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The differences between project assistants and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $38,564 average annual salary of a project assistant.
The top three skills for a project assistant include data entry, powerpoint and customer service. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Project Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $38,564 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $18.54 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | -8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 59,664 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 2 | - |
A project assistant's role mainly revolves around assisting a project manager. The responsibilities may vary upon the industry or organization. Still, most of them will be administrative tasks such as preparing reports and documentation, responding to calls and other forms of correspondence, and coordinating with various offices and personnel. Furthermore, a Project Assistant must also ensure the department's efficient workflow, proper utilization of budget, review documentation and schedules, attend meetings, and maintain an information database.
Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.
Project assistants and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $38,564 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $57,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Portland, OR | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | California |
| Best paying company | AstraZeneca | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a project assistant and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Project Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Western Carolina University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between project assistants' and project managers' demographics:
| Project Assistant | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 50 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 32.9% Female, 67.1% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 16.3% Asian, 3.8% White, 66.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 10% |