Plan, direct, or coordinate the actual distribution or movement of a product or service to the customer. Coordinate sales distribution by establishing sales territories, quotas, and goals and establish training programs for sales representatives. Analyze sales statistics gathered by staff to determine sales potential and inventory requirements and monitor the preferences of customers.
Median pay
$148,270
Per year, OEWS May 2025
People employed
637,080
United States, OEWS May 2025
Projected change
4.5%
2025-2035 projection
Projected openings
47,300
Average per year, 2025-2035
Pay distribution and location comparison
These are published pay distribution points for everyone working in this occupation, not pay levels for junior, mid, or senior roles. Location figures are pay as published; no cost-of-living adjustment is applied.
United States, all industries
$73,17010th
$100,36025th
$148,270Median
$207,34075th
$290,54090th
National pay distribution and the selected area, annual wages
Pay point
United States
Selected area
10th percentile
$73,170
-
25th percentile
$100,360
-
Median
$148,270
-
75th percentile
$207,340
-
90th percentile
$290,540
-
People employed
637,080
-
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Reference period: OEWS May 2025.
Long-term outlook
Official ten-year projection for 2025 to 2035. Projected annual openings are an average per year over the decade, including openings from workers leaving the occupation. They are not a count of jobs open today.
Employment 2025
650,100 jobs
Projected 2035
679,100 jobs
Change
4.5%
2025-2035
Openings per year
47,300
Decade average, in people
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Related work experience
Less than 5 years
On-the-job training
None
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file Employment is published in thousands of jobs and converted here to people.
OptimizeResume Job Market Score™
55
Balanced
Stable
Confidence:High
Reference period:Jul 2026
OptimizeResume analysis using U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. This is not a BLS statistic or a prediction that an individual will be hired.
Current Demand50%
42
Occupation Fundamentals30%
78
Long-Term Outlook20%
53
Score trend
Historical scores may be restated when BLS revises underlying data. The chart uses the latest restated values.
3 months
+3
6 months
+7
Confidence
At least 90% of required inputs and occupation-industry mapping are covered.
How this score is built
Monthly industry demand is mapped to this occupation using official occupation-industry relationships, then combined with occupation fundamentals and long-term projections.
Skill values are O*NET importance ratings on a 1-5 scale for the occupation itself. They describe what the work requires, not how much employers are hiring right now.
Most important skills
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Negotiation4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking3.9 / 5
Judgment and Decision Making3.9 / 5
Management of Personnel Resources3.9 / 5
Monitoring3.9 / 5
Persuasion3.9 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Social Perceptiveness3.9 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5
Complex Problem Solving3.8 / 5
O*NET importance rating, 1 (not important) to 5 (extremely important).
Software and technology
Customer relationship management CRM softwareSalesforce software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Act!, Avidian Technologies Prophet, Blackbaud The Raiser's Edge, Eden Sales Manager, HEAT Software GoldMine
Presentation softwareMicrosoft PowerPoint (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), Apple Keynote, Google Slides, Poll Everywhere
Electronic mail softwareMicrosoft Outlook (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology), IBM Notes, Microsoft Exchange
Spreadsheet softwareMicrosoft Excel (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
Office suite softwareMicrosoft Office software (in demand for this occupation) (hot technology)
Enterprise resource planning ERP softwareOracle PeopleSoft (hot technology), SAP software (hot technology), Microsoft Dynamics, Microsoft Dynamics GP, NetSuite ERP, Oracle Fusion Applications
Data base user interface and query softwareMicrosoft Access (hot technology), Microsoft SQL Server (hot technology), Oracle Database (hot technology), Structured query language SQL (hot technology), Yardi software (hot technology), Airtable
Development environment softwareEclipse IDE (hot technology), Microsoft Azure software (hot technology), Microsoft Visual Basic (hot technology), Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications VBA (hot technology), Adobe ActionScript
Business intelligence and data analysis softwareTableau (hot technology), IBM Cognos Impromptu, MicroStrategy, Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, Qlik Tech QlikView
Web page creation and editing softwareFacebook (hot technology), Google Sites, LinkedIn, Social media sites
Financial analysis softwareDelphi Discovery, Delphi Technology, Oracle E-Business Suite Financials
Sales and marketing softwareHubSpot software (hot technology), Marketo Marketing Automation (hot technology), Google Ads
O*NET marks individual examples only. “Hot technology” means the tool is frequently named across job postings generally; “in demand for this occupation” means O*NET recorded it as required by employers for this occupation. Unmarked examples are still commonly used.
Typical tasks
Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.
Resolve customer complaints regarding sales and service.
Monitor customer preferences to determine focus of sales efforts.
Confer with potential customers regarding equipment needs, and advise customers on types of equipment to purchase.
Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine profitability.
Plan and direct staffing, training, and performance evaluations to develop and control sales and service programs.
Direct and coordinate activities involving sales of manufactured products, services, commodities, real estate, or other subjects of sale.
Determine price schedules and discount rates.
Prepare budgets and approve budget expenditures.
Confer or consult with department heads to plan advertising services and to secure information on equipment and customer specifications.
Also advertised as: District Sales Manager, Fractional Sales Executive, National Sales Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Sales and Marketing VP (Sales and Marketing Vice President), Sales Director, Sales Manager, Sales Operations Manager (Sales Ops Manager).
Check your resume against a real job posting
This page describes the occupation in general. A free scan compares your own resume with the specific job description you are applying to, requirement by requirement, and shows where your real experience is already strong and where it is simply not documented yet. Only experience you actually have should ever be added.
Source: O*NET Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Used under CC BY 4.0. OptimizeResume has modified the data for display only: selected the most important rated skills, grouped software examples by category while keeping each example’s official flags, and shortened the task list.
Related occupations
Occupations O*NET lists as closely related. Links go to our page when we cover that occupation, otherwise to the official O*NET profile.
Source: OEWS May 2025, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
Source: BLS Employment Projections 2025-2035, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (imported 9/17/2026) official file
O*NET 31.0 Database version 31.0 by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0 and modified for display on this page. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
How each number should be read
Pay percentiles describe the spread of pay across everyone in the occupation, not experience levels.
Employment counts are jobs, not people hired during the year.
Projected annual openings are a decade average from the official projection, not current vacancies.
O*NET skill ratings describe the work, not employer hiring demand.
Values BLS did not publish, suppressed, or top-coded are shown as such and never treated as zero.