Finance Manager Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 3,165 US job postings by 2,102 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for finance managers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 3,165 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for finance managers in US job postings is $153,000 a year (817 postings from 578 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $121,000 to $196,000.
- The skills that most set finance manager postings apart are budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 5 years of experience.
Finance Manager job postings in the US, October 2026
- $153,000
- Median advertised pay (817 postings)
- $121,000–$196,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- 3,165
- US job postings from 2,102 employers
- 5 years
- Median experience asked
How much does a finance manager make?
The median advertised pay is $153,000 a year, from 817 US job postings by 578 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $234,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 817 US finance manager job postings: median $153,000 a year, middle half $121,000 to $196,000.
- Median: $153,000
- 25th percentile: $121,000
- 75th percentile: $196,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 0.2% |
| $40K–$50K | 0.5% |
| $50K–$60K | 0.4% |
| $60K–$70K | 1.0% |
| $70K–$80K | 1.7% |
| $80K–$90K | 2.0% |
| $90K–$100K | 3.7% |
| $100K–$110K | 5.4% |
| $110K–$120K | 8.1% |
| $120K–$130K | 7.8% |
| $130K–$140K | 6.9% |
| $140K–$150K | 7.2% |
| $150K–$160K | 8.8% |
| $160K–$170K | 5.6% |
| $170K–$180K | 5.5% |
| $180K–$190K | 6.7% |
| $190K–$200K | 4.7% |
| $200K–$210K | 6.4% |
| $210K–$220K | 4.5% |
| $220K–$230K | 1.6% |
| $230K–$240K | 2.3% |
| $240K–$250K | 0.9% |
| $250K–$260K | 1.1% |
| $260K–$270K | 1.8% |
| $270K–$280K | 0.5% |
| $280K–$290K | 0.5% |
| $290K–$300K | 0.7% |
| $300K–$310K | 0.6% |
| $310K–$320K | 1.2% |
| $320K–$330K | 0.2% |
| $330K–$340K | 0.2% |
| $340K–$350K | 0.1% |
| $350K–$360K | 0.2% |
Midpoint of each posting's pay range, hourly pay × 2,080 hours; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
| Median | Middle 50% | Postings | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an annual salary | $155,000 | $125K–$195K | 783 |
| All pay postings, annualised | $153,000 | $121K–$196K | 817 |
For comparison, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the national median annual wage of Financial Managers (11-3031) at $167,000 (May 2025). Postings advertise pay; the BLS measures what people earn, across all employers and levels.
What is the starting salary for a finance manager?
Figure withheld: fewer than 250 US postings list pay. How we decide.
Finance manager levels and pay
Levels as they appear in job titles, ordered by the median experience asked.
| Level in title | Share of postings | Median experience asked | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| No level in title | 89.8% | 5 years | $150,000 |
| Senior | 8.6% | 6 years | – |
Highest-paying finance manager jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Financial Officer | $182,000 | 349 | 240 |
Finance manager pay by state
Single-location US postings; states with at least 100 postings that state pay. States with pay-transparency laws (such as California, Colorado, New York and Washington) are over-represented among postings that state pay.
| State | Median pay | Middle 50% | Postings with pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | $185,000 | $150,000–$210,000 | 123 | 14.7% |
Skills employers ask for in finance manager job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 43% |
| Excel | 31% |
| Analytical skills | 31% |
| Problem-solving | 20% |
| Leadership | 17% |
| Attention to detail | 16% |
| Budgeting | 16% |
| Organizational skills | 16% |
| Forecasting | 15% |
| Interpersonal skills | 14% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set finance managers apart
- Budgeting29.3× as often as in all postings · 16%
- Forecasting32.7× as often as in all postings · 15%
- Financial reporting50.8× as often as in all postings · 12%
- Analytical skills4.3× as often as in all postings · 31%
- Financial modeling53.3× as often as in all postings · 11%
- Internal controls65.3× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Excel3.1× as often as in all postings · 31%
- Accounting28.7× as often as in all postings · 10%
- Financial analysis29.2× as often as in all postings · 9%
- Gaap42× as often as in all postings · 8%
- Leadership3.4× as often as in all postings · 17%
- Financial planning53.8× as often as in all postings · 5%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a finance manager job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a finance manager do?
