Project Management Specialists salary

SOC 13-1082 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$102,320

per year, nationally

Middle half

$78,440–$133,100

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

1.1M

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+5.6%

78,200 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.

$61,580$167,970

10th: $61,580
25th: $78,440
Median: $102,320
75th: $133,100
90th: $167,970

Getting in

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

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

Where project management specialists 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	Washington	$124,160	107.0	36,240	1.49×
2	New Jersey	$122,980	108.8	28,300	0.96×
3	Delaware	$122,190	99.8	1,770	0.53×
4	New York	$121,040	107.9	68,020	1.02×
5	California	$120,910	110.7	114,380	0.92×
6	Virginia	$120,840	101.1	43,860	1.56×
7	Massachusetts	$114,190	105.8	21,960	0.88×
8	Colorado	$110,050	103.1	32,390	1.64×
9	New Mexico	$106,970	92.2	4,330	0.72×
10	Oregon	$105,480	103.4	19,380	1.44×
11	Connecticut	$105,240	103.6	8,410	0.72×
12	District of Columbia	$104,900	109.9	5,170	1.07×
13	Rhode Island	$104,680	102.3	3,880	1.13×
14	Maryland	$104,040	105.0	30,530	1.61×
15	Illinois	$103,470	100.0	27,180	0.65×
16	Georgia	$102,140	96.3	28,900	0.86×
17	Maine	$101,830	97.0	2,620	0.60×
18	Michigan	$100,970	96.2	25,330	0.84×
19	Alabama	$100,820	88.8	3,190	0.22×
20	North Carolina	$100,820	94.3	36,200	1.07×
21	Pennsylvania	$100,150	97.6	36,150	0.87×
22	Kansas	$100,010	90.1	6,030	0.61×
23	Nevada	$99,940	100.0	8,290	0.78×
24	Alaska	$99,580	102.4	1,950	0.87×
25	Arizona	$99,050	100.7	22,920	1.03×
26	Texas	$98,440	97.1	138,960	1.44×
27	Florida	$98,070	103.4	76,370	1.12×
28	Minnesota	$97,860	98.6	18,850	0.93×
29	Wisconsin	$97,580	94.1	21,610	1.07×
30	Utah	$96,720	98.9	16,450	1.38×
31	Iowa	$96,540	87.8	6,720	0.63×
32	North Dakota	$96,160	89.0	2,020	0.69×
33	Ohio	$95,770	92.8	34,260	0.90×
34	Idaho	$95,630	95.5	5,750	0.98×
35	South Carolina	$95,040	93.7	17,040	1.08×
36	Indiana	$95,020	93.3	11,970	0.54×
37	Missouri	$94,660	90.8	21,460	1.07×
38	Wyoming	$94,080	92.7	1,180	0.61×
39	West Virginia	$91,780	89.5	2,520	0.52×
40	New Hampshire	$90,890	104.2	3,840	0.82×
41	Montana	$87,890	94.6	2,940	0.84×
42	Oklahoma	$86,240	87.8	11,220	0.96×
43	Tennessee	$85,890	91.9	20,780	0.92×
44	Louisiana	$84,850	88.2	8,050	0.61×
45	South Dakota	$82,250	88.6	1,310	0.42×
46	Kentucky	$81,700	90.2	10,250	0.75×
47	Vermont	$80,800	98.0	1,190	0.57×
48	Nebraska	$80,150	90.1	3,190	0.45×
49	Mississippi	$78,870	87.0	4,320	0.54×
50	Hawaii	$78,000	110.0	1,560	0.36×
51	Arkansas	$77,170	86.9	5,510	0.62×

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 project management specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for project management specialists

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	Dothan, AL	$135,260	83.8	60	0.14×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$135,120	110.4	10,300	1.32×
3	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$135,040	115.6	20,770	1.28×
4	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$130,380	111.1	26,910	1.88×
5	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$127,030	108.9	38,230	1.78×
6	New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$126,660	112.6	68,910	1.06×
7	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$125,940	100.1	1,260	1.42×
8	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$124,350	106.7	6,860	0.93×
9	Peoria, IL	$123,730	91.2	730	0.64×
10	Boulder, CO	$122,040	105.2	2,920	2.22×
11	Hanford-Corcoran, CA	$118,380	101.6	90	0.27×
12	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$117,460	111.9	10,740	1.02×
13	Warner Robins, GA	$116,980	93.8	350	0.67×
14	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$116,740	105.8	20,710	1.88×
15	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$114,990	108.3	18,840	1.02×
16	Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$113,750	103.2	1,680	1.02×
17	Huntsville, AL	$112,130	93.1	850	0.46×
18	Colorado Springs, CO	$111,740	100.7	3,200	1.48×
19	Kokomo, IN	$110,920	89.6	70	0.29×
20	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$109,990	106.9	1,960	0.71×
21	Dover, DE	$109,940	97.5	100	0.22×
22	Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY	$109,850	99.6	3,240	1.05×
23	Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT	$109,800	100.4	920	1.06×
24	Napa, CA	$109,060	112.6	310	0.57×
25	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$108,980	102.4	380	1.05×
26	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$108,730	108.6	640	0.77×
27	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$108,340	105.4	14,440	1.74×
28	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$108,310	113.6	38,540	0.90×
29	Yuba City, CA	$108,190	104.2	150	0.42×
30	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$107,340	107.8	1,000	0.71×
31	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$106,780	109.9	440	0.65×
32	Wenatchee-East Wenatchee, WA	$106,760	103.9	240	0.68×
33	Albuquerque, NM	$106,730	95.5	2,300	0.83×
34	Binghamton, NY	$106,580	92.9	540	0.82×
35	Vallejo, CA	$106,520	108.5	720	0.73×
36	Rochester, MN	$106,270	90.8	460	0.54×
37	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$106,250	108.8	1,030	0.75×
38	Decatur, AL	$106,140	87.2	100	0.24×
39	El Centro, CA	$105,860	95.2	140	0.31×
40	Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$105,720	102.7	2,920	0.71×

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 project management specialists wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

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

Business Operations Specialists, All Other$83,050
Human Resources Specialists$75,940
Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists$78,760
Management Analysts$101,860
Buyers and Purchasing Agents$77,710
Training and Development Specialists$69,280
Compliance Officers$80,730
Claims Adjusters, Examiners, and Investigators$78,000