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Product manager/analyst job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected product manager/analyst job growth rate is 19% from 2018-2028.
About 150,300 new jobs for product managers/analyst are projected over the next decade.
Product manager/analyst salaries have increased 5% for product managers/analyst in the last 5 years.
There are over 6,390 product managers/analyst currently employed in the United States.
There are 112,772 active product manager/analyst job openings in the US.
The average product manager/analyst salary is $97,841.
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6,390 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 6,096 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 5,920 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 5,665 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 5,409 | 0.00% |
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $97,841 | $47.04 | +3.2% |
| 2025 | $94,837 | $45.59 | +1.1% |
| 2024 | $93,841 | $45.12 | --0.2% |
| 2023 | $94,005 | $45.19 | +1.1% |
| 2022 | $93,009 | $44.72 | +0.7% |
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 530 | 76% |
| 2 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 2,250 | 33% |
| 3 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 2,368 | 32% |
| 4 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 333 | 31% |
| 5 | Vermont | 623,657 | 190 | 30% |
| 6 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 905 | 29% |
| 7 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 1,162 | 28% |
| 8 | Colorado | 5,607,154 | 1,271 | 23% |
| 9 | Delaware | 961,939 | 223 | 23% |
| 10 | California | 39,536,653 | 8,889 | 22% |
| 11 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 291 | 22% |
| 12 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,817 | 21% |
| 13 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 217 | 21% |
| 14 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,209 | 20% |
| 15 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,093 | 20% |
| 16 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 2,371 | 19% |
| 17 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,709 | 19% |
| 18 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 140 | 19% |
| 19 | New York | 19,849,399 | 3,571 | 18% |
| 20 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2,307 | 18% |
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newark | 1 | 3% | $120,045 |
| 2 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $79,628 |
| 3 | New York | 1 | 0% | $105,976 |

UMass Lowell
University of Cincinnati Clermont College
University of Southern Maine
Western Kentucky University
John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York
University of California, Santa Cruz
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Coastal Carolina University
Drexel University
University of New Mexico
San Francisco State University
Wake Forest University
University of Delaware

University of California, Irvine

Coastal Carolina University

Miami University
Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Indiana University

UMass Lowell
Department of Marketing, Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Michael Ciuchta Ph.D.: Obviously we are seeing a tremendous increase in AI and other digital technologies. These will become a more crucial skill set for many careers going forward. But I wouldn't downplay the role of what are traditionally seen as soft skills like empathy, communications, and judgment. Not only can these distinguish you from robots but from your human competitors as well.
Michael Ciuchta Ph.D.: If all you want is the highest potential starting salary, then you should aim for careers that offer them. But that is a shortsighted way to view things. For example, many careers that have tournament-like pay structures (think entertainment) often have very low starting salaries but the so-called winners enjoy outsized financial gains. If you are thinking about a more traditional career, I think it's important to make sure you are more valuable to your employer than they are to you. This means you have to market yourself, both to your current employer as well as to potential ones. Of course, this approach may not be for everyone and maximizing your salary potential is only one thing you should be considering when assessing job and career opportunities.
University of Cincinnati Clermont College
Communication Disorders Sciences And Services
Fawen Zhang PhD: This is perfect! Thank you so much. We will be sure to feature your response in the article and send a draft over for your review before we promote it.
University of Southern Maine
Specialized Sales, Merchandising And Marketing Operations
Tove Rasmussen: Tove Rasmussen advises graduates beginning their career in the field to...
Tove Rasmussen: Tove Rasmussen believes that the skills that will become more important and prevalent in the field in the next 3-5 years are...
Timothy Rich PhD: Think about the types of jobs that interest you and the skills necessary for those jobs early. So many students start thinking about post-graduation life spring their senior year, when it should be an incremental process much earlier. Another pieces of advice would be to talk to faculty and alum about your interests, find internship or research opportunities when possible, and try to figure out early your strengths and weaknesses. It's easy for students, especially high performing ones, to not fully consider what their weaknesses are. I encourage students to jot down what they see as their skills too and to share them with others. It helps them to identify what's a common skill versus something that might make them stick out.
