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Operations specialist salary

Quoted expert
Kim Chatani

Average operations specialist salary

$54,752

$26.32 hourly rate

Entry-level operations specialist salary
$35,000 yearly salary
Updated January 8, 2025

Understanding Operations Specialist Salaries

As of October 2025, the average salary for an Operations Specialist stands at $54,752 annually. This figure represents a baseline that varies significantly based on several key factors.

Factors Influencing Salary

  • Experience: Entry-level positions may start lower, while seasoned professionals often command higher salaries.
  • Location: Geographic areas with high demand for operations expertise typically offer better compensation.
  • Industry: Sectors such as technology and finance tend to pay more due to their complexity and the need for operational efficiency.

Top Paying States

States known for offering higher salaries include California, New York, and Texas, reflecting both the cost of living and local demand for skilled professionals.

Overall, pursuing a career as an Operations Specialist not only provides a competitive salary but also offers a pathway to advancement in various industries. Understanding these nuances can help job seekers make informed career decisions.

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Where can an Operations Specialist earn more?

Compare salary by location
Vs
101k
81k
61k
41k
21k
Columbus, OH$71,196
Saint Paul, MN$51,135
Compare salary by company
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121k
101k
81k
61k
Coatue Management$107,307
Parsons$90,788

Operations specialist salary estimates from across the web

Based on the latest salary information compiled by Zippia, Salary.com, Ziprecruiter and Comparably, the average salary for an operations specialist typically falls between $54,752 and $97,049.
zippia
$54,752yearly
comparably[1]
$54,913yearly
Salary.com[2]
$97,049yearly
ZipRecruiter[3]
$68,426yearly

Average operations specialist salary by state

The average operations specialist salary in Rhode Island, Maryland, and New Hampshire are the highest in the U.S. The lowest average operations specialist salary states are Alabama, Hawaii, and Arizona.

  • State view
  • County view
Average salary:

Highest paying states for operations specialists

RankStateAvg. salaryHourly rate
1New Hampshire$67,632$32.52
2Pennsylvania$65,592$31.53
3District of Columbia$71,149$34.21
4Nevada$59,991$28.84
5Rhode Island$68,509$32.94
6Vermont$66,492$31.97
7Maine$58,031$27.90
8Delaware$64,250$30.89
9Massachusetts$66,821$32.13
10Maryland$67,856$32.62
11Ohio$57,718$27.75
12West Virginia$60,243$28.96
13New Jersey$65,466$31.47
14New York$65,156$31.32
15Connecticut$64,661$31.09
16North Dakota$51,487$24.75
17Washington$56,828$27.32
18Michigan$55,145$26.51
19New Mexico$56,811$27.31
20Wyoming$51,649$24.83
21Virginia$62,008$29.81
22Texas$51,695$24.85
23North Carolina$51,244$24.64
24South Dakota$50,525$24.29
25Kansas$52,121$25.06
26Nebraska$50,784$24.42
27Utah$54,994$26.44
28Oklahoma$52,154$25.07
29Alaska$51,248$24.64
30Indiana$50,432$24.25
31Minnesota$51,101$24.57
32Illinois$56,166$27.00
33Wisconsin$50,978$24.51
34Oregon$56,186$27.01
35Kentucky$49,981$24.03
36California$58,080$27.92
37Louisiana$50,874$24.46
38Tennessee$48,004$23.08
39Mississippi$46,926$22.56
40Idaho$47,253$22.72
41Iowa$46,957$22.58
42Hawaii$46,424$22.32
43Arkansas$45,585$21.92
44Florida$44,647$21.46
45Georgia$47,228$22.71
46Montana$44,892$21.58
47Missouri$47,325$22.75
48South Carolina$47,186$22.69
49Alabama$46,465$22.34
50Colorado$49,485$23.79
51Arizona$45,994$22.11

Highest paying cities for operations specialists

The highest-paying cities for operations specialists are Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD, and Boston, MA.

