Systems Project Manager Salary

By Henry Steele - January 8, 2018
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Reading Time: 7 minutes

The following article discusses the career path of Systems 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 Systems Project Managers.

Job Duties

Systems project managers love to work with many different people. They work in IT, which is a fast paced environment that is constantly changing. They have extensive responsibilities, therefore, and simply maintaining the necessary knowledge to keep up with this is a job in itself. They must be able to understand various types of technology at the same time.

They work with other staff members, ensuring that they can benefit from the company’s technological systems. They focus on client relations, IT projects, and offer strong customer service. They also often play a supervisory role for other staff members, setting goals, assigning work, and ensuring that objectives are met. They may also have to resolve conflict issues.

Furthermore, they are responsible for the implementation and functioning of the servers. They also have to upgrade databases and ensure all services are at top performance. Usually, they supervise new equipment installation and ensure all projects run smoothly from start to finish.

Other job duties of a systems project manager include:

– Holding meetings with the organization’s key stakeholders to ensure they are aware of new projects and remain up to date with developments

  • Forecasting, tracking, and creating project budget changes
  • Measuring technological performance
  • Creating detailed plans for projects with critical path tasks included
  • Recording the requirements, assumptions, and constraints of other clients and stakeholders in order to ensure that needs can be met

    • Where We Work

    According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 367,600 computer and information systems managers in 2016. The largest employers of these professionals were:

    • Computer systems design and related services: 22%
    • Information: 11%
    • Finance and insurance: 11%
    • Management of companies and enterprises: 10%
    • Manufacturing: 8%

    How to Become

    A bachelor’s degree in an area relating to computer science is usually required. Some also complete a master’s degree in areas such as project management. The master of business administration (MBA) is particularly popular.

    Education Requirements

    A systems project manager is generally expected to hold a bachelor’s degree in information or computer science, or a related field. This means they have an in-depth understanding of software development, computer programming, and mathematics. They may also complete business classes and courses in Management Information Systems (MIS).

    It is increasingly common for these professionals to also hold a master’s degree, particularly the MBA. This takes two years to complete and is usually studied while working. This matters, because work experience is also very important. Systems project managers will usually already have several years of working experience before they take on managerial responsibilities.

    Because computer systems are used in every organization in the world, systems project managers must have industry-specific experience as well. Indeed, this is now commonly expected. Someone who has gained IT experience in a manufacturing environment, for instance, is unlikely to become a systems project manager in an educational setting afterwards.

    Traits & Qualities

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

    • Strong analytical skills
    • Excellent business skills
    • Great communication skills, both verbal and written
    • Good decision making skills
    • Inspirational leadership
    • Strong organizational skills
    • Mathematical skills

    Minimum Education

    Bachelor’s Degree

    National Salary

    The national average salary estimate for Systems Project Manager was $86,680. This number is estimated from over 225,524 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $45.15 and monthly of $7,223.

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    • Most Reported
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    $24,000

    $188,000

    Salary Distribution

    Salary by State

    The following section lists Systems 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, New Hampshire had the largest quoted salary of $106,424 while Ohio had the smallest quoted salary of $68,087.

    Arkansas Illinois North Carolina Tennessee
    Arizona Indiana New Hampshire Texas
    California Kansas New Jersey Virginia
    Colorado Kentucky New York Washington
    Connecticut Massachusetts Ohio Wisconsin
    Florida Michigan Pennsylvania
    Georgia Minnesota South Dakota
    Arkansas – $81,318 Rank: 18th

    The average salary ranks 18th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The HealthCare Initiative.

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    • Most Reported
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    $25,000

    $169,000

    Salary Distribution
    Arizona – $89,797 Rank: 9th

    The average salary ranks 9th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Nigel Frank International, Maricopa County, AZ, and Sysazzle, Inc..

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    • Most Reported
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    $39,000

    $160,000

    Salary Distribution
    California – $97,856 Rank: 4th

    The average salary ranks 4th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like V Dart, Inc., University of California, Santa Barbara, APS – Access Professional Systems, Inc., and Geopaq Logic Inc.

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    • Most Reported
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    $31,000

    $200,000

    Salary Distribution
    Colorado – $91,631 Rank: 7th

    The average salary ranks 7th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Colorado Secretary of State and SystemsAccountants.

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    • Most Reported
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    $26,000

    $195,000

    Salary Distribution
    Connecticut – $83,513 Rank: 16th

    The average salary ranks 16th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Accounting Career Network.

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    $26,000

    $172,000

    Salary Distribution
    Florida – $81,552 Rank: 17th

    The average salary ranks 17th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Hudson, Robert Half Technology, Palm Beach County Human Resources, and Vaco, LLC.

