Area managers have their own territory to take care of within a business. Usually, area managers are in charge of a defined region. That means so much more than just being a boss over team members.
Area managers spend a lot of their time setting sales goals for the team to meet (or even exceed) and defining certain financial goals. They work alongside other area managers to ensure the company is headed in the right direction together.
As an area manager, it's no secret that you have a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders. This is why this is definitely not a job for a newbie. You'll want a bit of experience before breaking into this career.
Area Manager Overview
Area Manager Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an area manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.67 an hour? That's $65,865 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 150,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does an Area Manager Do
There are certain skills that many area managers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, leadership skills and management skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an area manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 17.0% of area managers included customer service, while 13.2% of resumes included procedures, and 7.6% of resumes included safety standards. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the area manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most area managers actually find jobs in the retail and manufacturing industries.
How To Become an Area Manager
If you're interested in becoming an area manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 54.4% of area managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.0% of area managers have master's degrees. Even though most area managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an area manager. When we researched the most common majors for an area manager, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on area manager resumes include master's degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an area manager. In fact, many area manager jobs require experience in a role such as store manager. Meanwhile, many area managers also have previous career experience in roles such as general manager or manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Area Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of general manager you might progress to a role such as director of food and beverage eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of food and beverage.
Area Manager
Director Of Food And Beverage
9 Years
Regional General Manager
8 Years
Vice President & General Manager
12 Years
Terminal Manager
9 Years
Store Director
7 Years
Manufacturing Director
14 Years
Show More
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for an Area Manager
Area Managers in America make an average salary of $65,865 per year or $32 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $95,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $45,000 per year.
Average Salary
$65,865
Best Paying Cities
City
Average Salary
$46k
$114k
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Mega Force Area Manager-Commercial Janitorial Area Manager-Commercial Janitorial | Mega Force Mega Force | 03/30/2021 03/30/2021 | $35,00003/30/2021 $35,000 |
Goodwin Recruiting Area Manager Area Manager | Goodwin Recruiting Goodwin Recruiting | 03/29/2021 03/29/2021 | $55,00003/29/2021 $55,000 |
Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service Area Manager Area Manager | Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service | 03/27/2021 03/27/2021 | $70,00003/27/2021 $70,000 |
Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service Area Manager Area Manager | Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service Cygnus Home Service, LLC Dba Schwan's Home Service | 03/27/2021 03/27/2021 | $70,00003/27/2021 $70,000 |
Clean Team Area Manager Area Manager | Clean Team Clean Team | 03/25/2021 03/25/2021 | $29,21803/25/2021 $29,218 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Area Manager Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming an Area Manager. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Create My Free Resume
Build a professional resume in minutes.
Learn How To Write an Area Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Area Manager resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationSee More Demographics
Top Colleges for Area Managers
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$55,584
Enrollment
10,764
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
In-State Tuition
$54,568
Enrollment
8,451
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
In-State Tuition
$56,225
Enrollment
19,548
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,828
Enrollment
26,339
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Public
In-State Tuition
$18,454
Enrollment
40,108
6. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
In-State Tuition
$10,610
Enrollment
40,329
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Public
In-State Tuition
$9,808
Enrollment
13,990
8. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$51,522
Enrollment
13,760
9. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
In-State Tuition
$49,880
Enrollment
4,177
10. Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA • Private
In-State Tuition
$52,930
Enrollment
5,030
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary
Top Skills For an Area Manager
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 17.0% of area managers listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and leadership skills are important as well.
- Customer Service, 17.0%
- Procedures, 13.2%
- Safety Standards, 7.6%
- Logistics, 5.9%
- Business Development, 4.4%
- Other Skills, 51.9% See All Area Manager Skills
Best States For an Area Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an area manager. The best states for people in this position are Nevada, California, Washington, and Michigan. Area managers make the most in Nevada with an average salary of $88,008. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $86,387 and $78,939, respectively. While area managers would only make an average of $77,458 in Michigan, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Nevada
Total Area Manager Jobs:
729
Highest 10% Earn:
$146,000
Location Quotient:
1.04
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$88,008
Avg. Salary
2. California
Total Area Manager Jobs:
10,541
Highest 10% Earn:
$149,000
Location Quotient:
1.08
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$86,387
Avg. Salary
3. Texas
Total Area Manager Jobs:
7,178
Highest 10% Earn:
$119,000
Location Quotient:
1.06
Location Quotient is a measure used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to determine how concentrated a certain industry is in a single state compared to the nation as a whole. You can read more about how BLS calculates location quotients here
$74,670
Avg. Salary
How Do Area Manager Rate Their Jobs?
Top Area Manager Employers
Area Manager Videos
Life as an Area Manager
Career Advice on becoming an Area Manager by Kirk E (Highlights)
Career Advice on becoming an Area Manager by Bobby S (Highlights)