The average property manager salary is soaring as more people rent apartments and homes instead of buying. High real estate prices are forcing many people to rent, even temporarily, causing some states to add as many as 75,000 new apartments in 2021.
If you’re interested in the industry, you’ll want to know the average project management payscale, entry-level pay, mid-level pay, and senior position pay.
What Do Project Managers Do?
Rental properties require time and attention. A property manager’s duties are many and include:
- Marketing the property
- Filling vacant units with new tenants
- Negotiating and enforcing leases
- Handling maintenance requests
- Collecting rent
- Setting rent
- Possibly setting the budget for the property
- Scheduling lawn care, garbage pickup and security
Property managers provide oversight of one or multiple properties. These professionals work on behalf of owners and investors to ensure that a property is well-run and generating money.
Interestingly, out of over 4,600 survey responses, around 75% of property managers are females.
Property Manager Pay Statistics
How much do property managers make? It depends on many factors.
For example, are you entering an entry-level or senior position? What state are you working in? How big is the property you’ll be managing?
However, we do have averages that can help us better understand the going rate for the industry.
Note: Our averages are based on multiple data sources, including PayScale, Indeed, GlassDoor, Salary.com and others.
The PayScale
Property managers make a good living, and senior positions are the best paid. However, we do have a lot of base salary data available to determine the true salary range for property managers:
Property Manager Entry Level Pay
If you’re just entering the field, you can expect to have an entry-level salary of $34,000 to $78,000. However, the high range is uncommon outside some of the largest cities in the country. Instead, if we average these salaries, project managers can expect to earn an average pay of $52,000.
Property Manager Mid-Level Pay
After you have experience in the industry, you can move up to mid-level pay and get a significant boost in your salary. These salaries range from $51,000 to $104,000. Again, the higher figure is not the norm outside of the most expensive cities in the country.
Instead, a more realistic pay for this position is $59,000 – $62,000.
Senior Property Manager Pay
Senior property managers earn a much higher salary than entry- and mid-level positions. These professionals can demand a salary of $76,000 to $135,000. Averaging out the pay, we come to $98,000 for a senior property manager.
Additional Property Manager Compensation
Property managers are a crucial cog in the running and management of commercial and residential properties. The figures above are for base salaries, but many managers earn compensation in other ways to increase their yearly compensation.
A few of the ways that property managers earn additional compensation include:
- Bonuses. Depending on the property owners, they may provide bonuses for doing exceptional work. The bonus range is vast, going from $500 to $10,000 in additional bonus compensation.
- Commission. The commission that the manager makes is between $600 and $10,000.
- Profit sharing. Some companies will even offer profit sharing to managers, and this can range from $500 to $7,000 or more.
Depending on the company or investor you work for, you may or may not receive additional compensation. The additional compensation is a nice added perk that often doesn’t get included into the base salary, but it does add up.
How to Become a Property Manager
Does real estate interest you? If so, working as a property manager may be a good fit for you. The field is in high demand, and if you have a drive and passion for the industry, you’ll be entering a great career.
To become a property manager, you’ll need to meet the following requirements:
- Age: 18 – 21, depending on the state
- Education: High School diploma or higher
- Citizenship: Legal or permanent residency
- Licensing: May require real estate licensing exam completion
Some states require you to be licensed, while others do not. Many professionals in this position will enter the industry as a leasing agent before going into property management, but this isn’t a requirement.
Additional skills that you’ll need to demonstrate are:
- Strong communication
- Marketing
- Customer service
- Organizational
Certifications, namely your NALP ®, CAM ®, MPM ® or CPM® or similar, can help you land a position and be seen as a more valuable candidate.
You can read our complete guide to starting your property management career here.
Property Management Career Paths
Property management is an in-demand industry with multiple career paths that can be followed if you want to move into more of a lead role. Many managers will enter their position as entry-level project managers, and when they move to mid-level managers, they can take three main paths:
- Senior property manager
- Commercial property manager
- Regional property manager
If you choose to move into a regional position, you’ll be a leader who oversees multiple properties in a larger area. You may be more hands-off and deal with the management side of things. You’ll have multiple project managers who answer to you as a regional leader, and you’ll need to step in and solve complex issues.
You’ll also be responsible for filling vacant property manager positions.
From here, you may move into:
- Director of property management
- Vice president of operations
If you’re a leader who doesn’t mind taking control and managing teams under you, moving to a regional property management position is a good option. However, it’s crucial to have years of experience before attempting to land a regional role.
Regional roles are very competitive and demand an exceptional track record to be considered for the position.
However, a Director of Property management position will pay up to $144,000 or more, so it’s worthwhile to apply if you like being a leader and want to maximize your earnings.
A career as a property manager is demanding, but it’s an industry with high demand and great potential. And as you move up in your role, you can make a six-figure property manager salary, and receive great additional compensation.