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The differences between team leaders 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 $68,817 average annual salary of a team leader.
The top three skills for a team leader include customer service, ladders and patients. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.
| Team Leader | Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $68,817 | $91,578 |
| Hourly rate | $33.09 | $44.03 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 197,336 | 167,116 |
| Job satisfaction | 5 | 4.17 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
Team leaders are responsible for managing a team for a specific project or work component. They primarily guide the team members and ensure that they are still working towards the set goals. Team leaders create strategies to reach goals, cascade the goals and strategies to team members, assign tasks, conduct periodic check-ups on the roadmap towards the goals, foster an engaging work environment, motivate and coach team members, monitor team performance, evaluate the strategies and come up with mitigating plans as needed. They are also responsible for reporting the team's progress to higher management.
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.
Team leaders and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Team Leader | Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $68,817 | $91,578 |
| Salary range | Between $37,000 And $126,000 | Between $64,000 And $129,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Alaska | California |
| Best paying company | Ropes & Gray | The Citadel |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a team leader and a project manager in terms of educational background:
| Team Leader | Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 50% | Bachelor's Degree, 68% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | SUNY College of Technology at Delhi | University of Pennsylvania |
Here are the differences between team leaders' and project managers' demographics:
| Team Leader | Project Manager | |
| Average age | 43 | 47 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 55.0% Female, 45.0% | Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 7.2% White, 61.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% | 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 | 9% | 10% |