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The differences between project leaders and project management leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a project leader and a project management lead. Additionally, a project leader has an average salary of $98,559, which is higher than the $85,117 average annual salary of a project management lead.
The top three skills for a project leader include project management, work ethic and C++. The most important skills for a project management lead are project management, customer service, and portfolio.
| Project Leader | Project Management Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $98,559 | $85,117 |
| Hourly rate | $47.38 | $40.92 |
| Growth rate | 9% | 11% |
| Number of jobs | 221,165 | 158,441 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A project leader is responsible for supervising the team and managing the distribution of tasks to ensure the project's success with the highest efficiency and accuracy. Duties of a project leader include motivating the team, managing the team's needs and concerns, providing effective strategies to improve the team's performance, creating reports, monitoring the team's progress, and maintaining the coordination between team members. A project leader should have exceptional leadership skills to handle the team's operation and identify areas of improvement to deliver excellent results.
A project management lead is in charge of overseeing all processes involved in the planning and delivery of projects in an organization. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating departments and personnel involved in every project to ensure accuracy and timeliness, managing budget and expenditures, producing progress reports and presentations, assessing risks, and delivering optimal quality results. Furthermore, as a management lead, it is crucial to lead and encourage team members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Project leaders and project management leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Project Leader | Project Management Lead | |
| Average salary | $98,559 | $85,117 |
| Salary range | Between $70,000 And $138,000 | Between $53,000 And $136,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | California | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | Boston Consulting Group | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Professional | Energy |
There are a few differences between a project leader and a project management lead in terms of educational background:
| Project Leader | Project Management Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 68% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between project leaders' and project management leads' demographics:
| Project Leader | Project Management Lead | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 69.0% Female, 31.0% | Male, 59.2% Female, 40.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |