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The differences between associate product managers and product owners can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 8-10 years to become both an associate product manager and a product owner. Additionally, a product owner has an average salary of $97,070, which is higher than the $89,963 average annual salary of an associate product manager.
The top three skills for an associate product manager include product management, project management and user stories. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Associate Product Manager | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $89,963 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $43.25 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 107,763 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
An associate product manager is someone who assists the product development teams in the development of new product features. The duties of an associate include formulation of product strategies, collection of quantitative product data, and interpretation of consumer feedback. The requirements to qualify for the position include a bachelor's degree in computer science, marketing, business management, or a related field, the ability to maintain strong customer relations, and excellent communication skills.
Product owners are at the forefront of an organization's development cycle. They have various duties and responsibilities, which include ensuring that the value of products created by the development team is maximized, creating a vision and defining the goals for development projects, and working closely with all stakeholders. As the product owner, you are responsible for ensuring that the development team maintains a consistent vision and overseeing the product backlog. You are also expected to supervise the actual product development stages and anticipate the needs of clients.
Associate product managers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Associate Product Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $89,963 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $122,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between an associate product manager and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Associate Product Manager | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 80% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between associate product managers' and product owners' demographics:
| Associate Product Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 45.0% Female, 55.0% | Male, 64.3% Female, 35.7% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |