How much do office managers make in 2026?
Office managers are counted in the BLS first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers series: OEWS May 2025 gives SOC 43-1011 a national median of $69,500 a year ($33.41 an hour), with the bottom 10% near $45,610 and the top 10% at $104,710. The series pools 1,436,680 supervisors across every industry, and office managers sit throughout it depending on one variable above all: business size. In a small business, the office manager is frequently the entire back office — bookkeeping and payroll, human resources administration, vendor and insurance management, facilities, compliance filings and often client-facing work as well. In a large organisation, the same title means supervising an administrative team within defined functions handled by specialists elsewhere. Those are radically different jobs, and the small-business version is systematically underpaid because responsibility accumulates gradually without any renegotiation. The practical implication is that office managers should inventory what they actually own — particularly the finance and human resources work — and benchmark those components separately rather than against a general administrative figure. Employment across the pooled series is projected to decline 0.3% through 2034, with roughly 144,500 openings a year. → Full office manager career guide, career path, credentials & placement →
Note: $69,500 blends every experience level and every setting in this occupation. For pay by level alone, see Pay by Level below.
- Office Managers earn a national median $69,500/yr ($33.41/hr) (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-1011); the P10 to P90 range is $45,610 to $104,710.
- Business size defines the job: in a small firm the office manager is the whole back office, while in a large one the title means supervising administrative staff within defined functions.
- The small-business version is systematically underpaid, because responsibility accumulates gradually — bookkeeping, payroll, HR administration, compliance — without renegotiation.
- The practical fix is inventorying what you actually own and benchmarking the finance and HR components separately rather than against a general administrative figure.
US Office Manager Pay Distribution · BLS OEWS May 2025
Pay by Level · BLS OEWS May 2025
How much do office managers earn at each level?
BLS OEWS publishes one blended wage for the whole occupation and does not break pay out by credential or practice level. The levels below distribute the published percentile range across the credential tiers this role actually hires at.
Level medians are aligned to the BLS OEWS May 2025 percentile distribution for SOC 43-1011; GlobalCybers does not yet publish a verified placement sample for this role, so no verified median is shown.
Methodology & Sources
How the numbers on this page are built
Published (BLS): BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 43-1011, United States national estimate. Public, methodologically rigorous, but sampled on a rolling 3-year basis and published ~10 months after collection — so it reflects wages that are already 1–2 years old by the time you read them.
Level and certification medians: distributed across the published BLS percentile range for this SOC code (P10 through P90) according to the credential tiers this occupation actually hires at. They are modeled reference points, not separately surveyed wages.
State and metro figures: modeled — the BLS national median multiplied by the GlobalCybers state wage index, and for metros by the published metro index for that state. They are estimates of local pay, not BLS state or metropolitan-area observations, and are labelled as modeled in the tables below.
No verified placement sample:GlobalCybers does not yet publish a placement median for this role, so no "verified" figure appears anywhere on this page.
Pay by Career Level
How much does an office manager earn at each career stage?
Office management pay follows how much of the business's operations sit with you. Each median is anchored to the BLS OEWS distribution for SOC 43-1011.
By State
Which states pay office managers the most in 2026?
These are modeled state estimates — the BLS national administrative supervisor median scaled by the GlobalCybers state wage index — not BLS state observations. Office manager pay depends overwhelmingly on employer size and sector, and a well-scoped role at a professional services firm frequently pays more in a modest wage state than a general office role in an expensive one.
6 of 51 state guides shown, ranked by median. Bar is relative to California ($79,930), the highest-paying state shown. See all 51 state salary guides →
By Metro
Which cities pay office managers the most?
Modeled metro estimates: the national supervisor median scaled by the state wage index and then by that state's published metro index. They estimate local wage levels and are not BLS metropolitan-area observations. Professional services and healthcare concentrations carry the better-defined roles.
BLS OEWS MSA estimates, May 2025. Nominal pay — weigh each metro against its cost of living before relocating.
Certification Impact
Which certifications raise an office manager’s pay the most?
Median annual pay before and after each credential, based on GlobalCybers placement data cross-referenced with BLS. License upgrades move the needle most; stackable certs add on top.
Impacts are not additive, the licensing rows share the same career ladder. Browse all 167 certifications →
Trade Comparison
How does office manager pay compare to related roles?
BLS OEWS national median across the closest trades. Office Managers sit mid-pack on median but carry one of the widest P10–P90 spreads, licensing and specialization drive the upside.
BLS OEWS May 2025. Verify office manager wages on BLS.gov →
Take-Home Pay
What does an office manager actually take home after taxes?
The medians above are gross base wage.
Estimates use 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction, and 7.65% FICA. Actual take-home varies with filing status, deductions, and local tax.
FAQ
Office Manager Salary, Frequently Asked Questions
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