Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between line managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $56,406 average annual salary of a line manager.
The top three skills for a line manager include client facing, continuous improvement and service line. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Line Manager | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $56,406 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $27.12 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 369,491 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
As line managers, they oversee other employees and the business operations while reporting to a higher manager. They play a significant role in the operation of the business from supervising and managing workers daily and acting as a link to upper management and employees. It is part of their responsibility to recruit and hire talent to fill team positions, provide training and learning to new hires, and ensuring that the employees are doing their jobs effectively and efficiently.
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.
Line managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Line Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $56,406 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $27,000 And $116,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | New Brunswick, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | California |
| Best paying company | Microsoft | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a line manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Line Manager | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 56% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between line managers' and project managers' demographics:
| Line Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 64.7% Female, 35.3% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 14.9% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | 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 | 10% | 10% |