Timothy Rich PhD: In social science fields, many of the highest paid jobs straight out are government related or data analysis related. Without developing research, writing, and in some cases foreign language skills, this will be a limitation. Depending on the desired job, a graduate degree may be required and students should be maximizing their exposure to graduate-style experiences as undergrads to not only get into prestigious law schools, master's programs, etc., but to take advantage of the internship and research opportunities that first year entrants are rarely equipped to handle.
John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York
Ethnic, Cultural Minority, Gender, And Group Studies
Professor Shonna Trinch Ph.D.: Being able to negotiate a salary is also a skill that students need to learn and one that is rarely taught in college. Students need to be able to ask for more than they are offered, but also take jobs at entry levels, prove themselves and then ask for an increase in pay six months into the job after they have shown that they are doing the work and achieving their goals.
Professor Shonna Trinch Ph.D.: Analysis and critical thinking, writing and making strong arguments are indispensable job market skills. Concepts such as 'ethnicity,' 'gender' and 'minority' are constructed in social and historical spaces and times, and students with college degrees can help de-naturalize these categories to make others understand how policy, programming and marketing might not be achieving their stated goals.
Stephanie Lain Ph.D.: I would advise graduates to be open to considering jobs in lots of different fields. The skills acquired through their major- such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and writing- are ones that transfer well to a variety of situations.
Dr. Paige Novak P.E. (Minnesota), BCEE: Ask questions, stay curious and open minded, take opportunities to learn and develop new skills.
Coastal Carolina University
Intelligence, Command Control And Information Operations
Mark Chandler: First, focus on being good at your job. Focus on learning your specific assigned area. Get the basics down – analytic skills, communication skills. Build a strong work ethic and professional foundation. If you can find a good mentor, link up with them. Be willing to go the “extra mile” in being a team player and doing things to help others on the team, and put in the hours. In intelligence, you will not always like what policy makers do or say. It’s not our job to agree or disagree with the policy, our job is to study the situation, present the facts and then present a fact-based analytic assessment. Keep opinion, bias, and politics out of our work. This will be a challenge, but it’s one you have to recognize in order to not succumb to it.
Mark Stehr PhD: At the start of your career, it's very important to land a role where you learn a lot and find good mentors. The additional skills will pay dividends as your career progresses.
Mary Rodena-Krasan Ph.D.: A degree in German Studies is extraordinarily flexible, giving you a skill set that makes you suitable to a variety of fields. Be open to every opportunity and never underestimate the skill sets learning a new language has afforded you - cross-cultural competence, interlinguistic technological adeptness, problem solving, information analysis, and critical thinking. Employers want someone they don't have to hand-hold. Studying a foreign language requires a lot of self-initiative - apply that to every assignment at the job and don't be afraid to suggest approaches! Your ability to undertake something new and be successful has already been proven by your German studies degree!
University of New Mexico
Health/Medical Preparatory Programs
Dr. Maggie Siebert Ph.D.: Programming languages for reporting, querying, and optimizing/automating
Jennifer Shea Ph.D.: Most fundamentally, remember that in the public and nonprofit sectors in may be difficult to realize big salary jumps (more difficult than in private sector industries). That means, your starting salary will likely impact your future earnings potential. For civil service jobs, make sure you are aware what the salary range in any rank is and how initial salaries and raises are determined. The situation in the nonprofit sector is more varied, depending on the size of the nonprofit and position in the organization. In any case, don’t be afraid to ask questions and advocate for yourself, no matter the sector.
Dr. Mark Evans: Add value beyond what you are asked to do. Take ownership of your work. Volunteer for the most difficult jobs and clients.
Dr. Mark Evans: Don't stop learning. Treat your first job like more graduate school. Learn everything you can.
Bryan Crissinger: Generative AI seems to be a popular topic these days and so the technical skills required for the development and deployment those algorithms will continue to be in demand. Those algorithms, however, can be black boxes, and so the ability to explain how they work to stakeholders is key. More generally, the ability to understand a problem, formulate a solution, and be able to clearly communicate with others in that entire process has been identified by one of our internship employers as a very important skill.
