How Much Money Can You Make as a Project Manager?

Everyone wants to know one thing:

“How much money can I make?” 💰

And if you are in project management, I hate to break it to you but the answer isn’t so cut and dry.

Salaries can be across the board.

Recently, I came across a Forbes article which gave me reason to pause.

Here’s an excerpt:

“According to PMI, non-certified project managers in the U.S. earn a median annual salary of $93,000. PMPs earn a median wage of $123,000 per year—a 32% increase over their non-certified colleagues.”

You might read this and decide to go out and get your PMP based on that statement alone - certification is how you will make more money, right??

❌ Not necessarily.

While it may be true overall regarding the relationship between certification and increased earning, the answer to making more money does not lie in this decision point alone.

And this is precisely where people can become misguided.

The truth is, there are many other factors at play when it comes to how much money you will make.

This is why there are plenty of PMPs who make less and there are plenty of non-PMPs who make more.

Ultimately, it's up to YOU to create a strategy that makes sense for your goals.

Here are a few other factors to consider:

➡ Industry
➡ Official title
➡ Experience level
➡ Location
➡ Size of company

💡 You can read more about all of these factors and how they impact overall salary in the PMI Report “Earning Power: Project Management Salary Survey—Twelfth Edition.”

So as you are navigating your project management journey, please consider there’s much more to it than deciding which certification to get.

Please note: this is not a post about whether you should get certified or not. This is a post about critical thinking and making informed decisions. ⭐