Employers post these jobs as Chief Financial Officer, Director of Finance, Director of Accounting, Senior Finance Manager, Vice President of Finance and other titles. The largest specializations are Chief Financial Officer (51%), Director of Accounting (6%), Finance Operations Manager (5%), Treasury Manager (5%), Finance Business Partner (3%), Financial Services Manager (under 1%).
The closest official occupation is Financial Managers (11-3031.00). Its most important tasks:
- Establish and maintain relationships with individual or business customers or provide assistance with problems these customers may encounter.
- Oversee the flow of cash or financial instruments.
- Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of workers in branches, offices, or departments of establishments, such as branch banks, brokerage firms, risk and insurance departments, or credit departments.
- Recruit staff members.
- Evaluate data pertaining to costs to plan budgets.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (CC BY 4.0).
How much experience do you need to be a finance manager?
Among 1,796 postings that state a minimum, the median is 5 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 3% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 1,796 US finance manager job postings: median 5 years, and 3% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 3% |
| 2 yrs | 8% |
| 3-4 yrs | 20% |
| 5-7 yrs | 41% |
| 8-9 yrs | 7% |
| 10+ yrs | 21% |
Postings that state a minimum (required or preferred); at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026.
We do not show a degree figure: in our checks, degree requirements in posting text were found too rarely to publish one. Why.
Full-time 97%, Part-time 3% of the 350 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a finance manager: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Chief Financial Officer | 341 (16.2%) |
| Director of Finance | 298 (14.2%) |
| Finance Manager | 249 (11.8%) |
| Director of Accounting | 78 (3.7%) |
| Senior Finance Manager | 73 (3.5%) |
| Vice President of Finance | 67 (3.2%) |
| Finance Director | 66 (3.1%) |
| Treasury Manager | 56 (2.7%) |
| Finance Business Partner | 48 (2.3%) |
| Chief Financial Officer (CFO) | 40 (1.9%) |
| Director, Finance | 38 (1.8%) |
| CFO | 36 (1.7%) |
| Manager, Finance | 32 (1.5%) |
| VP of Finance | 27 (1.3%) |
| Head of Finance | 27 (1.3%) |
| Financial Manager | 26 (1.2%) |
| Assistant Director of Finance | 23 (1.1%) |
| Sr. Finance Manager | 23 (1.1%) |
| Vice President, Finance | 22 (1.1%) |
| VP, Finance | 22 (1.1%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Finance manager job titles compared
The titles people search for most, from the US job postings that use each exact title (October 2026).
| Job title | Open postings | Employers | Median pay | Median experience | Skills named most |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chief Financial Officer | 471 | 341 | – | 7 years | communication, leadership, budgeting |
| Director of Finance | 420 | 298 | – | 5 years | communication, analytical skills, Excel |
Finance Manager compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finance Manager | $153K | 5 years | 3,165 | – |
| Financial Analyst | $104K | 3 years | 6,643 | 17 |
| Accountant | $100K | 3 years | 24,685 | 16 |
| Auditor | $105K | 3 years | 2,851 | 16 |
| Accounting Clerk | $24.00/hr | 2 years | 9,552 | 12 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Analyst | 17 | $104K |
| Accountant | 16 | $100K |
| Auditor | 16 | $105K |
| Accounting Clerk | 12 | $24.00/hr |
| Investment Banker | 16 | $186K |
| Operations Manager | 13 | $85K |
Applying for finance manager jobs?
- Finance manager resume examples: one-page examples for these roles
- Match your resume to a job: paste a posting and see the skills your resume is missing
- Check your resume: see how an applicant tracking system reads it
- Find finance manager jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a finance manager make?
Source and method
Open US job postings collected from employers' applicant tracking systems, de-duplicated, counted only when their job title was read in our audit. Shares count at most 20 postings per employer, and franchise locations of one brand count as one employer. Pay uses hourly and annual figures only; a figure is shown when leaving out the largest employer moves it by 10% or less. Every figure states its number of postings. Methodology and measured accuracy.
Accuracy check: we read 18 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 17 of them were this career or a closely related one (October 2026).
Download the figures on this page (CSV): every number above with its count of postings. Aggregate figures are licensed CC BY 4.0; cite the page when you reuse them.