Diane Martinez: Digital literacies are certainly becoming more important with the rise of AI, but that literacy extends beyond just knowing how to use certain technologies; it also means thinking critically about the impact those technologies have on the work we are doing. Probably the most important skill needed for the present and near future is critical thinking, always honing your ability to analyze situations from different perspectives, looking at options when solving problems, and thinking through the implications of any decisions being made.
Diane Martinez: First of all, don't put yourself in the hotseat right out of college unless that is what you want. Sometimes, the whole college experience opens your eyes to possibilities for careers and life situations that you never thought about before. If you are not ready to dive into the first serious job, take some time to explore. You might consider teaching English abroad (through a reputable company) or do a paid internship (some companies offer internships for new graduates). Those experiences will only enrich your future career choices. Next, when you start interviewing, mentally, you should be interviewing the company as much as they are interviewing you. Find a company that's a good fit for you.
Diane Martinez: Digital literacies are certainly becoming more important with the rise of AI, but that literacy extends beyond just knowing how to use certain technologies; it also means thinking critically about the impact those technologies have on the work we are doing. Probably the most important skill needed for the present and near future is critical thinking, always honing your ability to analyze situations from different perspectives, looking at options when solving problems, and thinking through the implications of any decisions being made.

University of California, Irvine
Urban Planning and Public Policy
David Feldman Ph.D.: Succinct writing, critical thinking, strong quantitative analytical skills.
David Feldman Ph.D.: Quantitative analytical skills.

Coastal Carolina University
Finance and Economics Department
Sourav Batabyal Ph.D.: In the U.S., the first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on January 22, 2020. Since then, this pandemic has forced us to shut down many businesses and paused many economic activities. Social distancing requirements imposed to fight the epidemic have crushed many industries including airlines, leisure & hospitality, bars & restaurants, Broadway & entertainment, etc. Unemployment peaked at 14.7% in April and then eventually fell to 7.9% in September. The colleges and universities across the country have canceled in-person classes and switched to online instruction to control coronavirus spread. On June 8, NBER announced that the U.S. economy was in recession since February. This recession is different than any other recent economic downturn. It's pegged to the global health crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was passed by Congress with bipartisan support and signed into law by President Trump on March 27, 2020. It was an over $2 trillion economic relief package that provided direct financial assistance to American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserved jobs for American industries. The Federal Reserve lowered the target range for the federal funds rate from 0 to 1/4 percent. Interest rates near zero will likely stay in place for years, as the Federal Reserve seeks to restructure the economy characterized by low inflation and a lockdown-affected labor market. The major economies are experiencing sharp economic contractions, as evidenced by falling real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale, retail sales.
In Fall 2020, many colleges and universities announced their plans for a phased return to face-to-face (F2F) instruction. At Coastal Carolina University (CCU), we are in Phase 1 of the Coastal Comeback plan. Every one of us needs to follow the standards and guidelines for the soft comeback to F2F instruction. These standards are: wearing masks, physical and social distancing, avoid public gathering, sanitation and disinfection, personal protective equipment, health screening and monitoring, and COVID-19 testing and infection containment.
Recent graduates may find it more challenging than standard times to find their first job in a recession-hit economy. Those students who already finished an internship or have prior job experience may find it easier to be absorbed in this labor market. If they don't find the suitable jobs they are looking for, we can see a rise in graduate school enrollments in the coming semesters. The recovery process will be slower if Congress and the White House delay the second round of fiscal stimulus. It will take a long time for output to go back to the full employment level, but hiring will take momentum, once we have the vaccine and therapeutics available for everyone. The coronavirus pandemic will remain in our memories and represent not just a global health crisis, but also a cautionary tale of how society is ready to overcome such adversity in the future. Students need to be resilient, stay informed, keep faith in what they are doing; then a whole new world of opportunities will open up for them, once the pandemic is over.