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    $25,000

    $169,000

    Salary Distribution
    Georgia – $77,516 Rank: 21st

    The average salary ranks 21st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Principle Solutions Group.

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    $26,000

    $155,000

    Salary Distribution
    Illinois – $90,424 Rank: 8th

    The average salary ranks 8th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like SystemsAccountants, Horizon Technology Partners, North Shore School District 112, and Nigel Frank International.

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    • Most Reported
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    $32,000

    $177,000

    Salary Distribution
    Indiana – $77,995 Rank: 20th

    The average salary ranks 20th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Liberty Mutual.

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    $22,000

    $169,000

    Salary Distribution
    Kansas – $76,511 Rank: 22nd

    The average salary ranks 22nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Aerotek.

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    $22,000

    $162,000

    Salary Distribution
    Kentucky – $71,392 Rank: 24th

    The average salary ranks 24th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Robert Half Management Resources.

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    $27,000

    $135,000

    Salary Distribution
    Massachusetts – $104,221 Rank: 2nd

    The average salary ranks 2nd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders, SystemsAccountants, Liberty Mutual, and Fenway Search Group.

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    • Most Reported
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    $40,000

    $197,000

    Salary Distribution
    Michigan – $78,164 Rank: 19th

    The average salary ranks 19th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like ADVANCED SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. and Robert Half Technology.

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    • Most Reported
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    $25,000

    $158,000

    Salary Distribution
    Minnesota – $88,495 Rank: 10th

    The average salary ranks 10th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Entegee and CyberCoders.

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    $42,000

    $152,000

    Salary Distribution
    North Carolina – $84,512 Rank: 14th

    The average salary ranks 14th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Robert Half Technology and Apex Systems.

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    $37,000

    $150,000

    Salary Distribution
    New Hampshire – $106,424 Rank: 1st

    The average salary ranks 1st among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Liberty Mutual.

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    $46,000

    $190,000

    Salary Distribution
    New Jersey – $83,542 Rank: 15th

    The average salary ranks 15th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like SystemsAccountants.

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    $21,000

    $187,000

    Salary Distribution
    New York – $100,385 Rank: 3rd

    The average salary ranks 3rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CPS Recruitment, NYC EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYS, Department of Sanitation, and City of New York.

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    • Most Reported
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    $23,000

    $233,000

    Salary Distribution
    Ohio – $68,087 Rank: 26th

    The average salary ranks 26th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Ohio State University, The Judge Group, and Diedre Moire.

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    $22,000

    $137,000

    Salary Distribution
    Pennsylvania – $87,182 Rank: 12th

    The average salary ranks 12th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like The Judge Group and CyberCoders.

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    $34,000

    $165,000

    Salary Distribution
    South Dakota – $94,318 Rank: 5th

    The average salary ranks 5th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Maverick Recruiting.

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    $47,000

    $146,000

    Salary Distribution
    Tennessee – $73,149 Rank: 23rd

    The average salary ranks 23rd among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like CyberCoders.

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    $26,000

    $144,000

    Salary Distribution
    Texas – $86,807 Rank: 13th

    The average salary ranks 13th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Robert Half Technology, Epiq Systems, Gennex Resourcing, and Texas Instruments, Inc.

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    $24,000

    $189,000

    Salary Distribution
    Virginia – $87,445 Rank: 11th

    The average salary ranks 11th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Aerotek, CyberCoders, and Dept of Medical Asst Services.

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    $24,000

    $191,000

    Salary Distribution
    Washington – $92,987 Rank: 6th

    The average salary ranks 6th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like State of Washington, City of Bellingham, The Evergreen State College, and Amazon.com.

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    $29,000

    $191,000

    Salary Distribution
    Wisconsin – $71,273 Rank: 25th

    The average salary ranks 25th among states in the country. There were also job openings from employers like Nigel Frank International.

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    $21,000

    $150,000

    Salary Distribution

    Top 20 National Employers

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

    Employer Name Location Average Salary
    CyberCoders New York $237,172
    Motion Recruitment Partners Prod New York $210,000
    Anderson Frank New York $160,874
    Crossfire California $149,668
    Request Technology Virginia $146,492
    Cisco California $144,200
    Amazon.com Washington $135,495
    Liberty Mutual Indiana $132,463
    Texas Instruments, Inc Texas $126,179
    SystemsAccountants Massachusetts $125,668
    Nigel Frank International Illinois $125,601
    Information Technology Services, Office of New York $123,714
    Vaco, LLC Florida $123,663
    Fenway Search Group Massachusetts $120,000
    Robert Half Technology Virginia $117,855
    The Judge Group Pennsylvania $113,036
    LOS ANGELES METRO California $112,812

    Learn More

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    Henry Steele
    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

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