Project manager salary: what project management specialists earn by industry

If you have "project manager" in your title, the most useful number to start from is the national median for project management specialists: $102,320 in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey. This guide shows you how to check that this is actually the right benchmark for your job, then how pay changes by industry, metro area and seniority, so you can size up an offer or a raise with real numbers.

Quick reference: project management specialist pay

All figures below are May 2025 OEWS estimates for occupation code 13-1082, Project management specialists.

BLS projects employment of project management specialists to grow 7 percent from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year on average. That is a big, steady market, so there is plenty of data to benchmark against.

Which official occupation matches your PM job

Here is the catch. "Project manager" is a job title, not an occupation. BLS sorts workers by what they actually do, and people called project managers land in at least three different occupation codes with very different pay. Benchmark against the wrong one and you could undersell yourself badly, or walk in with a number the employer will dismiss.

The three codes that matter

Project management specialists (13-1082) is the home for most PMs. BLS describes the job as talking with clients to set requirements, building project plans, picking vendors, assigning work, tracking milestones and costs, and producing project documents. If you run projects but do not own a department, a function or a construction site, this is usually you. That covers marketing PMs, PMO analysts, implementation PMs at software firms and many more.

Construction managers (11-9021) is where many construction project managers belong. BLS notes these workers are often called general contractors or project managers. The test is the job itself: are you responsible for a building, road or other structure being delivered, with subcontractors, codes, site problems and the construction budget on your plate? Then this code fits better than 13-1082. BLS also notes that some states require construction managers to be licensed, which is another signal you are in this occupation.

Computer and information systems managers (11-3021) is the code for IT managers and directors. These people analyze what the organization needs from IT, decide on upgrades, justify funding, and plan and direct the work of IT staff. BLS lists the typical related work experience for this occupation as 5 years or more. Running IT projects alone does not put you here. Directing an IT function, with staff and budget authority, does.

Example: picking the right benchmark for an IT project manager

This is a hypothetical example.

Two people both have the title "IT Project Manager."

• Person A works at a bank. They run three system migration projects at a time, coordinate developers and vendors, and report to the head of the PMO. Nobody reports to them permanently, and they do not set the IT budget. Their best benchmark is 13-1082, project management specialists. They can also look at the industry figure: in May 2025, PMs in finance and insurance had a median of $120,700, well above the all-industry median of $102,320.
• Person B works at a manufacturer. Their title also says project manager, but they lead the company's infrastructure team, hire and manage the systems administrators, decide which upgrades to fund and present the IT roadmap to executives. Their duties match 11-3021, computer and information systems managers, where the May 2025 median was $175,140.

If Person B benchmarked against 13-1082, they would anchor far below the median for the work they actually do. If Person A used 11-3021, their ask would look out of touch. Match the duties, not the title.

Quick check for your own job: write down your top five duties and compare them with the duty lists in the three Occupational Outlook Handbook profiles linked in the table. Whichever list overlaps most is your benchmark.

Median and percentiles, in plain words

Pay data comes as a spread, not one number.

• Median (50th percentile): the middle. Half of project management specialists earned more than $102,320 in May 2025, half earned less.
• 10th percentile: 10 percent of workers earned less than this. For PMs that was $61,580. Think of it as the floor for most full-time roles, often where newer PMs or lower-paying industries and areas sit.
• 90th percentile: only 10 percent earned more. For PMs that was $167,970. These are typically senior people in high-paying industries or expensive metros.
• Mean (average): add up everyone's pay and divide. The PM mean was $110,740, above the median, because a group of very high earners pulls the average up.

The stretch between the 10th and 90th percentiles holds the large majority of workers. BLS's own guide to using OEWS in salary negotiations says someone new to a field may expect pay nearer the 10th or 25th percentile, while people with more experience and education may land closer to the 75th or 90th. For PMs that range is wide, so where you sit in it matters a lot.

One rule to avoid a common mistake: compare like with like. Some BLS tables give a median, others only a mean. Never compare your offer to a metro mean and the national median at the same time as if they were the same measure.

Base salary vs total compensation

OEWS wages are close to base pay, but not exactly. According to the May 2025 OEWS technical notes, the survey counts base rate, cost-of-living allowances, guaranteed pay, hazardous-duty pay, commissions, production bonuses and tips. It excludes overtime pay, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses (such as annual or holiday bonuses), severance, tuition reimbursement and the employer's cost of benefits.

What that means for a PM offer:

• Annual bonus: most PM bonuses are tied to company or individual performance, so they are generally outside the OEWS figure. Compare base salary with OEWS and treat a target bonus as extra.
• Overtime: many PMs are salaried and exempt from overtime. If you are paid hourly and get overtime, that pay is also outside the OEWS number.
• Equity: stock grants at tech companies are not captured by OEWS. BLS does not publish equity data by occupation, so you will need the employer's own figures.
• Construction bonuses: BLS notes that construction managers may earn bonuses that depend on the amount of business they generate.
• Benefits: health insurance, retirement match and paid leave can be worth a lot, but they sit outside the wage figures entirely.

BLS also turns hourly rates into annual ones by assuming a 2,080-hour work year. If you are hourly, multiply your rate by 2,080 to compare it fairly with annual figures.

Pay by industry

Industry is one of the biggest levers on PM pay. BLS publishes these May 2025 medians for project management specialists in their top industries:

Industry medians and shares are from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook. Shares are of jobs in 2025.

