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The differences between application managers and program managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an application manager has an average salary of $122,748, which is higher than the $96,084 average annual salary of a program manager.
The top three skills for an application manager include customer service, project management and application development. The most important skills for a program manager are project management, program management, and oversight.
| Application Manager | Program Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $122,748 | $96,084 |
| Hourly rate | $59.01 | $46.19 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 12% |
| Number of jobs | 125,760 | 197,556 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 8 | - |
An application manager is in charge of overseeing software applications and systems within a company, ensuring efficiency and quality. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around conducting research and analysis to identify company needs, assessing existing applications to determine their strengths and weaknesses, and implementing solutions to optimize the quality of services. They may also conduct regular maintenance checks to ensure the efficiency of applications, performing corrective measures when necessary. Furthermore, as an application manager, it is essential to coordinate with the information technology staff, encouraging them to reach goals and new heights.
A program manager is responsible for monitoring the project's progress, improving and developing new strategies, and coordinate various projects across the organization to ensure the success of the business objective. Program managers also manage the program's expenses, ensuring that the projects adhere to the budget goals without compromising the quality and accuracy of the result. A program manager should regularly connect with the different teams of every project under the program to keep track of the processes and procedures for the timely delivery of the product.
Application managers and program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Manager | Program Manager | |
| Average salary | $122,748 | $96,084 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $160,000 | Between $65,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Roku | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between an application manager and a program manager in terms of educational background:
| Application Manager | Program Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between application managers' and program managers' demographics:
| Application Manager | Program Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 13.5% White, 64.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |