How much do operations managers make?

Operations Manager salary 2026 · BLS occupation: General and Operations Managers (SOC 11-1021) · Updated October 28, 2026

Answer

Operations managers in the US earned a median of $105,770 a year ($50.85 an hour) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned $72,320 to $167,280.

Median annual pay: $105,770; Mean $134,940
Median hourly pay: $50.85; Mean $64.87
Typical range (10th–90th): $50.1K–$253K; $50,090 to $253,390
US jobs: 3,503,020; +5.0% projected, 2025–35

BLS OEWS, May 2025, released April 30, 2026. Wages include tips, commissions and production bonuses but not overtime premiums, shift differentials, other bonuses or benefits; self-employed workers are not included. Methodology

How to become an operations manager: steps, years and cost · Best-paying state after cost of living: New Jersey

Operations Manager pay range

Annual wages, May 2025

10th percentile$50,090
25th percentile$72,320
Median$105,770
75th percentile$167,280
90th percentile$253,390

Half of all operations managers earned more than $105,770 and half earned less. The lowest-paid 10% made under $50,090; the top 10% made over $253,390. The middle 50%, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, ran from $72,320 to $167,280.

These percentiles describe everyone in the occupation at one time. They are not pay steps by years of experience: they mix new and senior workers, different states, employers and hours. Pay generally rises with experience, credentials and specialization, but BLS does not publish pay by experience.

Percentile	Annual	Hourly	Monthly
10th	$50,090	$24.08	$4,174
25th	$72,320	$34.77	$6,027
Median (50th)	$105,770	$50.85	$8,814
75th	$167,280	$80.42	$13,940
90th	$253,390	$121.82	$21,116
Mean (average)	$134,940	$64.87	$11,245

Operations Manager salary by state

Median annual pay; cost of living from BEA regional price parities 2024

Median annual pay for operations managers by state. Darker tiles pay more.

Highest-paying states

1. New Jersey $173,690
2. District of Columbia $168,000
3. South Dakota $137,400
4. Connecticut $137,220
5. Delaware $137,220

Lowest-paying states

51. Arkansas $74,050
50. Missouri $79,300
49. Kentucky $79,370
48. Idaho $80,390
47. West Virginia $82,500

Best after cost of living: New Jersey. Its median of $173,690 is worth about $159,634 at national-average prices.


