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The differences between service 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 $74,009 average annual salary of a service manager.
The top three skills for a service manager include POS, performance reviews and cash handling. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Service Manager | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $74,009 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $35.58 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 341,785 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
Service managers are employees who oversee the departments related to providing services to customers. They ensure that service delivery agreements are met by employees in the department. Service managers meet with stakeholders to set service delivery metrics and department goals. They then create strategies to reach these metrics and goals. They are responsible for cascading such goals and metrics to their employees and ensuring that the employees understand what they need to do. Service managers should have a deep understanding and appreciation of the company and its business so that they can create strategies that are in line with the company's identity. They should also be familiar with the customer profiles of the company. Service managers are also responsible for creating department reports and sharing these with stakeholders.
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.
Service managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Service Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $74,009 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $47,000 And $116,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | California |
| Best paying company | Latham & Watkins | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a service manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Service Manager | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 52% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between service managers' and project managers' demographics:
| Service Manager | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 71.1% Female, 28.9% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.1% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 15.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 67.7% 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 | 10% | 10% |