The plant manager is responsible for overseeing the productivity of the employees. You are expected to ensure that the plant runs efficiently and safely while maintaining optimal operation by assigning workers, developing production schedules, creating work schedules, and also hiring and training new staff. You are allowed to watch and organize the daily operations of manufacturing plants. Keep in mind; you will not only be involved with manufacturing plants but also organizational plans. You will also be in charge of overseeing the entire location, collecting and analyzing new data, ensuring the safety of both the plants and the workers, and also monitoring the production equipment to ensure it remains in good shape.
Being a plant manager requires you to defend quality control each time manufactured items leave the plants. You must also maintain relationships with other sections and departments to ensure a smooth-running organization. As a plant manager, some skills necessary for the role include optimal interpersonal relationships and excellent leadership skills. You also need problem-solving skills and outstanding time management skills. The average salary of a plant manager yearly is $99,000. A bachelor's degree in business management or other related field is needed to be a plant manager.
What is a Plant Manager?
What Does a Plant Manager Do
There are certain skills that many plant 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 management skills, leadership skills and problem-solving skills.
How To Become a Plant Manager
If you're interested in becoming a plant manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.0% of plant managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 10.9% of plant managers have master's degrees. Even though most plant managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Plant 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, a plant manager can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as general manager, progress to a title such as regional general manager and then eventually end up with the title regional general manager.
Average Salary for a Plant Manager
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Plant Manager Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active plant manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where plant managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Plant Manager Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Plant Managers
1. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
2. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
3. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
4. New York University
New York, NY • Private
5. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
6. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Private
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
8. Northeastern University
Boston, MA • Private
9. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
10. Lehigh University
Bethlehem, PA • Private
Top Skills For a Plant 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, 8.1% of plant managers listed continuous improvement on their resume, but soft skills such as management skills and leadership skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Plant Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Plant Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Plant Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Plant Manager Demographics
Plant Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among plant managers, 6.3% of them are women, while 93.7% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among plant managers is White, which makes up 70.8% of all plant managers.
- The most common foreign language among plant managers is Spanish at 60.6%.
Work Experience Programs For Plant Managers
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cost: Free
Duration: 4.25-5.75 hours
Company: John Holland Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: ANZ Australia
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Two Sigma
Cost: Free
Duration: 5-6 hours
Company: Accenture North America
Cost: Free
Duration: 4 hours
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Best States For a Plant Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a plant manager. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, Washington, California, and Massachusetts. Plant managers make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $140,315. Whereas in Washington and California, they would average $135,454 and $126,936, respectively. While plant managers would only make an average of $124,416 in Massachusetts, 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. Michigan
$118,498
Avg. Salary
2. Alabama
$111,063
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$140,315
Avg. Salary
How Do Plant Manager Rate Their Jobs?
Top Plant Manager Employers
Most Common Employers For Plant Manager
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cargill | $130,280 | $62.63 | 98 |
| 2 | Dana Incorporated | $126,858 | $60.99 | 52 |
| 3 | General Electric | $122,003 | $58.66 | 70 |
| 4 | Parker Hannifin | $117,178 | $56.34 | 33 |
| 5 | The Coca-Cola Company | $115,667 | $55.61 | 45 |
| 6 | Tyson Foods | $111,921 | $53.81 | 35 |
| 7 | Eaton | $109,710 | $52.75 | 63 |
| 8 | Ashland | $109,231 | $52.51 | 35 |
| 9 | Airgas | $109,063 | $52.43 | 60 |
| 10 | Quikrete | $108,708 | $52.26 | 35 |
Plant Manager Videos
Becoming a Plant Manager FAQs
How Long Does It Take To Become A Plant Manager?
It takes 11 years of professional experience to become a plant manager. That is the time it takes to learn specific plant manager skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 14 to 16 years years to become a plant manager.
How Much Do Plant Managers Make A Year?
Plant managers make, on average, $99,000 a year. There is, however, considerable range in how much a plant manager can make - starting from as little as $68,000 a year to as much as $139,000 a year. Factors such as the location, industry, and plant type impact where a plant manager will fall along that pay scale.