What is an Area Operations Manager?

An area operations manager is responsible for the oversight of the various processes and operations of a busineness. It is their primary goal to make sure that all is working as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

Their full responsibilities may vary from one position to the next, but they are generally supposed to support sales efforts and garnering of consumers and users, identify issues and other opportunities for improvement of efficiency and quality, develop strategies to reach goals, make sure that all work done complies with OSHA regulations, monitor and train employees, help with the creation, alteration, and enforcement of their departments's policies, processes, and goals, and generally manage budgets, schedules, and employees.

There is no generally agreed upon set of qualifications for an area operations manager, the job can vary quite a bit. Certain roles might need college-level education in subjects such as engineering or operations, while others may only require a high school degree or a GED. Area operations managers should have good management and interpersonal skills and computer literacy. On average, an area operations manager earns $59,709 a year.

What Does an Area Operations Manager Do

There are certain skills that many area operations 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.

Learn more about what an Area Operations Manager does

How To Become an Area Operations Manager

If you're interested in becoming an area operations manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 65.6% of area operations managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.2% of area operations managers have master's degrees. Even though most area operations managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become an Area Operations Manager
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Area Operations Manager Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, an area operations manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as operations director, progress to a title such as vice president and then eventually end up with the title vice president & general manager.

Area Operations Manager

Average Salary for an Area Operations Manager

Area Operations Managers in America make an average salary of $49,256 per year or $24 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $78,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $31,000 per year.
Average Area Operations Manager Salary
$49,256 Yearly
$23.68 hourly
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Roles and Types of Area Operations Manager

The role of an area operations manager includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general area operations manager responsibilities:

  • Ensures volume and productivity goals by area are met or exceededmanage a safe workplace by advocating safety training
  • Manages up to 50 direct labor associates day to day in alignment with business objectives, establishes production
  • Generates plans and goals for profitability

There are several types of area operations manager, including:

Store Manager

Role:

An important job for store managers is to attract customers into their stores through new strategies. They also have sales goals that they must meet each month and can achieve those goals through training, motivating, mentoring, and giving feedback to their staff.

A store manager's goal is to make sure every customer is satisfied with the customer service they received. The saying, "every customer is right," is definitely not a factual statement, but it's a store manager's motto.

All of these responsibilities lead up to something greater. That's right, 45-50 hour work weeks. Someone has to stay late and make sure the store is perfectly ready for the next day. Typically, this won't be a high stress job, unless it's the holidays or a tax-free weekend. Did someone say Black Friday shopping? Good luck!

  • Average Salary: $46,950
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

General Manager

Role:

General managers are pretty important in the workplace. Employees look up to people in these positions for guidance on policies and management of daily operations. A general manager can be useful in almost every industry, that's why this is a great position if you're looking for lots of opportunity.

General Managers are generally found in business settings, but they can also work in industries like the sound recording industry. There's no limit to where you can take this position. The possibilities are truly endless.

  • Average Salary: $71,581
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Operations Manager

Role:

As an operations manager, you have a lot of responsibilities. You may need to oversee several departments, coordinate operations in public or private organizations, but the big takeaway here is that you're in charge.

The job entails so much more than just being in charge, you'll be formulating policies, staying on top of daily operations, and figuring out how to use certain materials and resources. Before you stress out, you will probably have supervisors who will help oversee each section. Deep breaths.

Since you're essentially making sure everything consistently runs smoothly, you'll probably grow accustomed to working overtime hours. Then again, once you're running a well-oiled machine (or team), you can kiss that stress goodbye.