Patrick Lindsay: Sales is a good job out of college. Regardless of the company, the industry, the marketplace or geography, being in the customer interface is not only the best and quickest way to learn about a business but also to learn about business. They are exposed to the impact from and on all stakeholders. They learn about what a value proposition really is and the importance of Trust. They observe and learn the importance of relationships. And they grasp the importance of why over what and how. Finally, sales experience and success is almost universally transferable. Once a grad has a year to three developing competencies, skills and confidence, they can pursue virtually any other product or service in almost any company. They can pursue a next job in sales but also other areas like marketing, customer service, human resources, training, recruiting, et cetera. Employers are not emphasizing industry knowledge or experience like they once did. And many companies, from small local the largest global companies in their industries, insist their new college hires begin in sales (aka account management, business development, client acquisition).
Now, with the proper training (could be a major/minor but doesn't have to be if the graduate has developed a particular skill set) there are many available jobs for graduates that are technology-related. These are "good job" from a compensation and stability perspective. And any position with a global tech firm is a golden ticket.
Patrick Lindsay: Most all employers expect full competency in creatively using technology for communications. By that I don't mean mobile devices or social media usgae. I mean a widespread working knowledge of technology tools (apps, software, etc). Employers are seeking those candidates who can convey thoughts, ideas, responses in a multi-faceted way. Basic competency in written correspondence is no longer enough. Employers want to see daily business communication not only contain demonstration of good writing (grammar, syntax, formatting) but also being able to create embedded images, video, and relevant web links to better communicate. And not just for a big fancy client presentation, but consistently in regular communication. Further, they want words supported by data; support words with numerical evidence. As such, advanced excel skills and real experience in data sources and extraction stand out to employers.
Similarly, they expect professional virtual audio-visual communication. It is not enough to just be on the Zoom call. The expectation is to be prepared, to be engaged, to be aware of the audio and video angles and backgrounds. To demonstrate active listening as well as enthusiastic, energetic, even animated talking. Body language and facial expression are even more enhanced in virtual communications.
If there was a positive outcome from being thrust into an academic world that was all virtual, it was the need to learn new technical skills, not only for classwork, but also for social interaction. This will not only be appreciated by employers, but for many, expected.
Patrick Lindsay: Absolutely, the pandemic will have an enduring impact on these upcoming graduates. Uncertainty is always part of the job search journey/process for future graduates. Uncertainty is now major Anxiety number one for them.
First, the recruiting process drastically changed and opportunities diminished in the past twelve months. Of course the process had to become virtual. But there has been more than a fifty percent reduction in the number of companies participating in career fairs. Further, those companies are anticipating a reduction in the number of available positions, or have said they will have none at all this year. Some only participated to keep their relationships alive with the universities.
Second, companies cannot commit to the full scope of work for new hires, nor the location... because they still don't know. Starting positions will still be virtual WFH. What does that mean for a college graduate? Move back home with parents? Some companies are anticipating a return this summer to office or other work sites that are bricks and mortar locations. Still others say they will stay virtual. Either way, few will commit to where a new graduate will be located. The common position is "We will see where our needs are when the time comes". Rarely have graduates not known the location of their first job.
Third, where millennials were the driving faction for flexible work environs and work from home, in less than one year, many upcoming Gen Z graduates have changed their perspective and are seeking opportunities to commute to work and interact with people in a live daily routine. They do not want to continue living in a virtual world. It took less than ten months to change a cultural movement. This will be a growing field of study for behavioral psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists.
Fourth, many grads are open to a wider bandwidth of positions and industries (other than those seeking a "professional" career in certification trades: accountancy, engineering, architecture, etc.) than they would have been one year ago. The uncertainty of supply always impacts the demand. Likewise, their career criteria and priorities seem to have changed, but in very inconsistent ways.
