Sales Managers: Salary Overview
Sales managers coordinate an organization’s sales teams.
Their job responsibilities vary depending on the size of the organization and may include setting sales goals, and managing training programs for the organizations’ sales representatives, preparing budgets and approving expenditures, resolving customer complaints, analyzing sales statistics, projecting sales, determining discount rates, developing plans to find new customers or clients, assigning sales territories and setting quotas.
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for sales managers was $126,640 in May 2019 which means that half the workers in this profession earned less while half earned more than this amount.
Salaries vary widely in this profession, depending on the sales manager’s level of experience, education, the industry of employment, and the region.
The numbers published by BLS show that the lowest 10 percent earned less than $59,810 while the highest 10 percent earned more than $208,000.
The 25th percentile for this profession is $85,150 which means that 75% of all workers in this occupation earned more than this amount.
Sales Manager Salary by Industry
Sales managers held 405,700 jobs in 2018, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most of them being employed in the field of wholesale trade, retail trade, by companies that provide professional, scientific, and technical services, by manufacturers or by finance and insurance companies.
The wholesale trade field includes companies that purchase goods and store them in large quantities; goods that are later sold to resellers, professional users, or groups, but not the final consumer.
The median annual wage for sales managers who worked in this field was $126,060.
Businesses in retail trade sell goods to the final consumer; they are the link between manufacturers and wholesalers and the final consumer.
The industry of retail trade paid sales managers a median annual wage of $86,180 a year.
Companies that provide management of companies and enterprises services hired 31,610 sales managers and paid them, on average, with $157,740 a year as of May 2019.
Automobile dealers hired approximately 23,910 sales managers and paid them, on average, with $132,870 a year.
Businesses that provide computer systems design and related services had approximately 22,620 sales managers on their payroll who were paid, on average, with $162,290 per year.
The highest annual salaries were reported by sales managers who worked for companies in the field of securities, commodity contracts, and other financial investments and related activities.
This field hired 8,190 sales managers and paid them, on average, with $203,480 per year.
Another filed that offers an average annual wage for sales managers that is above the median for this profession is the scientific research and developmental services- a field that hired approximately 2,840 sales managers and paid them, on average, with $185,600.
Other fields that typically offer higher-than-average salaries to sales managers are agents and managers for agents, athletes, entertainers, and other related activities, the motion picture and video industries, the fruit and vegetable preserving field, and specialty food manufacturers.
However, these fields hire fewer sales managers and job openings may not occur very often.
For example, the field of agents and managers for agents, athletes, entertainers, and other related activities offered a mean annual salary for sales managers of $194,840 but hired only about 30 such professionals.
Commission, Bonuses and other Benefits
The sales manager profession is usually a well-paid occupation and sales managers typically earn a compensation package that includes a base salary plus commission on sales and other incentives.
According to payscale.com, sales managers can earn up to $31,000 per year in bonuses, $20,000 in bonus sharing, and $59,000 in commission.
However, these numbers vary depending on the sales manager’s experience, his/her education, role within the company but also based on the company’s revenue and profit.
* Based on information from the May 2023 salary report from the BLS. The figures represent accumulated data for all states of employment for Sales Managers. BLS data represents averages and medians for workers at all levels of education and experience. This data doesn't represent starting salaries.
* Employment conditions in your area may vary.