  • Average Salary: $76,894
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Area Operations Manager Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active area operations manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where area operations managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Area Operations Manager Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California6,223$75,702
2Texas5,612$52,199
3Florida4,432$38,554
4Georgia2,971$46,112
5North Carolina2,795$55,128
6Pennsylvania2,766$49,393
7New York2,552$54,487
8Illinois2,422$39,674
9Ohio2,396$41,437
10Washington2,042$54,926
11Michigan1,956$41,159
12Massachusetts1,941$43,157
13Virginia1,810$65,751
14Minnesota1,807$38,120
15Indiana1,800$39,890
16Tennessee1,471$42,079
17New Jersey1,408$57,952
18Missouri1,393$30,615
19Wisconsin1,367$43,772
20Maryland1,323$47,584
21Arizona1,148$50,849
22Colorado1,132$48,469
23South Carolina1,078$37,707
24Kentucky1,057$28,544
25Alabama1,055$40,610
26Utah889$40,460
27Louisiana850$41,646
28Oregon810$46,858
29Iowa807$35,067
30Kansas743$38,699
31Connecticut740$58,108
32Oklahoma646$32,911
33Mississippi631$36,237
34Arkansas608$31,392
35Nevada592$60,729
36Nebraska547$37,200
37New Hampshire460$31,049
38Idaho434$39,904
39New Mexico424$40,324
40Maine352$33,047
41West Virginia347$35,697
42Montana308$33,609
43Delaware268$49,677
44South Dakota249$43,958
45Hawaii194$58,577
46Rhode Island194$48,142
47Alaska187$38,150
48North Dakota171$35,685
49Wyoming161$33,549
50Vermont114$28,047

Area Operations Manager Education

Area Operations Manager Majors

Business
44.3 %
Management
7.3 %
Marketing
5.0 %

Area Operations Manager Degrees

Bachelors

65.6 %

Associate

15.8 %

Masters

10.2 %

Top Colleges for Area Operations 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 • Private

In-State Tuition

$18,454

Enrollment

40,108

6. University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX • Private

In-State Tuition

$10,610

Enrollment

40,329

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

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

Top Skills For an Area Operations 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, 15.2% of area operations managers listed logistics on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and leadership skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Area Operations Manager Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Area Operations Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Area Operations Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Area Operations Manager diversity

Area Operations Manager Gender Distribution

Male
Male
75%
Female
Female
25%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among area operations managers, 25.0% of them are women, while 75.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among area operations managers is White, which makes up 67.2% of all area operations managers.

  • The most common foreign language among area operations managers is Spanish at 53.1%.

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Best States For an Area Operations Manager

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an area operations manager. The best states for people in this position are California, Virginia, Nevada, and Hawaii. Area operations managers make the most in California with an average salary of $75,702. Whereas in Virginia and Nevada, they would average $65,751 and $60,729, respectively. While area operations managers would only make an average of $58,577 in Hawaii, 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 Operations Manager Jobs: 592
Highest 10% Earn:
$97,000
Location Quotient:
1.19

$60,729

Avg. Salary

View 592 Area Operations Manager Jobs In NV

2. North Carolina

Total Area Operations Manager Jobs: 2,795
Highest 10% Earn:
$88,000
Location Quotient:
1.22

$55,128

Avg. Salary

View 2,795 Area Operations Manager Jobs In NC

3. Washington

Total Area Operations Manager Jobs: 2,042
Highest 10% Earn:
$81,000
Location Quotient:
1.17

$54,926

Avg. Salary

View 2,042 Area Operations Manager Jobs In WA
Full List Of Best States For Area Operations Managers

How Do Area Operations Managers Rate Their Jobs?

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Top Area Operations Manager Employers

Most Common Employers For Area Operations Manager

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1BB&T$88,085$42.3519
2Amazon$60,658$29.16108
3Verizon Communications$59,974$28.8341
4America's Car-Mart$59,299$28.5115
5Sunoco$57,883$27.8315
6Vonachen Group$53,304$25.6355
7AT&T$52,033$25.0269
8Rotech Healthcare$51,075$24.5612
9Extended Stay America$50,912$24.4858
10Apria Healthcare$49,992$24.0311
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Becoming an Area Operations Manager FAQs

How Do I Start A Career In Operations Management?

To start a career in operations management, a person should pursue a bachelor's degree in business administration or a related field. While a student in college, a person should pursue an internship and experience in business and office environments.

How Much Should An Operations Manager Be Paid?

An operations manager should be paid $85,660 or higher. However, differences in pay rates can range from as high as $180,000 to as low as $50,000. The big discrepancy in salaries results from the differences in the operations manager's type of role from one industry to another.

Is An Operations Manager Higher Than An Area Manager?

Yes, an operations manager is higher than an area manager. Operations managers oversee the overall functioning of business processes, which includes a team of area managers.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be An Operations Manager?

The qualifications needed for being an operations manager are a bachelor's degree and having prior experience in a management or leadership position. A deep understanding of financial management is also a plus.

Have more questions? See all answers to common executive management questions.

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Updated April 6, 2023