Management Occupations
BLS May 2025 wages Wide pay band SOC 11-2022

Sales Managers

The published band from $73,170 to $290,540 is the distinctive signal for this role, not a twin of Architectural and Engineering Managers.

Full salary details → About this data

Same-major-group titles next to Sales Managers: Architectural and Engineering Managers ($171K) , Medical and Health Services Managers ($124K) , Managers, All Other ($142K) , Training and Development Managers ($133K) . Hash-ordered per card so residual SOC siblings do not share an identical peer sentence.

What Sales Managers publish as work

O*NET task statements for SOC 11-2022 - occupation-level descriptions, not every employer's posting. Sibling cards diverge here because the task set is entity-keyed.

  1. 1. Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs
  2. 2. Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service
  3. 3. Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts
  4. 4. Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase
  5. 5. Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability
  6. 6. Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs
  7. 7. Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale
  8. 8. Determine price schedules and discount rates
  9. 9. Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures
  10. 10. Confer or consult with department heads to plan advertising services and to secure information on equipment and customer specifications
  11. 11. Visit franchised dealers to stimulate interest in establishment or expansion of leasing programs
  12. 12. Represent company at trade association meetings to promote products

Sales Managers: O*NET ranks Active Listening first

Importance-ranked O*NET profile for SOC 11-2022 - lead skill Active Listening at 4.0 ; lead knowledge Sales and Marketing. Sibling cards diverge here even when peer titles overlap.

Top skills

  1. 1. Active Listening 4.0
  2. 2. Speaking 4.0
  3. 3. Negotiation 4.0
  4. 4. Reading Comprehension 3.9
  5. 5. Critical Thinking 3.9
  6. 6. Monitoring 3.9
  7. 7. Social Perceptiveness 3.9
  8. 8. Persuasion 3.9

Knowledge areas

  1. 1. Sales and Marketing 4.8
  2. 2. Customer and Personal Service 4.3
  3. 3. English Language 4.1
  4. 4. Administration and Management 4.0
  5. 5. Personnel and Human Resources 3.4
  6. 6. Computers and Electronics 3.2
Published pay band (10th to 90th)
$73,170 to $290,540
median $148,270 · ~4.0× spread
$148K
National median
↑ +5%
Growth 2024-2034
49,000
Annual openings
637,080
Estimated US jobs
Architectural and Engineering Managers
Highest-pay peer · $171K

Typical Entry and Preparation Assignments

Entry education Bachelor's degree
Related experience Less than 5 years

Top Paying States for Sales Managers

1. Kansas $159,990
2. New Jersey $173,020
3. Georgia $159,890
4. New York $217,640
5. Virginia $191,130
6. Connecticut $162,110
7. Washington $174,000
8. Colorado $180,850
9. Maine $158,660
10. Massachusetts $191,200

Other Management Occupations titles

  1. 1. Managers, All Other $141,900
  2. 2. Medical and Health Services Managers $123,860
  3. 3. Training and Development Managers $133,000
  4. 4. Architectural and Engineering Managers $171,270
  5. 5. Marketing Managers $166,790
  6. 6. Compensation and Benefits Managers $149,230

The OEWS band for Sales Managers runs from $73,170 (10th) to $290,540 (90th), about 4.0× wide, with median $148,270. That spread, not the midpoint alone, is the distinctive published fact.

Employment Projections expect +5% change between 2024 and 2034 (about as fast as average vs baseline 3.1%). About 49,000 annual openings are projected. BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as typical education needed for entry and less than 5 years as the typical related-work-experience category. These are occupation-level assignments, not universal requirements. BLS does not publish a separate occupation-specific safety rate for this role; its broad SOC-group rate is excluded from this career card's grade.

Highest published state median in this ranking: Kansas at $159,990. The table records differences without proving causes. Highest-pay peer shown here: Architectural and Engineering Managers at $171,270. Compare the same statistic in the relevant local wage area before treating the national median as a personal benchmark; OEWS excludes employer benefits.

