Production Manager Salary, Skills & Requirements (2026)
Advertised pay, starting pay, skills and experience from 8,027 US job postings by 2,861 employers. Data as of October 2026.
What US employers post for production managers: advertised pay, the skills and experience they ask for, and the job titles they use, from 8,027 open job postings (October 2026).
- The median advertised pay for production managers in US job postings is $86,000 a year (1,838 postings from 731 employers, October 2026).
- The middle half of those postings offer $70,000 to $110,000.
- Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $78,000 a year (268 postings).
- The skills that most set production manager postings apart are leadership, lean manufacturing, problem-solving.
- Postings that state a minimum ask for a median of 3 years of experience.
Production Manager job postings in the US, October 2026
- $86,000
- Median advertised pay (1,838 postings)
- $70,000–$110,000
- Middle 50% of postings
- $78,000
- Starting pay (postings asking up to 1 year)
- 8,027
- US job postings from 2,861 employers
How much does a production manager make?
The median advertised pay is $86,000 a year, from 1,838 US job postings by 731 employers that state pay. One in ten postings offers $147,000 or more.
Advertised pay in 1,838 US production manager job postings: median $86,000 a year, middle half $70,000 to $110,000.
- Median: $86,000
- 25th percentile: $70,000
- 75th percentile: $110,000
The figures as a table
| Annual pay | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| $30K–$40K | 1.5% |
| $40K–$50K | 6.6% |
| $50K–$60K | 6.3% |
| $60K–$70K | 9.8% |
| $70K–$80K | 14.4% |
| $80K–$90K | 16.4% |
| $90K–$100K | 11.4% |
| $100K–$110K | 8.8% |
| $110K–$120K | 4.2% |
| $120K–$130K | 4.7% |
| $130K–$140K | 3.8% |
| $140K–$150K | 2.5% |
| $150K–$160K | 1.6% |
| $160K–$170K | 1.9% |
| $170K–$180K | 1.7% |
| $180K–$190K | 0.8% |
| $190K–$200K | 1.0% |
| $200K–$210K | 0.9% |
| $210K–$220K | 0.6% |
| $220K–$230K | 0.3% |
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 | Most common titles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postings that state an hourly rate | $25.50 | $22.75–$30.60 | 307 | Production Supervisor, Production Lead, Production Team Lead |
| Postings that state an annual salary | $92,000 | $80K–$120K | 1,278 | Production Supervisor, Production Manager, Plant Manager |
| All pay postings, annualised | $86,000 | $70K–$110K | 1,838 | – |
What is the starting salary for a production manager?
Postings that ask for up to 1 year of experience advertise a median of $78,000 a year (268 postings).
| Experience asked | Median advertised pay | Postings |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1 years | $78,000 | 268 |
| 2-4 years | $84,000 | 779 |
| 5+ years | $120,000 | 460 |
Production 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead | 7.1% | 2 years | $52,000 |
| No level in title | 90.1% | 3 years | $87,000 |
Highest-paying production manager jobs
Specializations with at least 250 postings that state pay.
| Specialization | Median pay | Postings with pay | Employers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Production Supervisor | $82,000 | 655 | 325 |
Production 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 | $96,000 | $80,000–$128,000 | 141 | 6.4% |
| Illinois | $84,000 | $70,000–$96,000 | 111 | 5.1% |
Skills employers ask for in production manager job postings
| Skill | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| Communication | 46% |
| Problem-solving | 28% |
| Leadership | 26% |
| Excel | 21% |
| Microsoft Office | 21% |
| Organizational skills | 20% |
| Interpersonal skills | 17% |
| Word | 13% |
| Analytical skills | 10% |
| Attention to detail | 9% |
Skills named in the posting text; at most 20 postings per employer; US, October 2026. Methodology.
Skills that set production managers apart
- Leadership5× as often as in all postings · 26%
- Lean manufacturing37.4× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Supervisory experience15.7× as often as in all postings · 7%
- SAP6.8× as often as in all postings · 7%
- Leadership experience10.2× as often as in all postings · 6%
Skills named in at least 5% of these postings and at least 3 times as often as in job postings overall.
