Research Summary. After extensive research by the Zippia data science team, we identified these details of general manager salary by state for the United States:
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Hawaii has the highest general manager salary of $95,591
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Arkansas has the lowest general manager salary of $40,623
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The national average salary for general managers is $71,581
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The national hourly pay for general managers is $34.41
You can read more on the specific methodology.
Background
Without fail, in surveys across basically every demographic, the number one most important aspect of a job for most people is the salary — how much do general managers get paid where I live?
And while there are many things to go into how much you, specifically, can expect to make, there’s really good data for average salaries for general manager by state across America broken down by seniority level. So while your city may be slightly different than the state average, these averages give you a rough sense of what to expect for your salary.
The state with the best salary for general managers after this adjustment? That would be Hawaii.
Here’s a quick snapshot of the top ten states for general manager salaries:
Let’s take a look at how we got here and a full ranking of all the states.
Highest-Paid General Managers By State
| Rank | State | Average General Manager Salary | 10th Percentile | 90th Percentile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | $95,591 | $59,000 | $152,000 |
| 2 | California | $92,259 | $50,000 | $167,000 |
| 3 | New Jersey | $92,019 | $51,000 | $164,000 |
| 4 | Washington | $91,758 | $52,000 | $161,000 |
| 5 | Connecticut | $90,471 | $50,000 | $161,000 |
| 6 | New York | $90,157 | $50,000 | $161,000 |
| 7 | Alaska | $87,142 | $52,000 | $145,000 |
| 8 | Massachusetts | $81,767 | $45,000 | $148,000 |
| 9 | Nevada | $79,007 | $42,000 | $146,000 |
| 10 | Delaware | $74,659 | $41,000 | $135,000 |
| 11 | Rhode Island | $73,099 | $40,000 | $133,000 |
| 12 | Maryland | $69,927 | $38,000 | $127,000 |
| 13 | Virginia | $69,783 | $38,000 | $126,000 |
| 14 | Oregon | $67,572 | $37,000 | $122,000 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania | $67,353 | $36,000 | $122,000 |
| 16 | New Hampshire | $63,577 | $35,000 | $115,000 |
| 17 | North Carolina | $63,122 | $35,000 | $113,000 |
| 18 | Colorado | $61,035 | $36,000 | $101,000 |
| 19 | Wisconsin | $60,591 | $35,000 | $103,000 |
| 20 | Illinois | $59,334 | $34,000 | $101,000 |
| 21 | Texas | $59,105 | $33,000 | $103,000 |
| 22 | Michigan | $59,071 | $33,000 | $104,000 |
| 23 | South Dakota | $58,600 | $36,000 | $93,000 |
| 24 | Maine | $58,393 | $32,000 | $105,000 |
| 25 | Alabama | $57,627 | $33,000 | $99,000 |
| 26 | New Mexico | $56,980 | $32,000 | $99,000 |
| 27 | Ohio | $56,892 | $31,000 | $101,000 |
| 28 | Florida | $56,483 | $32,000 | $97,000 |
| 29 | Minnesota | $56,162 | $34,000 | $92,000 |
| 30 | Arizona | $55,772 | $30,000 | $101,000 |
| 31 | Louisiana | $54,753 | $31,000 | $95,000 |
| 32 | Tennessee | $54,522 | $31,000 | $93,000 |
| 33 | Idaho | $54,168 | $30,000 | $95,000 |
| 34 | Georgia | $53,419 | $30,000 | $92,000 |
| 35 | Indiana | $52,897 | $30,000 | $91,000 |
| 36 | West Virginia | $51,089 | $28,000 | $91,000 |
| 37 | South Carolina | $51,063 | $28,000 | $90,000 |
| 38 | Utah | $50,614 | $29,000 | $88,000 |
| 39 | Vermont | $50,305 | $27,000 | $91,000 |
| 40 | Kentucky | $48,777 | $28,000 | $84,000 |
| 41 | Oklahoma | $46,895 | $27,000 | $79,000 |
| 42 | Montana | $46,694 | $28,000 | $75,000 |
| 43 | Nebraska | $45,451 | $27,000 | $74,000 |
| 44 | Iowa | $45,231 | $27,000 | $74,000 |
| 45 | Wyoming | $44,767 | $27,000 | $73,000 |
| 46 | Missouri | $44,623 | $26,000 | $74,000 |
| 47 | Kansas | $44,521 | $26,000 | $74,000 |
| 48 | North Dakota | $44,255 | $28,000 | $69,000 |
| 49 | Mississippi | $40,819 | $23,000 | $69,000 |
| 50 | Arkansas | $40,623 | $23,000 | $68,000 |
Methodology: General Manager Salary By State
To better understand general manager pay by state, Zippia has aggregated data across a multitude of channels including the BLS, FLC, and OPM. We then supplement that data with actual listed salaries from job posts. Finally, the data science team calculates a weighted average of these inputs to create an average pay for general managers by state.
We took the average annual salary data for general managers from these estimates and ranked every state on this criteria with the state with the highest salary ranking as highest average salary for general managers.
General Manager Salary By State FAQs
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What is the highest-paid state for general managers?
The highest-paid state for general managers is Hawaii with an average salary of $95,591 per year.
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What city pays general managers the most?
San Francisco, CA pays general managers the most with an average salary of $98,643 per year.
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What is the worst state for general managers?
The worst state for general managers is Arkansas with an average salary of $40,623 per year.
Author
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
