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The differences between quality managers 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 $91,357 average annual salary of a quality manager.
The top three skills for a quality manager include continuous improvement, corrective action and quality standards. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Quality Manager | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $91,357 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $43.92 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 63,422 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 48 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
A quality manager is an individual who is responsible for ensuring that the level of quality of the company's product outputs is met for customers. Quality managers monitor and evaluate the internal production process so that they can produce statistical reports on the standard of quality and communicate them to upper management. To ensure health and safety standards, quality managers must create and maintain up-to-date product or process specifications. They also train employees on quality assurance standards and processes.
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.
Quality managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Quality Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $91,357 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $64,000 And $128,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | Richmond, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a quality manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Quality Manager | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between quality managers' and project managers' demographics:
| Quality Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 48 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 72.1% Female, 27.9% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 13.2% Asian, 9.2% White, 69.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | 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 | 8% | 10% |