 31st
The average salary ranks 31st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like gpac, Pathfinder Search Group, Capgemini, and Sun Plus Data Group Inc..

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$26,000

$147,000

Salary Distribution
West Virginia – $72,966 Rank: 35th
The average salary ranks 35th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like H.E. Neumann Company, Benchmarkinc, Alumni Builders, and Saunders Staffing.

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$17,000

$167,000

Salary Distribution
Wyoming – $79,990 Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like State of Wyoming and Performance Search Group.

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$19,000

$181,000

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Employers

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

Employer Name Location Average Salary
Guarantee Construction Group Colorado $200,000
Burns & McDonnell Maryland $189,737
Goldman Sachs New Jersey $170,229
WorleyParsons Texas $166,968
Mackenzie Stuart plc Alaska $158,764
HCL Technologies New Jersey $152,636
Real Estate Development And Construction Company Missouri $140,000
ConocoPhillips Texas $135,214
Apple California $135,148
CyberCoders West Virginia $135,054
KBR Texas $135,009
Xcel Energy Colorado $133,493
Cigna Pennsylvania $133,385
Mason Frank DC $132,453
Technip Texas $131,172
Primastep LLC DC $130,506
Mitchell/Martin Inc. New York $129,723
Piper Companies DC $128,401
Los Alamos National Laboratory New Mexico $128,013
HRmango Utah $127,572

Learn More

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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.

“It doesn't matter how many times you have failed, you only have to be right once.” - Mark Cuban