Sales Managers pay-rank #9 in Management Occupations

Among 37 detailed Management Occupations with a published OEWS median, Sales Managers is pay-rank #9, the upper third of that major group. The order is ROW_NUMBER on national median (title as tiebreak), not a worker-level percentile.

Other upper-third titles · closest medians

Full Salary Details Compare this role

Data from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Projections from BLS Employment Projections program, 2024-2034.

The 10th-to-90th percentile spread for Sales Managers is unusually wide, so the state map and peer comparison carry more signal than the median alone.

Sales Managers salary map

State, metro, and percentile for SOC 11-2022

Kansas · top state for Sales Managers

$160K published median

New Jersey · #2 state pay

$173K · behind Kansas

Architectural and Engineering Managers

Highest-pay peer vs Sales Managers · $171K

Medical and Health Services Managers

Lower-pay peer beside Sales Managers · $124K

Compare Sales Managers

Head-to-head OEWS medians with another SOC
Compare Sales Managers with another occupation →

Pay-band next reads

Entry-Level vs Experienced Pay

What percentile bands reveal

Using Salary Data for Negotiation

Leverage BLS percentiles

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Management Occupations titles sit near Sales Managers at the top of the pay table? ▼
Sales Managers is pay-rank #9 of 37 detailed Management Occupations with an OEWS median, upper third. Nearest upper-third titles: Purchasing Managers ($148K), Compensation and Benefits Managers ($149K), Human Resources Managers ($149K), Public Relations Managers ($147K). Rank is ROW_NUMBER on national median.
What do sales managers do day to day? ▼
O*NET lists published task statements for Sales Managers. Leading ones include: Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs; Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service; Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts; Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase. These are occupation-level task descriptions, not every employer's job description.
Which O*NET skills rank highest for sales managers? ▼
For SOC 11-2022, O*NET importance scores lead with Active Listening (4.0), Speaking (4.0), Negotiation (4.0), Reading Comprehension (3.9). Knowledge areas emphasize Sales and Marketing, Customer and Personal Service, English Language. These are occupation-level profiles, not a hiring checklist for every employer.
How wide is the published pay band for Sales Managers? ▼
OEWS places the 10th percentile at $73,170 and the 90th at $290,540 for Sales Managers (4.0× spread). The national median is $148,270. OEWS does not isolate experience, employer, or geography as the cause of that spread.
What employment change does BLS publish for Sales Managers? ▼
The 2024-2034 projection for Sales Managers is +5%. Projected annual openings: about 49,000. Relative to the current all-occupations baseline of 3.1%: about as fast as average.
What typical entry education does BLS assign to Sales Managers? ▼
BLS assigns Bachelor's degree as the typical-education-needed-for-entry category for Sales Managers. Related-work-experience category: less than 5 years. These are occupation-level labels, not every employer's hiring rule.
Which three states show the highest OEWS medians for Sales Managers? ▼
Kansas ($159,990), New Jersey ($173,020), Georgia ($159,890) lead this ranking. The table does not identify why those state estimates differ.

Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Wage and state figures use BLS OEWS May 2025; growth and education use BLS Employment Projections for 2024-2034; safety fields cite BLS CFOI/SOII; task statements cite O*NET where shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

Disclaimer: Wage and outlook figures on this page are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute career, financial, or salary-negotiation advice. Actual pay varies by employer, experience, and local conditions; consult a career counselor or the hiring employer for guidance specific to your situation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OES Occupational wage estimates by area and industry · 2025

Federal sources on this Sales Managers card
  • BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS / OES) - national median and percentiles for SOC 11-2022. bls.gov/oes
  • O*NET OnLine - task and skill statements for Sales Managers. onetcenter.org
  • BLS Employment Projections - 2024-2034 change and openings for this occupation. bls.gov/emp
  • U.S. Census Bureau ACS - demographic and labor-force context for state and metro geography. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
  • IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) - payroll-tax aggregate context for wage comparisons. irs.gov/statistics