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Project managers' salaries reflect the importance of the project management profession across industries and globally. They vary from country to country and industry to industry and depend on their level of experience and certification. This article will discuss the latest project manager's pay and what could affect it.

The project management profession is rewarding, and the salaries of project management professionals are high compared to other occupations across industries and even in the same industry. These salaries could be affected by many aspects, such as:

Experience

As in other professions, the more experience a project manager has, the higher his salary. According to PMI, Glassdoor and PayScale, as expected, median salaries among project professionals tend to increase as the following:

As per PMI¹, the median salaries among project professionals tend to increase with their tenure in project management as the following:

Role or position

Various positions or roles earn differently; a portfolio manager earns more than a senior project manager, and a senior project manager earns more than a project manager. According to PMI², the annual salaries of project management professionals by position are the following:

South Africa, The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia demonstrate the most dramatic increases in median salary when going from project manager I to project manager III.

Project team size

Managing large projects sometimes leads to a higher salary than managing small projects. Managing large projects with big teams increases the salaries of project managers according to PMI³ as the following:

Project Budget

Not only does the team size affect the salaries of project managers, but also the project budget plays a significant role in the potential earnings of project managers; according to PMI⁴, the annual salaries by the average budget are the following:

PMP certification

PMP certification holders earn salaries higher than non-certified project managers across the globe, according to PMI⁵, as the following:

PMP certification holders demonstrate the most significant salary increases in South Africa, where PMP certification holders report a median salary of at least 65% higher than those who do not hold the certification.

So, in addition to these factors reported by PMI, many more factors could affect the project management professionals' salaries, such as location, industry and organisation. Still, the most critical factor is "to get certified", which is the easiest way to get an increase in your salary across all industries and help you to dive more into the world of project management and put you at the top of the candidates' list for any project management profession. To be one of the luxury communities of certified project managers, do not hesitate to contact our institute and make a step toward your project management certification.

Reference Literature:

^1,2,3,4,5PMI, Earning Power Project Management Salary Survey Thirteenth Edition, Nov 2023.