A few things to know when reading this table:

• Consulting and IT services sit inside professional, scientific and technical services, the biggest employer of PMs. That sector includes management consulting, engineering services and computer systems design, so it mixes many kinds of PM work into one median.
• IT has no single line here. The handbook does not publish a separate median for PMs in the information sector or in computer systems design. The OEWS May 2025 occupation profiles let you choose more detailed industries for 13-1082, so check there for your exact industry.
• Construction PMs classified as 13-1082 had a median of $98,730, below the overall PM median. If you are actually running construction projects, compare yourself with construction managers too. Their May 2025 median was $126,690 in nonresidential building construction and $98,390 in residential building construction.

Pay by metro and state

Location moves PM pay as much as industry. BLS regional releases for May 2025 list these figures for project management specialists. Note that these are means (averages), so compare them with the national mean of $110,740, not the median.

The location quotient compares how concentrated PM jobs are in an area with the national share. A figure of 1.88, as in Seattle, means PMs make up nearly twice the share of local employment as they do nationally, while Boston's 1.02 is close to the national share. More concentration often means more employers competing for PMs.

These are metros where BLS regional releases included PM figures, not a ranking, and several other regional releases also list PMs. For any state or metro, including lower-cost areas, open the 13-1082 profile from the OEWS May 2025 occupation profiles list and choose the state or area view, which shows percentiles as well as means.

Weighing pay against cost of living

A higher salary in an expensive metro does not always leave you better off. The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes regional price parities, which compare price levels across states and metro areas, and that is a sound official source for this check. A practical approach:

1. Find the PM mean or median for each metro you are considering.
2. Look up each area's price level in the BEA regional price parities.
3. Ask whether the pay gap is bigger or smaller than the price gap, and remember that housing usually drives most of the difference.

For remote roles, ask which location the employer uses to set pay. Some set it by where you live, others by where the team is based. That single answer can move your benchmark more than anything else in this article.

For more on comparing metros, see salaries by city.

What moves you up the range

Scale and accountability, more than years alone, tend to separate a 25th-percentile PM from a 75th-percentile one.

• Scope: running one internal project is different from running a portfolio of client-facing programs. More projects, more stakeholders and more risk usually justify a higher spot in the range.
• Budget size: if you control or answer for a large budget, say so in dollars. It is one of the clearest signals of seniority to a hiring manager.
• People leadership: directing a team of specialists, even without formal reports, moves you toward the upper percentiles. Formally managing a function can move you into a different occupation altogether, such as computer and information systems managers.
• Industry and technical depth: BLS notes some employers prefer PMs with a degree in a technical field tied to their industry, such as computer and information technology or engineering.
• Title: coordinator, project manager, senior PM and program manager often sit in different pay bands inside one company, even though OEWS groups them together.

Education and certification

BLS says project management specialists typically need a bachelor's degree, which may be in business, project management or a related field. Some workers come to PM work from roles such as business analyst or training and development specialist.

On certification, BLS says it is not always required but can show competency to clients and employers. The best-known credential is the Project Management Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute, which requires documented project experience and an exam. BLS does not publish a pay premium for the PMP, so treat any specific premium figure you see online with caution and check how it was measured. It tends to matter most where employers or clients ask for it, so check postings in your target industry to see whether it is listed as required or preferred.

How PM pay compares with adjacent roles

Many PMs move between these roles over a career. All figures are May 2025 medians from BLS.

The big jump comes when you move into a management occupation, such as going from coordinating IT projects to directing an IT function.

Benchmarking a project manager offer

Use this checklist before you reply to an offer.

1. Pick your occupation code using the duty test above.
2. Pull the national percentiles for that code, then the industry median closest to the employer.
3. Add location. Check the metro figures for where the job is based or where pay is set.
4. Place yourself. Newer PMs usually sit nearer the 25th percentile. Experienced PMs with large budgets or portfolios can make a case for the 75th or higher.
5. Separate the pieces. Compare base salary with OEWS. Value the bonus, equity and benefits separately.
6. Check the posted range. In places with pay transparency rules, the job ad may list a salary range. Rules differ by state and city, so check your state labor department if you are unsure whether a range should be posted.

Example (hypothetical): a PM is offered a role in Seattle at a base that matches the national median of $102,320. The Seattle mean for PMs was $133,590 in May 2025, so the offer sits well below what PMs average locally. That gap is a fair, data-based reason to ask for more.

A script you could use at offer stage:

"Thanks, I'm excited about this role. Looking at BLS data for project management specialists in this metro, and at the scope we discussed, including the size of the program budget, I was expecting a base closer to [your number]. Is there room to move on base salary?"

Name your source, then stop and let them answer. More scripts live in our negotiation section.

When your scope has grown: asking for a title and pay review

PM jobs creep. One project becomes a program, with vendors and executive updates. If that is you, ask for a review of both title and pay, because the title often decides your pay band.

Prepare first:

• List what changed: number of projects, budget size, team size, new stakeholders.
• Match your duties against the occupation profiles. If they now look like a manager's, say so.
• Pull the percentile for your code, industry and metro.

Then a script:

"Over the last year my role has grown from managing [one project] to running [the program], including [budget size] and [team size]. That looks more like a senior project manager or program manager role than my current title. I'd like to ask for a review of my title and pay to reflect that scope. Based on BLS data for this role in our area, I think [range] is reasonable. Can we set a time to discuss it before the next review cycle?"

If the answer is "not now," ask what specifically you would need to show and by when. Get it in writing, even just a follow-up email.

What to do next

• Open the three Occupational Outlook Handbook profiles linked above and run the duty test on your job today.
• Write down your benchmark: occupation code, industry median and metro figure, all labelled May 2025.
• Before any offer call or review, decide your target number and your walk-away number.
• Watch for new data. When BLS publishes May 2026 OEWS figures, rerun your benchmark, and follow our pay trends and salaries by role coverage for updates.