Occupation salary profile

Purchasing Managers

SOC 11-3061 BLS OEWS May 2025 H-1B LCAs, last 12 months

Plan, direct, or coordinate the activities of buyers, purchasing officers, and related workers involved in purchasing materials, products, and services. Includes wholesale or retail trade merchandising managers and procurement managers.

National median · BLS
$148,080
▲ +6.14% YoY
H-1B sponsor median
$147,900
▲ +0% YoY · 287 LCAs
Average salary · BLS
$156,360
Mean annual wage
U.S. employment
84,320
Jobs (BLS)
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Enter your pay and a location to see where you stand against BLS and H-1B pay, your estimated take-home pay, and your purchasing power.

Pay range for Purchasing Managers

Annual base pay at each percentile. BLS covers all U.S. workers in this occupation; H-1B covers 287 certified Labor Condition Applications filed by sponsoring employers in the last 12 months.

Percentile All U.S. workers (BLS) H-1B sponsored
10th — entry pay$92,490$100,000
25th$115,550$118,010
Median (50th)$148,080$147,900
75th$182,270$173,956
90th — top pay$223,280$200,000
H-1B sponsors pay a median of $147,900 for Purchasing Managers — 0.1% below the BLS national median of $148,080.

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Based on hrs/week × weeks/year = 2,080 hrs
Projections 2025–2035

Job outlook for Purchasing Managers

BLS projects employment of purchasing managers to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the 3.5% average for all occupations. About 6,400 openings are projected each year, on average, from new jobs and from replacing workers who retire or move to other occupations.

Jobs 2025 → 2035
88,300 → 91,800
+3,500 jobs
Projected change
+4%
All occupations: +3.5%
Openings per year
6,400
Average, 2025–2035
Typical entry education
Bachelor's degree
Plus 5 years or more experience
Self-employed
3.5% of workers (2025)
Preparation needed (O*NET Job Zone 4)
Considerable Preparation Needed. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Fastest-growing jobs → Best-paying jobs that need a bachelor's degree →

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–2035 · BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook →

H-1B sponsored pay

Pay by H-1B wage level

Employers assign every H-1B filing a Department of Labor prevailing-wage level, from Level I (entry) to Level IV (fully competent). Pay rises steeply with level.

H-1B median $147,900
Change vs prior year +0%
After inflation (CPI-U) -3.04%
Wage level LCAs Share P25 Median P75
Level I 62 21.6% $97,428 $111,259 $127,750
Level II 89 31% $124,913 $140,000 $151,258
Level III 48 16.7% $156,750 $174,013 $194,066
Level IV 40 13.9% $171,538 $185,323 $217,428
H-1B job titles

Salaries by job title in Purchasing Managers

The 4 most-filed job titles inside SOC 11-3061, from 287 H-1B filings. Seniority words and level numbers are grouped (“Senior Data Engineer II” counts as Data Engineer). Tap a title for its full range, wage levels and the exact titles employers used.

Job title LCAs Share P25 Median P75 YoY
Hardware Commodity Specialist 53 18.47% $106,159 $145,000 $149,552 -1.96%
Purchasing Manager 16 5.57% $110,440 $130,000 $149,550 -3.33%
Strategic Sourcing Manager 14 4.88% $141,248 $153,500 $174,013 -0.63%
Director of Procurement 12 4.18% $176,486 $182,083 $195,800 —

Titles are cleaned from the employer's own LCA text (codes and typos removed, nothing invented). Rows need 10+ filings in this SOC.

Skills & tools

Skills needed for Purchasing Managers

How important each skill and knowledge area is for this job, rated by O*NET on a 1–5 scale from surveys of workers and occupational analysts.

Top skills
  • Active Listening4.0
  • Management of Personnel Resources4.0
  • Speaking4.0
  • Monitoring3.9
  • Negotiation3.9
  • Reading Comprehension3.9
  • Social Perceptiveness3.9
  • Time Management3.9
  • Writing3.9
  • Coordination3.8
Top knowledge areas
  • Administration and Management4.3
  • Customer and Personal Service4.0
  • English Language3.9
  • Law and Government3.8
  • Economics and Accounting3.7
  • Computers and Electronics3.5
  • Mathematics3.5
  • Administrative3.4
Software and technology used
Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Office softwareMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft PowerPointSAP softwarePurchasing softwareMicrosoft AccessMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft SharePointMicrosoft VisioMicrosoft WordOracle DatabaseOracle PeopleSoftAutomated purchase order softwareBottomline Technologies Bottomline Sprinter Purchasing ManagerBowen & Groves M1 ERPCorel ParadoxDatabase software

Highlighted = in demand: frequently listed in employer job postings for this occupation (O*NET).

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

About the job

What purchasing managers do

  • Develop and implement purchasing and contract management instructions, policies, and procedures.
  • Locate vendors of materials, equipment or supplies, and interview them to determine product availability and terms of sales.
  • Prepare bid awards requiring board approval.
  • Direct and coordinate activities of personnel engaged in buying, selling, and distributing materials, equipment, machinery, and supplies.
  • Review purchase order claims and contracts for conformance to company policy.
  • Review, evaluate, and approve specifications for issuing and awarding bids.
  • Administer online purchasing systems.
  • Prepare and process requisitions and purchase orders for supplies and equipment.
Also called
Materials ManagerProcurement ManagerPurchasing DirectorPurchasing ManagerCategory Purchasing ManagerCommodity ManagerMaterials DirectorProcurement DirectorPurchasing SupervisorStrategic Sourcing Director
More job titles for this occupation (15)
Commissary SuperintendentContract ManagerContracting ManagerDivision Merchandise Manager (DMM)General Merchandise ManagerMerchandise DirectorMerchandise ManagerMerchandising ManagerProcurement Services ManagerProcurement Sourcing ManagerPurchasing CoordinatorSourcing ManagerStrategic Sourcing ManagerSupply Chain Procurement ManagerVendor Manager

Source: O*NET 31.0 (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0). These are general job titles, not H-1B filings; for titles employers actually filed, see “Job titles” above.