Patrick Lindsay: Sales is a good job out of college. Regardless of the company, the industry, the marketplace or geography, being in the customer interface is not only the best and quickest way to learn about a business but also to learn about business. They are exposed to the impact from and on all stakeholders. They learn about what a value proposition really is and the importance of Trust. They observe and learn the importance of relationships. And they grasp the importance of why over what and how. Finally, sales experience and success is almost universally transferable. Once a grad has a year to three developing competencies, skills and confidence, they can pursue virtually any other product or service in almost any company. They can pursue a next job in sales but also other areas like marketing, customer service, human resources, training, recruiting, et cetera. Employers are not emphasizing industry knowledge or experience like they once did. And many companies, from small local the largest global companies in their industries, insist their new college hires begin in sales (aka account management, business development, client acquisition).
Now, with the proper training (could be a major/minor but doesn't have to be if the graduate has developed a particular skill set) there are many available jobs for graduates that are technology-related. These are "good job" from a compensation and stability perspective. And any position with a global tech firm is a golden ticket.
Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison
International Business
Sachin Tuli: The pandemic accelerated ongoing shifts with work-from-anywhere and use of remote meeting technologies. With mass adoption at all levels, these trends are likely to persist to some degree across fields and industries. There will likely be less travel for a number of years, but concurrently we may see more cross-team and cross-national collaboration and coordination. From an international business perspective, firms do plan to continue their globalization efforts and we know that graduates themselves increasingly seek potential global opportunities and mobility when choosing which organizations to work for.
Sachin Tuli: Certainly there will be impact on graduates as there will be impact on society as a whole - but which impact? If economic, we serve students from a variety of national backgrounds, so depending on where our students go after graduation their local economy recoveries could diverge from the global average and that could effect both the job market and salaries. For instance, China is forecasted to continue recovering due to its proactive lock downs and ability to serve foreign markets through this past year. In the U.S., where the majority of our students stay, a strong vaccine program, safety net supports and stimulus will help ensure a recovery at large and likely a post-Covid bump. Though the recovery will be uneven, our students primarily head to medium and large firms that will be well poised to hire, or which may have experienced growth through the pandemic. There will be other impacts on personal finances, health and mental health, among others, that should also be considered. The pandemic has laid bare the inequities in society, and firms are pledging to help address these issues through various actions, such as diversity and inclusion initiatives, and proactive internal training and education.
Sachin Tuli: Our undergraduate international business program serves as a second major that is coupled with another business major; marketing, finance, and management are most common majors combined with international business. Initial career placement is driven by these first majors, with students using the knowledge and skills gained through the international business curriculum throughout their careers but often leveraging the major directly as they command more responsibility within their organizations. The Wisconsin School of Business continues to place our students competitively with starting salaries having kept pace with industry and peer schools; specific salary information by major can be found here:apps.wsb.wisc.edu
Davide , Ph.D. Bolchini Ph.D.: In the prospering User Experience (UX) economy, I see more and more "remote" UX internships offered to our students and "remote" UX full-time job opportunities offered to our graduates. Both graduates and employers are more comfortable establishing remote working collaborations, which are becoming now the norm more than before, due to the disruption in the traditional office-bound workspace that COVID brought to the marketplace.
Davide , Ph.D. Bolchini Ph.D.: In my experience, our most successful MS HCI graduates (https://soic.iupui.edu/hcc/graduate/hci/masters/) take the time to put together a compelling online portfolio that showcases their project experience and skill set in action, as applied to specific research opportunities they had with faculty or projects they worked on during their UX internships in the industry. The personal brand of UX junior professional can be greatly enriched when the portfolio includes not only what the student has done, but why and what was the design rationale behind the process and the results, what was the larger context and goal of the project (especially in large collaborative projects), and what was the specific role and contribution of the student. The discussion about the portfolio of a candidate has become a key ingredient of the interview for UX jobs, besides other important activities such as UX design exercises or remote assignments.
Davide , Ph.D. Bolchini Ph.D.: With the many remote work opportunities for our MS HCI graduates, physical location is less relevant than before, and flexibility becomes key. UX job opportunities are plenty in the Midwest, as well as on the East and West Coast, and the roles and competitiveness of these positions vary greatly based on the nature of the organization and the industry ecosystem.