RankCityAvg. salaryHourly rate
1Washington, DC$71,196$34.23
2Baltimore, MD$68,177$32.78
3Boston, MA$66,876$32.15
4Philadelphia, PA$66,014$31.74
5Jersey City, NJ$65,580$31.53
6New York, NY$65,141$31.32
7Newark, DE$64,275$30.90
8Arlington, VA$64,275$30.90
9Richmond, CA$63,082$30.33
10Las Vegas, NV$59,268$28.49
11Portland, ME$58,555$28.15
12Seattle, WA$57,173$27.49
13Columbus, OH$56,680$27.25
14Chicago, IL$56,472$27.15
15Portland, OR$55,730$26.79
16Salt Lake City, UT$54,923$26.41
17Kansas City, KS$52,365$25.18
18Raleigh, NC$52,303$25.15
19Arlington, TX$52,083$25.04
20Saint Paul, MN$51,135$24.58

Operations Specialists are the most in-demand in these five cities:

  1. Washington, DC
  2. Baltimore, MD
  3. Boston, MA
  4. Philadelphia, PA
  5. Jersey City, NJ

Operations specialist salary details

An operations specialist's salary ranges from $35,000 a year at the 10th percentile to $85,000 at the 90th percentile.

Average operations specialist salary graph
Average operations specialist salary graph, trends, and summary

What is an operations specialist's salary?

PercentileAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rate
90th Percentile$85,000$7,083$41
75th Percentile$69,000$5,750$33
Average$54,752$4,563$26
25th Percentile$43,000$3,583$21
10th Percentile$35,000$2,917$17

Highest paying operations specialist jobs

The highest paying types of operations specialists are staff specialist, operations, senior specialist, and sales operations specialist.

Job titleAnnual salaryMonthly salaryHourly rateJob openings
Operations Internship$33,357$2,780$16.04111,994
Operations Representative$38,127$3,177$18.3375,789
Operations Clerk$33,746$2,812$16.22158,449
Operations Coordinator$41,934$3,495$20.16102,598
Operations Agent$40,735$3,395$19.5890,038

How would you rate the starting salaries for operations specialists, as well as the prospects for salary advancement?

Kim Chatani

Assistant Professor, Concordia University Irvine

Starting salaries will continue to increase but will be more dictated by supply and demand for the skill sets that graduates will provide. The current COVID 19 pandemic has put traditional thinking on its head. Employers will be evaluating employee skills in a multi-dimensional plane, competency, mobility, and transferability.

Top companies hiring operations specialists now:

  1. Google jobs (139)
  2. Apple jobs (161)
  3. Edward Jones jobs (137)
  4. BNY Mellon jobs (139)
  5. Citi jobs (323)

Which companies pay operations specialists the most?

Operations specialist salaries at Coatue Management and Google are the highest-paying according to our most recent salary estimates. In addition, the average operations specialist salary at companies like Microsoft and Meta are highly competitive.

RankCompanyAverage salaryHourly rate
1Coatue Management$107,307$51.59
2Google$104,575$50.28
3Microsoft$102,295$49.18
4Meta$101,540$48.82
5McKinsey & Company Inc$97,692$46.97
6Databricks$96,304$46.30
7KLA$96,026$46.17
8Barclays$95,765$46.04
9Nokia$95,253$45.79
10Intel$93,778$45.09
11SAP$93,685$45.04
12Virtu Financial$93,199$44.81
13Micron Technology$93,124$44.77
14Acadian Asset Management$92,244$44.35
15Adobe$91,923$44.19
16Ropes & Gray$91,692$44.08
17Synopsys$91,419$43.95
18Northern Trust$91,122$43.81
19Callan$90,965$43.73
20Parsons$90,788$43.65

Wage gap by gender, race and education

$56,000$54,800$53,600$52,400$51,200$50,000
MaleFemale

Operations Specialist salary by industry

The average operations specialist salary varies across industries:

  • The average operations specialist salary in the government industry is $65,446, the highest of any industry.
  • The average operations specialist salary in the finance industry is $61,988.
  • Operations specialists in the retail industry earn an average salary of $38,534, the lowest of any industry.

Highest paying industries for operations specialists

RankIndustryAverage salaryHourly rate
1Government$65,446$31.46
2Technology$61,988$29.80
3Professional$57,822$27.80
4Manufacturing$53,466$25.70
5Finance$52,853$25.41
6Transportation$49,564$23.83
7Retail$38,534$18.53

High paying operations specialist jobs

Operations specialist salary trends

The average operations specialist salary has risen by $8,058 over the last ten years. In 2014, the average operations specialist earned $46,694 annually, but today, they earn $54,752 a year. That works out to a 9% change in pay for operations specialists over the last decade.

Compare operations specialist salaries for cities or states with the national average over time.

Average operations specialist salary over time

Compare operations specialist salaries for individual cities or states with the national average.

Operations specialist salary by year

YearAvg. salaryHourly rate% Change
2025$54,800$26.32+3.8%
2024$52,700$25.32+2.3%
2023$51,400$24.73+0.7%
2022$51,100$24.55+1.4%
2021$50,300$24.21+1.3%

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