Sales Manager Salary

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 12 minutes
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The following article discusses the career path of Sales Manager. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Sales Managers.

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Job Duties

Sales managers can work in retail and non-retail organizations alike. Their responsibility is to ensure that the daily management of all sales activities is at optimum performance, including the work of the sales agents. They often have an assistant to help with the implementation of various policies, procedures, and programs relating to sales. They set sales goals and work to exceed those.

The sales manager is responsible for ensuring profits can grow while maintaining optimum levels of customer satisfaction. They must make sure the work environment is as positive and productive as possible. They must themselves be effective and experienced salespeople, but with strong leadership and management skills.

A sales manager’s exact duties are wide and varied, but they usually include a coordinating role with regards to inventory control, direct sales, sales performance analysis, and sales reporting. They must have a full understanding of all the products and services available through the company. Additionally, they must coordinate with national and regional sales managers, often through video conference although travel to different offices may be required.

Other job duties of a sales manager include:

  • Making sure all sales strategies are properly executed
  • Ensuring that all promotional and advertising programs and plans are implemented properly
  • Making sure that all activities align themselves with the sales objectives
  • Developing sales programs and implementing them for certain product lines within the company.
  • Developing relationships with different key markets, investigating local conditions and operations and visiting them as well.
  • Analyzing and evaluating different plans for new products and reporting on those to senior management, aiming to develop international market opportunities

Where We Work

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 385,500 sales managers in 2016. The largest employers of these professionals were:

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

How to Become

A sales manager usually has at least a bachelor’s degree. They also have many years’ experience, generally coming from a sales representative background.

Education Requirements

Usually, a sales manager will hold a bachelor’s degree as a minimum. The subject of this degree varies, but it is preferred for them to have completed courses in statistics, marketing, mathematics, finance, accounting, economics, management, and business law. Work experience is usually of greater importance than education, however. Often, they will have at least five years of experience in the field.

Typically, sales managers grow into their position, coming from occupations related to sales. They may have been a purchasing agent, a manufacturing or wholesale sales representative, or a retail sales worker, for instance. They are then usually promoted to sales manager internally and, eventually, they can grow to the position of director of sales.

Traits & Qualities

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

  • Strong analytical skills
  • Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
  • Great customer service skills
  • Strong leadership skills

Minimum Education

Bachelor’s Degree

National Salary

The national average salary estimate for Sales Manager was $70,506. This number is estimated from over 7,379,436 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $36.72 and monthly of $5,876.

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$14,000

$182,000

Salary Distribution

Salary by State

The following section lists Sales 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 $94,084 while Wyoming had the smallest quoted salary of $46,367.

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 – $64,594 Rank: 24th
The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Personnel Plus Employment Agency, Inc. and Personnel Plus Employment Agency, Inc..

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$14,000

$177,000

Salary Distribution
Alabama – $64,039 Rank: 32nd
The average salary ranks 32nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, Cube Management, AllSearch Professional Staffing, and MMS Group.

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$14,000

$180,000

Salary Distribution
Arkansas – $62,078 Rank: 34th
The average salary ranks 34th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Producers Rice Mill, Inc., Producers Rice Mill, Inc., and Bankers Life.

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$14,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
Arizona – $68,263 Rank: 20th
The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Arizona Security Cameras, Indigo Payments, Indigo Payments, and Global Resources.

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$14,000

$179,000

Salary Distribution
California – $73,219 Rank: 9th
The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Vivint Solar, Volkswagen, Spectrum, and Spectrum.

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$14,000

$189,000

Salary Distribution
Colorado – $70,564 Rank: 16th
The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like KBNO Communications, Global Resources, Global Resources, and GHBR.

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$14,000

$191,000

Salary Distribution
Connecticut – $69,239 Rank: 14th
The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Encōr Solar, Contract Staffing Recruiters, Contract Staffing Recruiters, and Talent Partners Inc..

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$14,000

$187,000

Salary Distribution
DC – $94,084 Rank: 1st
The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like New York Life, New York Life, Smart Card Merchant Services, and Robert Half Finance & Accounting.

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$19,000

$227,000

Salary Distribution
Delaware – $54,201 Rank: 46th
The average salary ranks 46th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like KT Marketing Inc, KT Marketing Inc, Ashley Furniture HomeStore, and Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

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$14,000

$136,000

Salary Distribution
Florida – $63,459 Rank: 35th
The average salary ranks 35th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Westgate Resorts, Asbury Automotive Group, Asbury Automotive Group, and American Income Life.