Alabama	$111,790	17	$125,857	8	$53.75	30,170	14.27
Alaska	$116,630	16	$113,942	19	$56.07	6,020	18.48
Arizona	$94,800	41	$94,163	46	$45.58	110,480	34.10
Arkansas	$74,050	51	$85,177	50	$35.60	34,570	26.52
California	$124,390	11	$112,346	22	$59.81	300,840	16.52
Colorado	$131,840	7	$127,935	6	$63.39	41,870	14.57
Connecticut	$137,220	4	$132,439	5	$65.97	39,070	23.03
Delaware	$137,220	5	$137,484	4	$65.97	5,000	10.31
District of Columbia	$168,000	2	$152,865	3	$80.77	36,150	51.49
Florida	$101,580	30	$98,227	43	$48.84	236,290	23.80
Georgia	$103,730	23	$107,723	25	$49.87	111,060	22.72
Hawaii	$108,180	18	$98,389	42	$52.01	13,380	21.32
Idaho	$80,390	48	$84,183	51	$38.65	24,880	29.01
Illinois	$103,570	24	$103,614	31	$49.80	171,300	28.09
Indiana	$108,170	19	$115,902	16	$52.01	47,180	14.74
Iowa	$87,690	45	$99,918	39	$42.16	30,760	19.73
Kansas	$92,840	42	$103,078	33	$44.63	24,660	17.16
Kentucky	$79,370	49	$88,033	48	$38.16	52,100	26.04
Louisiana	$101,790	29	$115,399	17	$48.94	43,220	22.34
Maine	$98,860	35	$101,865	35	$47.53	14,770	23.05
Maryland	$117,930	14	$112,358	21	$56.70	96,740	35.01
Massachusetts	$127,220	9	$120,295	13	$61.16	95,880	26.36
Michigan	$99,530	32	$103,443	32	$47.85	85,860	19.50
Minnesota	$99,340	34	$100,729	36	$47.76	72,860	24.70
Mississippi	$106,680	21	$122,687	10	$51.29	10,630	9.14
Missouri	$79,300	50	$87,318	49	$38.12	109,020	37.13
Montana	$91,380	43	$96,550	44	$43.93	11,840	23.15
Nebraska	$85,090	46	$94,436	45	$40.91	24,030	23.46
Nevada	$99,390	33	$99,411	40	$47.79	38,920	25.08
New Hampshire	$124,680	10	$119,695	14	$59.94	22,110	32.36
New Jersey	$173,690	1	$159,634	1	$83.51	53,000	12.37
New Mexico	$98,630	37	$106,960	27	$47.42	16,330	18.75
New York	$130,860	8	$121,255	11	$62.91	206,740	21.34
North Carolina	$101,950	28	$108,083	24	$49.01	63,740	12.90
North Dakota	$98,170	38	$110,354	23	$47.20	11,150	25.96
Ohio	$97,700	40	$105,310	30	$46.97	153,160	27.60
Oklahoma	$90,430	44	$102,945	34	$43.48	43,890	25.70
Oregon	$103,490	25	$100,125	38	$49.76	36,190	18.40
Pennsylvania	$103,130	27	$105,696	29	$49.58	172,010	28.36
Rhode Island	$117,380	15	$114,763	18	$56.43	9,150	18.24
South Carolina	$106,080	22	$113,153	20	$51.00	32,230	13.98
South Dakota	$137,400	3	$155,104	2	$66.06	4,280	9.36
Tennessee	$106,970	20	$116,436	15	$51.43	63,720	19.43
Texas	$103,230	26	$106,360	28	$49.63	431,310	30.65
Utah	$97,850	39	$98,974	41	$47.04	42,580	24.53
Vermont	$98,640	36	$100,696	37	$47.42	8,000	26.32
Virginia	$122,080	12	$120,747	12	$58.69	103,590	25.21
Washington	$133,750	6	$124,985	9	$64.30	50,630	14.26
West Virginia	$82,500	47	$92,182	47	$39.66	15,300	21.80
Wisconsin	$118,730	13	$126,181	7	$57.08	36,910	12.55
Wyoming	$99,700	31	$107,562	26	$47.93	7,470	26.62

BLS OEWS, May 2025, state estimates. Adjusted pay = median ÷ (state price level ÷ 100), using BEA regional price parities for 2024; it ignores taxes. Figures for states with few workers in the occupation have larger survey errors and can change sharply from one year to the next. “—” means BLS did not publish the figure. State names link to each state’s highest-paying jobs.

Best-paying metro areas for operations managers

386 metro areas with published pay

Highest median pay
Metro area	Median	Adjusted	Jobs
Trenton-Princeton, NJ	$181,450	$175,858	3,100
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$163,860	$148,393	17,230
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$157,000	$139,477	177,850
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$156,460	$143,694	112,530
Boulder, CO	$152,100	$144,579	2,750
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$149,990	$129,735	43,520
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	$148,080	$144,122	13,370
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$146,030	$131,401	29,370
Sioux Falls, SD-MN	$142,730	$157,485	1,730
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$142,330	$134,550	22,940

Most jobs
Metro area	Jobs	Median	Adjusted
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	177,850	$157,000	$139,477
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	125,090	$111,010	$107,683
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	122,930	$109,390	$105,594
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	112,530	$156,460	$143,694
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	104,610	$125,830	$110,799
Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX	97,320	$119,600	$121,263
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ	81,520	$98,610	$95,445
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	74,960	$105,640	$92,541
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	70,950	$133,800	$123,585
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	69,320	$111,410	$111,345

BLS OEWS, May 2025, metropolitan statistical areas; adjusted with BEA metro price parities (2024).

What moves operations manager pay: employers and settings

Industry matters more than almost anything else in this job, because the title covers everyone from a restaurant GM to a director of operations at a software firm. In restaurants and other eating places, the largest single employer group, the median is $64,320. Medians are far higher in management of companies and enterprises ($165,260), computer systems design ($157,700) and management and technical consulting ($151,280). Local government pays a median of $130,630 and the federal government $161,470 compared with $104,240 for private employers.