Have a production manager job posting in front of you? See which of its skills your resume is missing.
What does a production manager do?
Employers post these jobs as Production Supervisor, Plant Manager, Manufacturing Supervisor, Production Lead, Production Team Lead and other titles. The largest specializations are Production Supervisor (41%), Plant Manager (12%), Production Lead (10%), Manufacturing Supervisor (9%), Manufacturing Manager (5%), Line Lead (3%).
The closest official occupation is Industrial Production Managers (11-3051.00). Its most important tasks:
- Set and monitor product standards, examining samples of raw products or directing testing during processing, to ensure finished products are of prescribed quality.
- Direct or coordinate production, processing, distribution, or marketing activities of industrial organizations.
- Review processing schedules or production orders to make decisions concerning inventory requirements, staffing requirements, work procedures, or duty assignments, considering budgetary limitations and time constraints.
- Review operations and confer with technical or administrative staff to resolve production or processing problems.
- Hire, train, evaluate, or discharge staff or resolve personnel grievances.
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 production manager?
Among 3,862 postings that state a minimum, the median is 3 years. Under 1% say 0 years and 16% ask for 1 year or less.
Minimum experience asked in 3,862 US production manager job postings: median 3 years, and 16% ask for 1 year or less.
The figures as a table
| Minimum experience asked | Share of postings |
|---|---|
| 0 yr | under 1% |
| 1 yr | 15% |
| 2 yrs | 21% |
| 3-4 yrs | 32% |
| 5-7 yrs | 26% |
| 8-9 yrs | 1% |
| 10+ yrs | 4% |
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 99% of the 575 postings that state working hours.
Other names for a production manager: job titles employers use
| Job title | Employers using it |
|---|---|
| Production Supervisor | 1,090 (38.1%) |
| Plant Manager | 425 (14.8%) |
| Production Manager | 406 (14.2%) |
| Manufacturing Supervisor | 172 (6.0%) |
| Production Lead | 110 (3.8%) |
| Production Team Lead | 90 (3.1%) |
| Manufacturing Manager | 74 (2.6%) |
| Supervisor, Production | 52 (1.8%) |
| Line Lead | 50 (1.8%) |
| 2nd Shift Production Supervisor | 44 (1.5%) |
| Assistant Plant Manager | 41 (1.4%) |
| Production Team Leader | 41 (1.4%) |
| Director of Manufacturing | 39 (1.4%) |
| Shift Supervisor | 36 (1.3%) |
| Manufacturing Operations Manager | 36 (1.3%) |
| Assembly Supervisor | 35 (1.2%) |
| Production Superintendent | 34 (1.2%) |
| Production Supervisor 2nd Shift | 33 (1.1%) |
| Machine Shop Supervisor | 32 (1.1%) |
| Manager, Production | 30 (1.1%) |
Titles read in our audit and used by at least 3 employers.
Production 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plant Manager | 684 | 425 | – | 5 years | communication, problem-solving, leadership |
Production Manager compared with similar careers
| Career | Median pay | Median experience | Postings | Shares N of top 25 skills |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production Manager | $86K | 3 years | 8,027 | – |
| Operations Manager | $85K | 3 years | 12,850 | 18 |
| Continuous Improvement Manager | $116K | 4 years | 1,509 | 15 |
| Manufacturing Engineer | $110K | 3 years | 10,109 | 14 |
| Logistics Manager | $70K | 3 years | 13,004 | 16 |
Similar careers
| Career | Shares N of the top 25 skills | Median pay |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Manager | 18 | $85K |
| Continuous Improvement Manager | 15 | $116K |
| Manufacturing Engineer | 14 | $110K |
| Logistics Manager | 16 | $70K |
| Quality Assurance Specialist | 15 | $105K |
| Production Planner | 14 | $88K |
Applying for production manager jobs?
- Production 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 production manager jobs: search open postings
Frequently asked questions
How much does a production 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 19 randomly chosen postings counted on this page in full; 19 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.