Human Resources Managers salary

SOC 11-3121 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$149,280

per year, nationally

Middle half

$111,110–$199,290

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

220,660

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.0%

17,900 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.

$88,200$267,810

10th: $88,200
25th: $111,110
Median: $149,280
75th: $199,290
90th: $267,810

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 human resources 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	$184,350	109.9	2,250	2.26×
2	Massachusetts	$181,780	105.8	7,540	1.46×
3	New York	$176,650	107.9	17,920	1.30×
4	New Jersey	$172,440	108.8	6,400	1.05×
5	California	$170,080	110.7	27,450	1.06×
6	Rhode Island	$167,110	102.3	530	0.74×
7	Colorado	$166,400	103.1	3,620	0.89×
8	Virginia	$165,980	101.1	5,770	0.99×
9	Connecticut	$165,930	103.6	3,020	1.25×
10	Washington	$165,530	107.0	4,560	0.90×
11	Delaware	$153,890	99.8	580	0.84×
12	Minnesota	$153,770	98.6	4,370	1.04×
13	Maryland	$152,770	105.0	3,820	0.97×
14	Illinois	$151,370	100.0	13,520	1.56×
15	Georgia	$150,700	96.3	7,270	1.05×
16	North Carolina	$142,990	94.3	6,480	0.92×
17	Oregon	$140,570	103.4	2,810	1.01×
18	Arizona	$139,820	100.7	3,950	0.86×
19	North Dakota	$139,050	89.0	290	0.47×
20	Michigan	$138,930	96.2	5,890	0.94×
21	Florida	$137,790	103.4	11,570	0.82×
22	Texas	$136,500	97.1	23,220	1.16×
23	New Hampshire	$135,000	104.2	1,150	1.19×
24	Kansas	$134,470	90.1	1,290	0.63×
25	Wisconsin	$133,490	94.1	3,730	0.89×
26	Pennsylvania	$133,060	97.6	8,230	0.96×
27	Vermont	$132,050	98.0	360	0.84×
28	Tennessee	$131,760	91.9	4,310	0.93×
29	Utah	$131,380	98.9	2,240	0.91×
30	Missouri	$130,680	90.8	3,510	0.84×
31	Ohio	$130,480	92.8	8,040	1.02×
32	Indiana	$130,340	93.3	3,030	0.67×
33	Maine	$129,720	97.0	700	0.76×
34	Alaska	$129,570	102.4	610	1.32×
35	Nebraska	$129,460	90.1	1,660	1.14×
36	Hawaii	$128,910	110.0	710	0.80×
37	Nevada	$128,550	100.0	1,520	0.69×
38	Wyoming	$127,520	92.7	140	0.34×
39	Iowa	$126,370	87.8	1,620	0.73×
40	South Carolina	$124,290	93.7	2,400	0.73×
41	Kentucky	$121,460	90.2	1,960	0.69×
42	West Virginia	$120,020	89.5	510	0.52×
43	Idaho	$119,990	95.5	1,040	0.86×
44	New Mexico	$118,070	92.2	820	0.66×
45	South Dakota	$117,930	88.6	420	0.65×
46	Oklahoma	$116,080	87.8	1,750	0.72×
47	Montana	$115,280	94.6	530	0.74×
48	Alabama	$113,210	88.8	2,160	0.72×
49	Arkansas	$108,580	86.9	1,290	0.70×
50	Louisiana	$107,880	88.2	1,390	0.50×
51	Mississippi	$106,100	87.0	720	0.43×

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 human resources managers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for human resources 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	$220,460	110.4	2,800	1.74×
2	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$209,340	115.6	4,960	1.47×
3	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$191,190	106.9	990	1.73×
4	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$185,100	112.6	18,480	1.37×
5	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$184,990	108.3	6,480	1.69×
6	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$177,960	108.9	6,280	1.41×
7	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$171,360	111.1	3,200	1.08×
8	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$170,940	105.8	2,540	1.11×
9	Midland, MI	$170,710	91.9	80	1.60×
10	Boulder, CO	$169,000	105.2	260	0.95×
11	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$168,400	113.6	9,070	1.02×
12	Napa, CA	$167,490	112.6	120	1.10×
13	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$165,790	105.6	70	0.49×
14	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$165,160	108.8	210	0.74×
15	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$164,570	109.9	130	0.94×
16	Ithaca, NY	$164,420	103.3	50	0.67×
17	Vallejo, CA	$163,560	108.5	120	0.60×
18	Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	$163,290	101.8	730	0.73×
19	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$163,190	111.9	2,300	1.05×
20	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$162,230	110.5	380	0.84×
21	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$161,720	103.2	530	1.55×
22	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$161,550	107.8	240	0.83×
23	Greeley, CO	$161,390	100.2	100	0.58×
24	Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	$161,250	100.1	5,300	1.29×
25	Yakima, WA	$160,640	95.5	50	0.37×
26	Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	$160,580	97.6	630	1.28×
27	Worcester, MA	$160,470	102.5	460	0.93×
28	Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	$159,390	104.8	3,500	1.26×
29	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$159,050	109.4	200	0.53×
30	Kingston, NY	$158,980	100.7	50	0.54×
31	Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	$158,930	97.3	2,310	1.20×
32	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$158,180	102.7	1,130	1.32×
33	Greenville, NC	$156,950	88.4	60	0.54×
34	Fort Collins-Loveland, CO	$156,820	101.1	170	0.69×
35	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$156,770	103.6	10,810	1.69×
36	Binghamton, NY	$156,640	92.9	70	0.54×
37	Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL	$156,300	100.0	260	0.76×
38	Bismarck, ND	$156,110	91.0	60	0.58×
39	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$155,360	106.7	1,300	0.85×
40	Charlottesville, VA	$155,290	99.1	150	0.95×

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 human resources 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
Facilities Managers$106,660
Purchasing Managers$148,080
Training and Development Managers$133,000