How Much Does a Project Manager Make Hourly?

Project managers are important in various industries, such as construction, computer and information systems, and engineering. A project manager tends to be a jack of all trades who knows how to see a project through from inception to completion. The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides salary information for project managers in various industries.

  1. Average Salary

    • According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Project Management Institute's 2006 report indicated that the average project manager in the U.S. made about $96,000 per year. Brian Crawford, a project manager and author of the website Entangled.com, indicates that the 2010 Project Management Institute report revealed that U.S. project managers earned $100,000 per year on average. This computes to an average hourly wage of about $48.08.

    Computer and Information Systems

    • Computer and information systems project managers are among some of the highest-paid professionals in any field. According to the bureau, the average annual salary of project managers in these fields was $123,280, or about $59.27 per hour in 2010. Of the 288,660 individuals working in this capacity, the middle 50 percent earned between $90,850 and $146,080, or about $43.68 and $70.23 per hour. The median salary was $115,780, or $55.67 per hour. The highest-paid managers made $166,400 per year, or about $80 per hour.

    Construction

    • In the construction industry, some 191,430 individuals served as project or construction managers in 2010, according to the bureau. These project managers made an average salary of $94,240 per year, or about $45.31 per hour. The middle 50 percent earned wages of $30.80 to $54.15 per hour, or salaries that ranged from $64,070 to $112,630 annually. The highest-paid construction managers made salaries of $150,250 per year, or $72.24 per hour.

    Engineering

    • Engineering is another prominent field for project managers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for engineering project managers was $125,900, or $60.53 per hour. The median salary for those working in this field was $119,260, or $57.34 per hour. The middle 50 percent earned between $45.89 and $70.76 per hour, or $95,450 and $147,180 annually.