General and Operations Managers: salary, outlook & degrees
Plan, direct, or coordinate the operations of public or private sector organizations, overseeing multiple departments or locations. Duties and responsibilities include formulating policies, managing daily operations, and planning the use of materials and human resources, but are too diverse and general in nature to be classified in any one functional area of management or administration, such as personnel, purchasing, or administrative services. Usually manage through subordinate supervisors. Excludes First-Line Supervisors.
Middle half $72,320–$167,280. 3,503,020 jobs.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
51% hold a bachelor's or higher. Those with one: $79,431.
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata, workers with at least a high school diploma; EducationGuide calculation
About 285,000 openings a year, including replacements.
BLS Employment Projections 2025-35
Considerable preparation (usually a bachelor's).
BLS; O*NET 31.0 job zone
Degrees that lead to this career
What workers ages 25-34 in this job studied, among those with a bachelor's or higher. This is what people actually did, not a requirement.
| Field of bachelor's degree | Share | Degree pages |
|---|---|---|
| Business Management And Administration | 10% | Business Administration |
| General Business | 6% | Business |
| Psychology | 5% | Psychology |
| Marketing And Marketing Research | 4% | Marketing · Specialized Sales, Merchandising and Marketing Operations |
| Communications | 4% | Communications · Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs, Other |
| Finance | 4% | Finance · Insurance |
| Physical Fitness Parks Recreation And Leisure | 3% | Kinesiology / Exercise Science · Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies |
| Political Science And Government | 3% | Political Science |
| Economics | 3% | Economics |
| Hospitality Management | 3% | Hospitality Management |
Census ACS 2020-2024 microdata (ages 25-34, employed, bachelor's or higher; top 10 fields); EducationGuide calculation.
Education workers say the job requires
O*NET 31.0 survey of workers (“required level of education”); small samples, so treat shares as approximate.
Pay by state and metro
| State | Median wage |
|---|---|
| New Jersey | $173,690 |
| District of Columbia | $168,000 |
| South Dakota | $137,400 |
| Connecticut | $137,220 |
| Delaware | $137,220 |
| Washington | $133,750 |
| Colorado | $131,840 |
| New York | $130,860 |
| Massachusetts | $127,220 |
| New Hampshire | $124,680 |
| California | $124,390 |
| Virginia | $122,080 |
| Wisconsin | $118,730 |
| Maryland | $117,930 |
| Rhode Island | $117,380 |
| Alaska | $116,630 |
| Alabama | $111,790 |
| Hawaii | $108,180 |
| Indiana | $108,170 |
| Tennessee | $106,970 |
| Mississippi | $106,680 |
| South Carolina | $106,080 |
| Georgia | $103,730 |
| Illinois | $103,570 |
| Oregon | $103,490 |
| Texas | $103,230 |
| Pennsylvania | $103,130 |
| North Carolina | $101,950 |
| Louisiana | $101,790 |
| Florida | $101,580 |
| Wyoming | $99,700 |
| Michigan | $99,530 |
| Nevada | $99,390 |
| Minnesota | $99,340 |
| Maine | $98,860 |
| Vermont | $98,640 |
| New Mexico | $98,630 |
| North Dakota | $98,170 |
| Utah | $97,850 |
| Ohio | $97,700 |
| Arizona | $94,800 |
| Kansas | $92,840 |
| Montana | $91,380 |
| Oklahoma | $90,430 |
| Iowa | $87,690 |
| Nebraska | $85,090 |
| VI | $82,850 |
| West Virginia | $82,500 |
| Idaho | $80,390 |
| Kentucky | $79,370 |
| Missouri | $79,300 |
| Arkansas | $74,050 |
| PR | $73,570 |
| GU | $67,690 |
Florida metro areas
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach$105,640
- Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater$103,670
- Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford$100,440
- Jacksonville$100,870
- North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota$94,900
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers$94,730
- Lakeland-Winter Haven$96,220
- Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville$101,830
Virginia metro areas
- Washington-Arlington-Alexandria$156,460
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk$100,340
- Richmond$108,670
- Roanoke$98,140
- Charlottesville$107,200
- Kingsport-Bristol$97,450
- Lynchburg$95,040
- Winchester$98,670
California metro areas
- Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim$125,830
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont$149,990
- San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad$119,600
- Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario$102,260
- Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom$118,460
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara$163,860
- Fresno$101,010
- Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura$103,870
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: median annual wage, all workers in the job. Metro areas: the largest by employment.
What the work takes
Top skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Monitoring
- Critical Thinking
Knowledge used
- Administration and Management
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Mathematics
Work styles
- Leadership Orientation
- Dependability
- Integrity
- Achievement Orientation
- Self-Confidence
People in this job tend to have Enterprising (leading), Conventional (organizing) interests.
O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0): skills and knowledge by importance; work styles; interest high points.
General and Operations Managers: questions
How much do general and Operations Managers make?
General and Operations Managers earn a U.S. median $105,770 a year; the middle half earn $72,320 to $167,280 (BLS, May 2025). Workers ages 25-34 in this job earn a median $69,208 (Census ACS 2020-2024).
Is general and Operations Managers a growing field?
BLS projects growth of 5.0% from 2025 to 2035, with about 285,000 openings a year, including replacements.
What degree do you need to be a general and Operations Manager?
BLS lists the typical entry education as bachelor's degree. In O*NET's survey, 28% of workers say a bachelor's or higher is required. Among workers ages 25-34 with a bachelor's, the most common field of degree is business Management And Administration (10%).
How much do general and Operations Managers make in Florida?
The median in Florida is $101,580 a year (BLS, May 2025), compared with $105,770 nationally.
Sources: Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS May 2025; Employment Projections 2025-35); O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); U.S. Census Bureau ACS microdata. SOC 11-1021. Method
Data: JSON · Markdown · all careers
Cite this: “General and Operations Managers: salary, outlook and degrees,” EducationGuide.com, https://educationguide.com/careers/general-and-operations-managers.