Product Manager Salary Projections

​The product manager job market is booming! Salaries have increased steadily, more PM positions are created daily, and top-tier business programs are shifting their curricula to accommodate the PM surge. CEO of ECA Partners, Ken Kanara, explores the PM role as a potential exit point for consultants looking to exit their firms in his article “Why Consultants Make Great Product Managers.”

This year, Glassdoor named program management as one of the top 10 best jobs in the United States. In the US the median annual income of a PM is $116,000 USD, although the range of salaries includes entry level associates making approximately $86,000 USD all the way to CPOs making more than $200,000 USD. As such, it is no surprise that elite MBA programs—including those at Harvard, Cornell, and Carnegie Mellon—are increasingly offering courses and specialization tracks in product management. This month, MIT’s Sloan School of Management also launched a Digital Product Management Certificate Program to respond to industry’s growing demand.

One report cited an increase in PM roles as growing over 30%in a two-year period. Handsome salaries are not the only culprits for the growing popularity of PM positions. A recent study found that part of the PM surge is that PMs advance at faster rates than their professional counterparts; PMs are becoming C-suite executives at the median age of 41, ten years sooner than C-suite executives coming from other positions. Over the last five years, McKinsey & Company has been reporting an increase in the PM to CEO pipeline, especially in tech companies. In terms of accelerating your salary’s growth potential, experts are advising for PMs to learn coding languages (SQL, Python, Java), implement Agile work environments, stay up to date on data analytics, consider PMP certification programs, and form strong relationships with your clients.

For more information on available PM positions, check out ECA’s website.