Project Management Specialists salary in the US
What do project management specialists actually earn, and how does that change with age, education and location? These figures come straight from Census survey microdata.
How much do project management specialists earn?
If you lined up all project management specialists by pay, the person in the middle would earn about $100,547 a year — 91% more than the $52,508 median for all US earners aged 25 and older. Ranked by median earnings it comes 18th out of 171, inside the top quarter of all the occupations we follow. Behind these numbers are 45,254 survey records — a large enough sample to break the results down further below.
| Position | Annual earnings |
|---|---|
| Top 10% start at | $178,986 |
| Top 25% start at | $136,431 |
| Median (top 50%) | $100,547 |
| Bottom 25% earn below | $71,068 |
How wide is the pay range?
Moving up the ladder, the top-quarter threshold is $136,431 and the top-10% threshold is $178,986, a 1.8× step up from the middle. At the other end, a quarter of project management specialists earned $71,068 or less, which partly reflects part-time and part-year work — the survey counts everyone with earnings, not only full-time staff. That leaves a 1.4-to-1 ratio between the median and the 25th percentile.
Earnings by age
Pay keeps climbing late into a career, peaking at $113,954 for workers aged 55–64 — 40% above the $81,140 median at 25–34. After the peak, the 65+ group's median falls to $91,651 (20% lower), largely because more older workers cut back their hours.
Men and women
Women in this occupation have a median of $91,651, 14% below the $106,315 men report. About 45% of the sampled workers are women, going by raw survey counts. Because these are annual totals, more part-time work in one group widens the gap; the survey doesn't adjust for that.
| Group | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| Men | $106,315 | 24,741 |
| Women | $91,651 | 20,513 |
Does education change the pay?
The spread by education is moderate — 51% between workers with a high school education or less ($81,220) and those with a doctorate ($122,891). The most common credential in the sample is a bachelor's degree, with 21,194 records. Thin cells (under 100 records) aren't shown.
| Education | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| High school or less | $81,220 | 3,389 |
| Some college / associate | $85,541 | 8,590 |
| Bachelor's | $101,525 | 21,194 |
| Master's | $116,188 | 10,797 |
| Professional degree | $111,719 | 624 |
| Doctorate | $122,891 | 660 |
Where the most work, and what they earn there
California, Texas, Florida, New York, and Illinois contribute the largest numbers of survey records for this job. Pay differs noticeably even across these five: $109,407 in California versus $91,373 in Florida. State figures aren't price-adjusted; 45 states have a large enough sample to report.
| State | Median earnings | Survey records |
|---|---|---|
| California | $109,407 | 5,424 |
| Texas | $100,547 | 4,127 |
| Florida | $91,373 | 2,506 |
| New York | $102,705 | 2,462 |
| Illinois | $99,700 | 1,835 |
Occupations with similar pay
Nearby on the pay scale are financial and investment analysts ($100,547), architects, except landscape and naval ($100,749), human resources managers ($100,232), and industrial engineers, including health and safety ($99,700). The jobs differ in training and working conditions; matching medians just means the typical paycheck is comparable.
| Occupation | Median earnings | vs. this job |
|---|---|---|
| Financial And Investment Analysts | $100,547 | 0% |
| Architects, Except Landscape And Naval | $100,749 | 0% |
| Human Resources Managers | $100,232 | 0% |
| Industrial Engineers, Including Health And Safety | $99,700 | −1% |
| Computer Programmers | $102,626 | +2% |
About these figures
How to read these numbers: they are annual personal earnings (wages plus self-employment income) for people aged 25+ who reported working as project management specialists, pooled over 2020–2024 and adjusted to 2024 dollars. Part-time and part-year workers are included. Every group shown has at least 100 survey records; 45,254 records sit behind the headline median.
See where your pay ranks among project management specialists
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Open the calculatorSource: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020–2024 5-Year Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) — personal earnings (PERNP) in 2024 dollars, person-weighted
Reference statistics only — not financial advice.