Purchasing Managers salary

SOC 11-3061 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$148,080

per year, nationally

Middle half

$115,550–$182,270

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

84,320

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+3.1%

6,400 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$92,490$223,280

10th: $92,490
25th: $115,550
Median: $148,080
75th: $182,270
90th: $223,280

Getting in

Typical education to enter: Bachelor's degree
Related work experience: 5 years or more
On-the-job training: None

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where purchasing managers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	District of Columbia	$175,720	109.9	1,110	2.92×
2	New Jersey	$174,520	108.8	3,430	1.47×
3	Colorado	$171,250	103.1	1,320	0.85×
4	Massachusetts	$170,750	105.8	2,160	1.10×
5	New York	$166,300	107.9	6,930	1.32×
6	Virginia	$166,230	101.1	3,540	1.59×
7	New Hampshire	$162,900	104.2	540	1.46×
8	Washington	$162,730	107.0	1,770	0.92×
9	Maryland	$161,470	105.0	2,380	1.59×
10	Kansas	$159,850	90.1	920	1.19×
11	California	$159,830	110.7	7,470	0.76×
12	Arkansas	$156,450	86.9	930	1.32×
13	Georgia	$155,360	96.3	3,430	1.29×
14	Illinois	$153,370	100.0	4,160	1.26×
15	West Virginia	$147,220	89.5	180	0.47×
16	Minnesota	$144,810	98.6	1,340	0.84×
17	Michigan	$142,120	96.2	2,780	1.16×
18	Pennsylvania	$141,790	97.6	2,530	0.77×
19	Arizona	$138,940	100.7	1,630	0.93×
20	North Carolina	$138,710	94.3	2,670	1.00×
21	Connecticut	$138,680	103.6	1,420	1.54×
22	Oregon	$137,190	103.4	980	0.92×
23	Tennessee	$137,060	91.9	1,460	0.82×
24	Idaho	$136,970	95.5	270	0.59×
25	Maine	$135,970	97.0	170	0.48×
26	Vermont	$135,720	98.0	90	0.56×
27	New Mexico	$134,790	92.2	240	0.50×
28	Texas	$134,670	97.1	9,640	1.26×
29	Ohio	$134,580	92.8	3,490	1.16×
30	Rhode Island	$134,560	102.3	220	0.82×
31	Florida	$133,410	103.4	3,960	0.74×
32	Missouri	$132,100	90.8	960	0.60×
33	South Carolina	$131,720	93.7	830	0.66×
34	Alabama	$130,710	88.8	1,520	1.32×
35	North Dakota	$130,110	89.0	50	0.22×
36	South Dakota	$128,670	88.6	70	0.26×
37	Indiana	$126,880	93.3	1,190	0.69×
38	Utah	$125,940	98.9	510	0.54×
39	Wisconsin	$124,990	94.1	1,610	1.01×
40	Kentucky	$124,350	90.2	920	0.85×
41	Nebraska	$124,010	90.1	440	0.79×
42	Montana	$123,480	94.6	160	0.59×
43	Wyoming	$123,380	92.7	40	0.26×
44	Mississippi	$122,940	87.0	320	0.51×
45	Iowa	$121,580	87.8	610	0.72×
46	Nevada	$120,270	100.0	450	0.53×
47	Oklahoma	$119,310	87.8	480	0.52×
48	Alaska	$114,650	102.4	140	0.80×
49	Hawaii	$113,490	110.0	220	0.66×
50	Louisiana	$109,630	88.2	470	0.45×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where purchasing managers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for purchasing managers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$198,980	110.4	700	1.13×
2	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$180,340	103.2	330	2.53×
3	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$180,000	105.8	980	1.12×
4	Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR	$176,300	91.4	410	2.74×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$174,640	108.3	1,940	1.32×
6	Peoria, IL	$174,430	91.2	210	2.37×
7	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$172,150	108.9	4,180	2.46×
8	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$171,810	112.6	7,370	1.43×
9	Rochester, MN	$171,340	90.8	80	1.15×
10	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$171,280	101.1	70	0.78×
11	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$170,440	115.6	1,320	1.02×
12	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$169,520	100.1	60	0.85×
13	Ann Arbor, MI	$168,670	100.9	130	1.12×
14	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$167,860	106.9	370	1.69×
15	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$167,220	100.4	70	1.05×
16	Lexington Park, MD	$166,230	100.8	70	1.87×
17	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$165,910	100.1	2,590	1.65×
18	Manchester-Nashua, NH	$165,870	105.7	240	2.20×
19	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$165,430	111.1	1,260	1.12×
20	Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	$163,660	100.3	1,490	1.45×
21	Greeley, CO	$162,710	100.2	50	0.71×
22	Kansas City, MO-KS	$161,910	92.5	690	1.17×
23	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$161,620	98.9	80	0.91×
24	Rochester, NY	$161,120	97.0	350	1.31×
25	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$160,370	97.6	250	1.37×
26	Boulder, CO	$160,290	105.2	90	0.89×
27	Springfield, MA	$159,800	96.1	50	0.43×
28	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$158,620	111.9	680	0.82×
29	Salinas, CA	$158,550	109.0	30	0.34×
30	Worcester, MA	$157,810	102.5	130	0.70×
31	Memphis, TN-MS-AR	$156,830	92.2	240	0.72×
32	Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV	$156,730	94.2	50	0.79×
33	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$156,400	113.6	2,800	0.82×
34	Morgantown, WV	$156,230	93.3	30	0.86×
35	Wichita, KS	$155,970	88.9	160	0.97×
36	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	$155,500	102.6	1,470	0.94×
37	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$155,080	103.6	3,250	1.33×
38	Binghamton, NY	$154,610	92.9	40	0.76×
39	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$153,960	105.6	40	0.80×
40	Vallejo, CA	$153,670	108.5	50	0.63×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where purchasing managers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.

Financial Managers$166,570
Computer and Information Systems Managers$175,140
Administrative Services Managers$114,130
Industrial Production Managers$126,060
Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers$107,230
Human Resources Managers$149,280
Facilities Managers$106,660
Training and Development Managers$133,000