The overall spread is wide: 10th percentile $50,090, 90th percentile $253,390, a gap of about five times. Percentiles rank everyone in the occupation by pay; they are not experience levels. Much of the spread comes from the mix of industries and employers, and the title covers very different jobs, from running one store to overseeing a whole division.

Location also counts. The highest state medians are New Jersey at $173,690, then the District of Columbia at $168,000, followed by South Dakota. At the low end are Kentucky at $79,370, Missouri at $79,300, and Arkansas ($74,050). Texas, with 431,310 jobs, has the most positions.

Where operations managers work
Industry	Share of jobs	Median pay
Restaurants and Other Eating Places	4.7%	$64,320
Management, Scientific, and Technical Consulting Services	4%	$151,280
Management of Companies and Enterprises	3.6%	$165,260
Computer Systems Design and Related Services	2.7%	$157,700
Local Government, excluding Schools and Hospitals	2.3%	$130,630
Building Equipment Contractors	2.2%	$111,450

Private employers and government
Employer type	Jobs	Median pay
Private employers	3,338,850	$104,240
Federal government (incl. Postal Service)	37,160	$161,470
State government (incl. schools and hospitals)	37,190	$126,590
Local government (incl. schools and hospitals)	89,810	$131,410

BLS OEWS, May 2025, national industry-specific and ownership estimates (4-digit NAICS).

Operations Manager pay over time

Median annual pay, 2015–2025

$106K $97.7K

2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025

Nominal median (dollars of each year)In May 2025 dollars (adjusted with CPI-U)

The median rose from $97,730 in 2015 to $105,770 in 2025, up 8% in nominal dollars. After inflation, the 2015 median is worth $132,111 in May 2025 dollars, so real pay fell 20% over the period.

BLS OEWS, May 2025 and earlier May releases; inflation from the CPI-U, US city average, May of each year.

What operations managers do

An operations manager keeps an organization's daily work running: people are scheduled, supplies arrive, budgets hold and customers get what was promised. In federal statistics the job sits under general and operations managers, a category that also covers general managers (GMs), directors of operations, store and district managers, plant superintendents and business managers.

The scope depends on the size of the place. At a single restaurant or branch office, the operations manager may hire, train, order stock and step in on the floor when someone calls out. At a large company, a director of operations oversees several departments or sites through their supervisors and spends more time on budgets, metrics and planning. The biggest employers are retailers, professional and technical services firms, construction, wholesale trade and manufacturing, plus restaurants, consulting firms and corporate headquarters. They work alongside finance, HR, sales and purchasing staff, and report to owners, executives or a board. Most work full time, and evenings, weekends and travel between locations are common.

A typical day

Check sales, cost and productivity reports and decide where to cut waste or add staff
Build staff schedules and hand out assignments to supervisors and teams
Set and track the operating budget for a site, region or the whole business
Hire, train and evaluate supervisors and frontline employees
Negotiate with suppliers and follow up when deliveries are late or over budget
Write or update policies and procedures with owners and other department heads
Handle escalated problems: equipment breakdowns, customer complaints, safety incidents

Also called: general manager, director of operations, business manager, center manager, department manager, district manager, general manager (gm), operations director.

How to become an operations manager

Full guide

BLS lists a bachelor's degree, often in business, plus 5 or more years of related experience, often including supervision, as the typical entry route. No license is required, and many managers are promoted from within with less formal education.

Typical time: About 9 years (4-year degree plus 5 or more years of experience); Fastest: About 5 years (promotion from a frontline or supervisor job, no degree)
Minimum education: Bachelor's degree, usually in business administration, management or a field related to the industry (some employers promote experienced supervisors without one)
License: Not licensed (certification optional)
Typical training cost: $0–$72.1K; See the guide for what it includes

Read the step-by-step guide to becoming an operations manager: each step with its time and cost, education options, exams, licensing and advancement.

Is it worth it? Training cost against pay

Compare careers

Training time: About 9 years (4-year degree plus 5 or more years of experience); Typical path in our guide
Training cost: $0–$72.1K; Tuition and exam fees, before aid
Median pay: $105,770; $54,790 above the all-jobs median ($50,980)
Cost vs. one year's pay: 0–68%; Training cost as a share of a year at the median

Once qualified, the pay difference over the typical US job at the median ($54,790 a year before tax) would repay the training cost in less than a year to 1.3 years after training ends (about 9 years (4-year degree plus 5 or more years of experience) in our guide). This is a rough guide: it ignores taxes, financial aid, interest, earnings given up while training and how pay changes over a career. How we calculate ROI.

