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The differences between application managers and project 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 $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.
The top three skills for an application manager include customer service, project management and application development. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Application Manager | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $122,748 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $59.01 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 16% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 125,760 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| 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.
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.
Application managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Application Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $122,748 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $160,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Roku | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between an application manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Application Manager | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Carnegie Mellon University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between application managers' and project managers' demographics:
| Application Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 47 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| 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, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 10% |