How To Become A Residential Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a residential manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A residential manager oversees the day-to-day operations of residential properties. This can include managing the maintenance and repair of the property, collecting rent payments, screening potential tenants, and enforcing lease agreements. Additionally, residential managers may be responsible for financial management, budgeting, and marketing the property to attract new tenants. Overall, their role is to ensure that the property is well-maintained and that residents are satisfied with their living arrangements.

ScoreResidential ManagerUS Average

Salary

3.1

Avg. Salary $39,112

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.7

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.89%

Asian 5.22%

Black or African American 11.75%

Hispanic or Latino 14.74%

Unknown 5.41%

White 61.99%

Gender

female 66.34%

male 33.66%

Age - 45

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 45

Stress level

9.7

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a residential manager?

Pros

Variety of tasks and responsibilities
Job stability and security
Opportunity for professional development and advancement
Ability to work in a team-oriented environment
Opportunities for networking and building relationships with residents and other professionals

Cons

High-pressure environment with demanding responsibilities
Dealing with difficult residents and conflicts
Long hours and time demands
Heavy workload, especially during peak seasons
Exposure to potential liability issues

Key steps to become a residential manager

Explore residential manager education requirements

Most common residential manager degrees

Bachelor's

51.5 %

Associate

20.4 %

High School Diploma

11.1 %

Start to develop specific residential manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Developmental Disabilities	12.48%
Oversight	7.02%
Incident Reports	4.96%
Foster Care	4.78%
Autism	4.67%

Complete relevant residential manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New residential managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a residential manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real residential manager resumes.

Research residential manager duties and responsibilities

Participate in all IHP/IPP meetings; ensure group home staff helps residents achieve IHP goals and continually monitor progress make.
Manage daily operation of residential group home and over see staff, client programming, activities, and residential ADL's.
Manage a residential facility for adolescents with severe autism and psychiatric conditions.
Facilitate weekly/biweekly meetings with house coordinators, community agencies to provide services.

Prepare your residential manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your residential manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a residential manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable residential manager resume templates

Build a professional residential manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your residential manager resume.

Apply for residential manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a residential manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do residential managers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Residential manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Jan 2024

Pros

Building relationships with the clients, learn better money management skills, help the clients have an overall better quality of life

Cons

on call all the time, staffing issues, paperwork is a lot, no work life balance, the pay really isn't nearly what it should be for the amount of work you put in

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019