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The differences between regional product managers and product development managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a regional product manager, becoming a product development manager takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a product development manager has an average salary of $113,437, which is higher than the $111,928 average annual salary of a regional product manager.
The top three skills for a regional product manager include product management, product line and market research. The most important skills for a product development manager are product development, project management, and lifecycle management.
| Regional Product Manager | Product Development Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $111,928 | $113,437 |
| Hourly rate | $53.81 | $54.54 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 168,499 | 166,871 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 8 | 10 |
Regional product managers maintain strong client relations to identify incremental revenue opportunities and ensure a competitive advantage. They support bidding situations and selling through exclusive authorized dealers, general contractors, and agents. Most of them analyze and review business reports, including inventory levels, sales results, and customer satisfaction. They may evaluate ROI before executing customer solutions based upon the feasibility. These managers must have analytical skills to gather information from various sources, leadership to directly correlate with a person's ability to lead others toward an accomplishment, and creativity.
A product development manager spearheads the development of new products within a company. Most of the time, their responsibilities revolve around conducting marketing research and analysis to determine consumers' needs, coordinating with the product development team to come up with new ideas, proposing business plans to the executives, and creating prototypes. A product development manager must also present a cost analysis, produce progress reports, and address inquiries and concerns. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the staff, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
Regional product managers and product development managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Regional Product Manager | Product Development Manager | |
| Average salary | $111,928 | $113,437 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $162,000 | Between $84,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | North Brunswick, NJ | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | Nevada |
| Best paying company | Meta | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Retail |
There are a few differences between a regional product manager and a product development manager in terms of educational background:
| Regional Product Manager | Product Development Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 73% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Southern California | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between regional product managers' and product development managers' demographics:
| Regional Product Manager | Product Development Manager | |
| Average age | 46 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 77.6% Female, 22.4% | Male, 62.2% Female, 37.8% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 10% |