Information Technology Project Managers: Career Overview
Plan, initiate, and manage information technology (IT) projects. Lead and guide the work of technical staff. Serve as liaison between business and technical aspects of projects. Plan project stages and assess business implications for each stage. Monitor progress to assure deadlines, standards, and cost targets are met.
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What Do Information Technology Project Managers Take On?
The day-to-day responsibilities of information technology project managers span:
- Manage project execution to ensure adherence to budget, schedule, and scope.
- Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems.
- Monitor or track project milestones and deliverables.
- Submit project deliverables, ensuring adherence to quality standards.
- Assess current or future customer needs and priorities by communicating directly with customers, conducting surveys, or other methods.
- Initiate, review, or approve modifications to project plans.
- Schedule and facilitate meetings related to information technology projects.
- Direct or coordinate activities of project personnel.
Skills and Knowledge
Top information technology project managers rely on a mix of skills and domain knowledge.
Key Skills
The competencies that matter most in this role, rated on an importance scale of 0 to 5:
Core Knowledge
Related Job Titles
This career also goes by job titles like:
- Application Development Director
- Application Manager
- Cloud Product Director
- Computer Project Manager
- Cyber IT Knowledge Manager
- Cybersecurity Project Manager
- Cybersecurity Scrum Master
- Data Center Product Director
Employment and Demand
There are about 562,496 information technology project managers working in the United States today. Demand is forecast to decline by -3.4% over the projection horizon.
Salary for Information Technology Project Managers
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Annual median | $124,655 |
| Hourly median | $59.93 |
| 10th percentile | $69,930 |
| 25th percentile | $97,293 |
| 75th percentile | $152,018 |
| 90th percentile | $179,380 |
Wages vary widely based on experience, location, and industry.
Information Technology Project Managers Salary by State
| State | Annual median salary |
|---|---|
| Virgin Islands | $179,830 |
| Maryland | $141,540 |
| District of Columbia | $137,610 |
| Virginia | $132,810 |
| Delaware | $132,670 |
| Washington | $131,800 |
| California | $128,750 |
| Colorado | $119,560 |
| West Virginia | $113,030 |
| Hawaii | $112,050 |
| Arizona | $112,010 |
| Vermont | $109,220 |
| Texas | $108,170 |
| North Carolina | $106,240 |
| Massachusetts | $105,890 |
| New York | $105,210 |
| Ohio | $104,330 |
| Alabama | $104,330 |
| South Carolina | $104,330 |
| New Jersey | $103,910 |
| Iowa | $103,690 |
| Oregon | $102,940 |
| Florida | $102,750 |
| New Mexico | $102,500 |
| Pennsylvania | $102,330 |
| Michigan | $102,300 |
| Maine | $101,760 |
| Georgia | $100,950 |
| Nevada | $100,570 |
| Illinois | $100,310 |
| Kansas | $100,090 |
| Alaska | $100,040 |
| Minnesota | $99,740 |
| South Dakota | $98,550 |
| Connecticut | $97,870 |
| Rhode Island | $96,990 |
| Indiana | $96,530 |
| Idaho | $95,640 |
| Utah | $95,640 |
| Oklahoma | $95,640 |
| Kentucky | $90,380 |
| Wyoming | $90,010 |
| Nebraska | $87,920 |
| New Hampshire | $87,420 |
| Mississippi | $86,380 |
| Wisconsin | $85,290 |
| Missouri | $84,250 |
| Montana | $78,690 |
| Arkansas | $77,830 |
| Louisiana | $75,560 |
| North Dakota | $69,640 |
| Tennessee | $65,370 |
| Puerto Rico | $42,250 |
Where Information Technology Project Managers Earn the Most
Earnings for information technology project managers shift depending on where you work. Top regions by median wage:
| Region | Median annual wage | Share of U.S. jobs | Location quotient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far Western US | $126,964 | 25.0% | 1.54 |
| Middle Atlantic | $121,117 | 18.1% | 2.97 |
| Rocky Mountains | $108,235 | 3.6% | 0.97 |
| Southwest | $107,900 | 16.0% | 1.38 |
| New England | $102,646 | 2.6% | 0.65 |
| Southeast | $101,290 | 22.4% | 1.02 |
| Great Lakes | $97,392 | 6.3% | 0.61 |
| Plains States | $89,865 | 5.8% | 1.14 |
Top Metro Areas
| Metro area | State | Median annual wage | Employment |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA | CA | $168,070 | 15,550 |
| San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA | CA | $157,380 | 18,680 |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | DC | $144,040 | 35,080 |
| Charlottesville, VA | VA | $142,150 | 140 |
| Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV | MD | $139,940 | 420 |
| Lexington Park, MD | MD | $138,090 | 1,020 |
| Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA | WA | $134,230 | 10,400 |
| Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD | MD | $133,680 | 9,110 |
Top Industries Employing Information Technology Project Managers
The largest employers of information technology project managers are found across these industries:
| Industry | Employment | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services | 130,160 | $106,200 |
| Information | 43,000 | $126,550 |
| Finance and Insurance | 28,690 | $126,080 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 25,660 | $127,600 |
| Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services | 24,880 | $96,000 |
| Manufacturing | 21,020 | $102,950 |
| Educational Services | 18,100 | $79,900 |
| Wholesale Trade | 13,130 | $100,550 |
Below are examples of industries where information technology project managers work:
Software Information Technology Project Managers Use
- Document management software: Adobe Acrobat (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Creative Cloud software (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Illustrator (hot technology)
- Desktop publishing software: Adobe InDesign (hot technology)
- Graphics or photo imaging software: Adobe Photoshop (hot technology)
- Web platform development software: AJAX (hot technology)
- Data base management system software: Amazon DynamoDB (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2 (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Amazon Redshift (hot technology)
- Data base user interface and query software: Amazon Web Services AWS software (hot technology)
- Expert system software: Ansible software (hot technology)
- Data base management system software: Apache Cassandra (hot technology)
The Day-to-Day Environment
Daily working conditions for information technology project managers tends to involve the following characteristics:
- Telephone Conversations
- Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team
- Contact With Others
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled
How to Become Information Technology Project Managers
Entry-level information technology project managers positions require a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education. This occupation sits in Considerable Preparation Needed (Job Zone 4), indicating the level of preparation typically expected.
Related Careers
Similar Occupations
- Computer and Information Systems Managers (Primary-Short)
- Architectural and Engineering Managers (Supplemental)
- Logistics Engineers (Supplemental)
- Project Management Specialists (Primary-Short)
- Management Analysts (Primary-Short)
- Business Continuity Planners (Supplemental)
- Computer Systems Analysts (Primary-Short)
- Database Administrators (Primary-Long)
Where to Study
Future information technology project managers often complete programs in:
Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
5 programs across 5 majors
- Computer Science
- Computer Information Systems
- Information Science
- Information Technology
- Data Processing
Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
4 programs across 4 majors
- Computational Science
- Human Computer Interaction
- Mathematics & Computer Science
- Accounting & Computer Science
Biological and Biomedical Sciences
2 programs across 1 majors
Health Professions and Related Programs
1 programs across 1 majors
Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services
1 programs across 1 majors
Physical Sciences
1 programs across 1 majors
About the Data
This profile draws on the following authoritative sources:
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) for employment and wage data by state and industry.
- BLS Employment Projections for total employment and growth forecasts.
- O*NET (Occupational Information Network) for skills, knowledge, tasks, work activities, work context, technology, and education-zone data.
SOC code: 15-1299.09 (Computer Occupations, All Other).
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