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$14,000

$172,000

Salary Distribution
Georgia – $67,062 Rank: 30th
The average salary ranks 30th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Indigo Payments, Indigo Payments, The Judge Group, and Neptune Society.

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$14,000

$168,000

Salary Distribution
Hawaii – $56,038 Rank: 45th
The average salary ranks 45th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like American Income Life, American Income Life, Sandwich Isle Pest Solutions, and Sandwich Isle Pest Solutions.

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$14,000

$141,000

Salary Distribution
Iowa – $59,497 Rank: 43rd
The average salary ranks 43rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Michael Page, Randstad, gpac, and gpac.

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$14,000

$159,000

Salary Distribution
Idaho – $47,279 Rank: 51st
The average salary ranks 51st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like RS&I Inc., RS&I Inc., Computer Zen, and Computer Zen.

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$14,000

$134,000

Salary Distribution
Illinois – $73,176 Rank: 10th
The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Mass Interact, Mass Interact, PepsiCo, and PepsiCo.

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$15,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
Indiana – $66,243 Rank: 23rd
The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, Systematic business consulting, Plastic Executive Recruiters, and Global Resources.

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$14,000

$172,000

Salary Distribution
Kansas – $67,682 Rank: 29th
The average salary ranks 29th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like National Register USA, National Register USA, Cap360, and CAP 360.

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$17,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
Kentucky – $63,522 Rank: 33rd
The average salary ranks 33rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, Cube Management, Global Resources, and Global Resources.

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$14,000

$173,000

Salary Distribution
Louisiana – $66,738 Rank: 31st
The average salary ranks 31st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, Cube Management, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company.

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$14,000

$178,000

Salary Distribution
Massachusetts – $84,044 Rank: 3rd
The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Global Resources, Global Resources, Target-State Consulting, and Target-State Consulting.

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$17,000

$203,000

Salary Distribution
Maryland – $70,627 Rank: 11th
The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Van Every Group, The Van Every Group, Porter Group, and Air Scrubber Plus.

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$14,000

$175,000

Salary Distribution
Maine – $56,107 Rank: 44th
The average salary ranks 44th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like SCOTT’S RECREATION, SCOTT’S RECREATION, Goodwin Recruiting, and Goodwin Recruiting.

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$14,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
Michigan – $79,090 Rank: 5th
The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Whirlpool Corporation, Comcast, Integrated Resource Solutions, and AmerAssist.

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$18,000

$183,000

Salary Distribution
Minnesota – $73,628 Rank: 8th
The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Integrated Resource Solutions, and Integrated Resource Solutions.

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$14,000

$180,000

Salary Distribution
Missouri – $69,527 Rank: 17th
The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like National Register USA, National Register USA, Global Resources, and Global Resources.

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$14,000

$174,000

Salary Distribution
Mississippi – $49,808 Rank: 47th
The average salary ranks 47th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cube Management, Cube Management, Express Employment Professionals, and Express Employment Professionals.

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$14,000

$134,000

Salary Distribution
Montana – $47,827 Rank: 50th
The average salary ranks 50th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, CyberCoders, LC Staffing, and LC Staffing.

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$14,000

$123,000

Salary Distribution
North Carolina – $66,840 Rank: 26th
The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, Rent A Center, SALE AUTO MALL, and LS Recruiting.

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$14,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
North Dakota – $61,784 Rank: 41st
The average salary ranks 41st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Spherion, and Spherion.

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$14,000

$149,000

Salary Distribution
Nebraska – $60,488 Rank: 38th
The average salary ranks 38th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Milan Laser, Michael Page, Cap360, and CAP 360.

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$14,000

$151,000

Salary Distribution
New Hampshire – $69,249 Rank: 19th
The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Combined Insurance, Combined Insurance, Staples, and Macy’s.

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$14,000

$176,000

Salary Distribution
New Jersey – $87,091 Rank: 2nd
The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Vivint Solar, Gables Search Group, Gables Search Group, and AmerAssist.

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$15,000

$220,000

Salary Distribution
New Mexico – $50,887 Rank: 48th
The average salary ranks 48th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aerotek, Aerotek, HireLive, and HireLive.

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$14,000

$142,000

Salary Distribution
Nevada – $65,216 Rank: 22nd
The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like z7vision.com, z7vision.com, Realty Executives, and Realty Executives.

