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The differences between program managers and supervisors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a program manager has an average salary of $96,084, which is higher than the $53,902 average annual salary of a supervisor.
The top three skills for a program manager include project management, program management and oversight. The most important skills for a supervisor are customer service, safety procedures, and sales floor.
| Program Manager | Supervisor | |
| Yearly salary | $96,084 | $53,902 |
| Hourly rate | $46.19 | $25.91 |
| Growth rate | 12% | - |
| Number of jobs | 197,556 | 224,920 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Average age | 47 | 46 |
| Years of experience | - | 2 |
A program manager is responsible for monitoring the project's progress, improving and developing new strategies, and coordinate various projects across the organization to ensure the success of the business objective. Program managers also manage the program's expenses, ensuring that the projects adhere to the budget goals without compromising the quality and accuracy of the result. A program manager should regularly connect with the different teams of every project under the program to keep track of the processes and procedures for the timely delivery of the product.
Supervisors are responsible for overseeing the daily functions of employees in a specific team, department, or even a work shift. They create work schedules, organize work processes and workflows, train new hires, provide necessary reports related to the team function and the employees, monitor and evaluate employee performance, and ensure that goals of the specific team or department are met. When needed, supervisors also provide guidance to employees in terms of their career or even personal challenges. They also help in fostering harmonious work relationships by resolving interpersonal conflicts at work. To be successful in their role, they must have leadership skills, time management skills, decision-making capabilities, analytical skills, and problem-solving skills.
Program managers and supervisors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Program Manager | Supervisor | |
| Average salary | $96,084 | $53,902 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $141,000 | Between $31,000 And $92,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | Alaska |
| Best paying company | Meta | Reed Smith |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a program manager and a supervisor in terms of educational background:
| Program Manager | Supervisor | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 44% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between program managers' and supervisors' demographics:
| Program Manager | Supervisor | |
| Average age | 47 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% | Male, 55.8% Female, 44.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 4.6% White, 59.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 6% |