Salary by Department
The largest number of project management professionals who responded to the survey work in corporate IT departments, and they earn among the highest median salaries. IT project managers are edged out only by project managers who work in consulting or research and development departments.
Consulting: $115,500
Research & Development: $109,000
Engineering: $104,000
IT: $100,000
Project Management/PMO: $100,000
Administration/General Management: $100,000
(The survey lists 10 other departments, but those are the top five where project managers' median salaries are $100,000 or more.)
Salary by Industry
PMI's survey results indicate which industries are potentially the most lucrative for project management professionals. The nine industries that pay the most for project managers are:
Resources (Agriculture, Mining, etc.): $120,000
Consulting: $116,000
Pharmaceuticals: $110,000
Engineering: $106,000
Aerospace: $105,000
Government: $104,832
Food and beverage: $102,000
Utility: $102,000
IT: $100,422
Salary by Type of Project
Some kinds of projects appear to pay slightly more than others:
Engineering: $106,198
R&D: $106,000
Business Transformation: $105,000
Supply Chain Management/Logistics: $105,000
Construction: $102,000
IT: $100,000
Quality Management: $100,000
Regulatory Compliance: $100,000
Manufacturing: $99,800
Operations: $99,138
Salary by Size of Project Team and Size of Budget
Project managers' salaries are clearly a function of the size of their project team and the size of the project budget. The bigger the project budget and project team, the more a project manager will earn. Here are the median salaries for project managers in charge of various team sizes and project budgets:
1 to 4 project team members: $96,000
5 to 9 project team members: $100,000
10 to 14 project team members: $102,000
15 to 19 project team members: $105,000
20 or more project team members: $110,000
Budget of less than $100,000: $85,600
Budget of $100,000 to $499,999: $95,000
Budget of $500,000 to $999,999: $100,000
Budget of $1 to $10 million: $106,793
Budget of $10 million or more: $120,000
Salary by Gender
The pay disparity between men and women in project management persists, but it's not clear whether the pay gap is a result of men earning more because they're in higher-level positions and women earning less because they're in lower-level positions. (See Gender Discrimination Linked to Poor Project Management.)
The median base salary for a male project management professional is $105,000. Three-fourths of male project management professionals earn more than $87,500 per year. One-fourth earn more than $125,000 per year.
For female project management professionals, the salary figures are considerably lower. The median base salary for female project management professionals is $95,000 per year--$10,000 a year less than what men earn. Three-fourths earn more than $79,000 per year. One-fourth earn more than $112,918 per year.
PMI surveyed nearly 35,000 project management professionals in 19 countries from late October 2009 until early December 2009. The majority of survey respondents--more than 19,900--were American project management professionals. Sixty-one percent of respondents were men; 39 percent were women.
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