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The differences between product leads 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 a product lead and a product owner. Additionally, a product lead has an average salary of $118,828, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a product lead include product management, project management and architecture. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Product Lead | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $118,828 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $57.13 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 95,557 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A product lead is responsible for monitoring the development of new products and services of an organization, starting from brand conceptualization to official market release and distribution. Product leads identify effective product management by conducting data analysis and evaluating market statistics of customer demands. They coordinate with the clients on their specifications and requirements, including the budget limit and timely deliverables. A product lead manages the brand promotion on media platforms, creating content that adheres to the target audience.
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.
Product leads and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Lead | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $118,828 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $86,000 And $163,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Airbnb | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Hospitality | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a product lead and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Product Lead | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product leads' and product owners' demographics:
| Product Lead | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | 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% |