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The differences between product line 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 a product line manager and a product owner. Additionally, a product line manager has an average salary of $97,237, which is higher than the $97,070 average annual salary of a product owner.
The top three skills for a product line manager include product management, customer service and PLM. The most important skills for a product owner are user stories, acceptance criteria, and product backlog.
| Product Line Manager | Product Owner | |
| Yearly salary | $97,237 | $97,070 |
| Hourly rate | $46.75 | $46.67 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 158,908 | 129,990 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 10 |
A product line manager is an individual who provides product and market intelligence by increasing the market share of a company. Product line managers must create competitive analysis and interpret market trends so that they can provide recommendations and guidance to the company. They are required to identify target markets and should come up with strategies for market penetration. Product line managers must also monitor the creation and development of new products as well as to measure the success of the products in the market.
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 line managers and product owners have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Line Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average salary | $97,237 | $97,070 |
| Salary range | Between $52,000 And $178,000 | Between $71,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ON Semiconductor | ORIX USA |
| Best paying industry | Energy | Manufacturing |
There are a few differences between a product line manager and a product owner in terms of educational background:
| Product Line Manager | Product Owner | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 72% | Bachelor's Degree, 67% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product line managers' and product owners' demographics:
| Product Line Manager | Product Owner | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 78.8% Female, 21.2% | 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% |