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$14,000

$190,000

Salary Distribution
New York – $77,883 Rank: 6th
The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like HireKeep, Global Resources, Global Resources, and Harrington Starr.

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$14,000

$198,000

Salary Distribution
Ohio – $70,517 Rank: 13th
The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Lodestar Executive Search, Russ Hadick & Associates, Inc., Alliance Search Solutions, and J.D. Byrider.

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$14,000

$183,000

Salary Distribution
Oklahoma – $64,003 Rank: 36th
The average salary ranks 36th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like J. Gifford, Inc., J. Gifford, Inc., Good Feet, and Good Feet.

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$14,000

$164,000

Salary Distribution
Oregon – $67,871 Rank: 21st
The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like AllSearch Professional Staffing, APC, Inc., APC, Inc., and Symmetry Financial Group.

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$14,000

$168,000

Salary Distribution
Pennsylvania – $80,484 Rank: 4th
The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cap360, Comcast, AT&T, and NutriSystem.

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$18,000

$186,000

Salary Distribution
Rhode Island – $68,112 Rank: 27th
The average salary ranks 27th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like EUPHORIA JEWELS, EUPHORIA JEWELS, DMG Company, and DMG Company.

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$14,000

$178,000

Salary Distribution
South Carolina – $58,775 Rank: 42nd
The average salary ranks 42nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Global Resources, Global Resources, The River Group Inc., and The River Group Inc..

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$14,000

$162,000

Salary Distribution
South Dakota – $69,262 Rank: 25th
The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, gpac, and gpac.

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$14,000

$173,000

Salary Distribution
Tennessee – $66,736 Rank: 28th
The average salary ranks 28th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Dynamic Group Home Consulting, Dynamic Group Home Consulting, Ploeger Recruiting Services, and Lodestar Executive Search.

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$14,000

$179,000

Salary Distribution
Texas – $69,772 Rank: 15th
The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Silverleaf Resorts, Silverleaf Resorts, Palm Harbor Homes, and Palm Harbor Homes.

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$14,000

$180,000

Salary Distribution
Utah – $60,266 Rank: 39th
The average salary ranks 39th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Solstice Energy, Solstice Energy, Jamberry, and Jamberry.

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$14,000

$161,000

Salary Distribution
Virginia – $60,287 Rank: 40th
The average salary ranks 40th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like EQ Recruiters, CoConstruct, EQ Recruiters, and CoConstruct.

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$14,000

$157,000

Salary Distribution
Vermont – $74,056 Rank: 7th
The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Combined Insurance, Combined Insurance, Leddy Group, and Leddy Group.

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$14,000

$181,000

Salary Distribution
Washington – $71,580 Rank: 12th
The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like West Coast Careers, ATUM IT SERVICES, Smart Card Merchant Services, and Global Resources.

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$14,000

$186,000

Salary Distribution
Wisconsin – $70,030 Rank: 18th
The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Roljobs Technology Services Pvt Ltd., Russ Darrow Group, SAI Investments LLC, and Russ Darrow Automotive Group.

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$14,000

$180,000

Salary Distribution
West Virginia – $62,532 Rank: 37th
The average salary ranks 37th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Cap360, Cap360, Storm Guard Restoration, and Storm Guard Restoration.

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$14,000

$180,000

Salary Distribution
Wyoming – $46,367 Rank: 49th
The average salary ranks 49th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Ecoearth Solutions OPC Pvt Ltd, Ecoearth Solutions OPC Pvt Ltd, Smith Group DBA Aaron’s, and Smith Group DBA Aaron’s.

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$14,000

$124,000

Salary Distribution

Top 20 National Employers

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

Employer Name Location Average Salary
The River Group Inc. Sales Manager South Carolina $225,856
HireKeep Arizona $213,454
Target-State Consulting Massachusetts $200,000
Hurley Search Sales Manager Missouri $200,000
Global Recruiting Consultants Massachusetts $196,000
National Register USA Sales Manager Ohio $195,718
LGI Homes Sales Manager Texas $189,086
Capgemini Connecticut $187,507
MileOne Automotive Maryland $181,837
SOCOMEC, INC. Massachusetts $177,757

Learn More

Related Careers

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Purchasing Manager $70,974
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Distribution Manager $70,204
Marketing Communications Manager $70,119
Sales Executive $69,894
Data Analyst $69,685

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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