Job outlook for operations managers

BLS Employment Projections 2025–35

Projected growth: +5.0%; All occupations +3.5%
Jobs in 2025: 3,599,000; 3,780,300 projected for 2035
Openings each year: 285,000; New jobs plus replacements
Self-employed: 0.8%; Not in the pay figures above

BLS projects employment of general and operations managers to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, from 3,599,000 to 3,780,300 jobs, faster than the 3.5% expected across all occupations. That growth adds up, but many of the 285,000 openings a year will come from replacing managers who retire or switch to other occupations. BLS ties demand to organizations needing people who can keep many moving parts coordinated. Because the occupation is so large and found in nearly every industry, openings are spread widely rather than concentrated in a few sectors.

Related careers and their pay

Project Manager$102,320
Construction Manager$114,990
Business Analyst$101,860
Chief Executives$213,990
Administrative Services Managers$114,130

Related occupations from O*NET 31.0; median annual pay from BLS OEWS, May 2025.

Operations Manager salary FAQ

How much do operations managers make an hour?

The median hourly wage for operations managers was $50.85 in May 2025. The lowest-paid 10% earned less than $24.08 an hour and the highest-paid 10% more than $121.82. Hourly figures are BLS estimates for all workers in the occupation, full-time and part-time.

Which state pays operations managers the most?

New Jersey has the highest median pay for operations managers, $173,690 a year, followed by District of Columbia ($168,000) and South Dakota ($137,400). After adjusting for each state's price level, New Jersey comes out ahead at about $159,634 in national-average dollars.

Do operations managers make $200,000 a year?

Some do: based on the BLS percentiles, between 10% and 25% of operations managers earn more than $200,000 a year. The median is $105,770, and the top 10% earn more than $253,390. Pay generally rises with experience, specialization and location.

What is the difference between an operations manager and a general manager?

In many companies the titles describe the same job, and BLS counts both in one occupation. Where they differ, a general manager usually has full responsibility for a business unit or location, including sales and profit, while an operations manager focuses on how the work gets done: staffing, processes, supplies and cost. In small businesses one person often does both, and the director of operations title is common for the same role at a larger scale.

Which industries pay operations managers the most?

Among the industries with the most of these jobs, management of companies and enterprises has the highest median at $165,260. Computer systems design follows at $157,700 and management, scientific and technical consulting at $151,280. Local government comes in at $130,630. Restaurants employ the most operations and general managers, but their median is $64,320. That large, lower-paid group helps pull the overall figure down.

Is being an operations manager stressful?

It can be. Operations managers answer for results they only partly control, such as staffing gaps, supplier delays and equipment failures, and problems tend to land on them first. BLS, which groups general and operations managers with top executives, says the work may be stressful because the organization's results tend to fall on these managers. Many work more than 40 hours a week, including evenings and weekends, and frequent travel to meetings or other offices is part of the job.

Sources

Data updated October 28, 2026 · Text checked against its sources October 28, 2026

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, released April 30, 2026, SOC 11-1021
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035, released September 2026
O*NET 31.0 Database (11-1021.00), U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0; tasks rewritten by Careers and Salaries
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities by state and metro area, 2024
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), US city average, May values
U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard field-of-study and institution data, most recent cohorts, released 2026-10-15
Top Executives, Occupational Outlook Handbook, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · checked October 28, 2026
General and Operations Managers (11-1021.00), O*NET OnLine · checked October 28, 2026
Six Sigma Green Belt Certification (CSSGB), ASQ · checked October 28, 2026
PMP Examination Content Outline and Handbook (eligibility and fees sections), Project Management Institute · checked October 28, 2026
AACSB-Accredited Schools, AACSB International · checked October 28, 2026
Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM) Program overview, Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM Midwest Gateway chapter) · checked October 28, 2026
License Finder, CareerOneStop, U.S. Department of Labor · checked October 28, 2026
Recertification, ASQ · checked October 28, 2026

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