Vocational Index

Career

Project management specialists

Keep projects on time, on budget and on track.

$102,320
Median pay
+6.7%
Job growth, 2025–35
76,500
Openings a year
Bachelor's degree
Typical education
4 years
Typical time after high school

Here's what you actually need to know.

The work

What people in this job do

  • Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements and objectives.
  • Identify project needs such as resources, staff, or finances by reviewing project objectives and schedules.
  • Submit project deliverables to clients, ensuring adherence to quality standards.
  • Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems.
  • Plan, schedule, or coordinate project activities to meet deadlines.

The outlook

How the forecast changed this year

2024–34 edition+5.6%2025–35 edition+6.7%
Projected 10-year growth in last year's and this year's BLS projections. 78,200 → 76,500 openings a year.

The deeper question

What kind of person does this path ask you to become?

What this work centers on

Persuasion & leadership
6.3
Information & systems
5.5
People & care
3.3
Ideas & analysis
2.8
Creation & expression
1.6
Objects & tools
1.5

O*NET interest profile, scored 1–7.

The work

Do you want most of your days spent on persuasion & leadership, then information & systems?

Responsibility

Are you willing to be the one responsible for this?

“Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements and objectives.”

Development

What would you need to build over the next 5–10 years?

Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Writing, Judgment and Decision Making.

Trade-offs

What does it ask of you in exchange?

4 years of education after high school (bachelor's degree), for a median of $102,320 a year and 76,500 openings nationally each year.

Paths in

Degrees that lead here

Paths across

Careers that use similar skills

Ask anything about this career.

“Would this make sense if I don't want to sit at a desk all day?” Answers will come from the sources on this page, with citations. Coming soon.

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Sources

  1. BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  2. BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34 (archived), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  3. O*NET 31.0 Database (August 2026), National Center for O*NET Development / U.S. Department of Labor. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
  4. CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 Crosswalk, NCES and BLS. Retrieved 2026-10-01.