Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between account executives and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $69,618 average annual salary of an account executive.
The top three skills for an account executive include customer service, CRM and healthcare. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Account Executive | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $69,618 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $33.47 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 205,561 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
An account executive is responsible for supporting existing clients, closing client deals, and developing sales strategies to increase the company's sales and satisfaction. An account executive must be competitive enough to keep up with the constant changes in the sales industry, including the high demands of digital marketing, a different approach to product advertising, effective negotiation, and presentation skills. An account executive also requires excellent communication skills for the successful acquisition of client accounts and immediately resolve possible complaints as they arise.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Account executives and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Account Executive | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $69,618 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $109,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | Hitachi Vantara | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between an account executive and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Account Executive | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 78% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between account executives' and project managers' demographics:
| Account Executive | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 57.2% Female, 42.8% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 5.6% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 10% |